The Teachings of Jesus

The Sermon on the Mount

• The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most significant teachings of Jesus,
found in Matthew 5-7.
• Jesus speaks about key Christian principles such as humility, meekness, and
peacemaking, referred to as the Beatitudes.
• In this sermon, He also reinterprets the Law, stressing the importance of
inward purity over outward legalism.
• Here, Jesus speaks about important practices like prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving.
• The concept of ‘Golden Rule’ - ‘do unto others as you would have them do
unto you’ is introduced in this sermon.
• The Sermon on the Mount is thus considered a summary of Jesus’ ethical
teachings.
https://youtu.be/Ze7w3-BL3OM?si=WoNJ6A7rPmXXAR-i
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount
 The Sermon on the Mount
• In this sermon, Jesus taught his followers the Lord’s Prayer and told
them several parables.
• The sermon also contained the Beatitudes and Jesus’ teachings about
God’s laws, which he expected his followers to uphold.
 Jesus’ teachings about God’s law
• The Bible relates how some of the people who came to hear Jesus
give sermons feared that he was opposed to the teachings in the Old
Testament, which people had been following for a long time.
• However, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained that he had
not come to overturn God’s laws but to make sure they were
upheld.
 Jesus’ teachings about God’s law
• Jesus expanded on the Old Testament teachings, explaining that God
had ever higher expectations of how people should behave towards
each other:
 Reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments
• A negative prohibition such as “Do not commit murder”, “Do not
commit adultery”, “Do not lie” and “Do not steal” means more than
just staying away from that sinful act. Where sin is forbidden, the
contrary duty is commanded.

Do not murder
• Condemning murder assumes a position on the dignity of life
• Christians are Pro-life/active in pro-life movements
➢ against abortion, euthanasia and death penalty (legal ≠ morally right)
➢ against IVF {provides us insights on dealing with controversial issues}
 Reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments
Do not commit adultery
• The commandment against adultery assumes a larger perspective on
preserving the nature of sexuality (chastity) and sanctity of
marriage.
• against cohabitation, casual sex, homosexual marriage (legal ≠ morally right)
even these are more socially acceptable
• against pornography
Do not judge
• Christians would not judge others e.g. treating people with
homosexual orientation/ divorcees fairly/ with kindness.
 Reinterpretation of the Ten Commandments
Do not revenge
• However, Jesus did have different ideas from those in the Old
Testament when it came to the subject of revenge.
• He told his followers that their love for one another must be
unconditional and that they must never seek revenge, even though
the Old Testament allows it: An eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24)
• While military action may be necessary to defend the common good, it is by
no means sufficient to deal with terrorist threats like the 911 terrorist attacks.
• Insisting on seeking for non-violent means to resolve the conflict
• Praying for the attackers/ Offering forgiveness
 Jesus’ Attitude to Religious Observances
(Matthew 6: 1–18)
• At the time of Jesus, Jewish religious duties included prayer, fasting
and almsgiving (charity).
Jesus’ Attitude to Religious Observances
(Matthew 6: 1–18)
 Prayer
• Jesus teaches us the right way to pray. He tells us not to pray publicly
like the hypocrites do, but instead to go inside and close the door.
• He also tells us not to use meaningless words, as God knows what we
need before we even ask it of Him.
• Jesus taught the Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer as an example of how
we should pray. This prayer is still used today by all Christian
denominations. We can learn a lot about the Kingdom of God and our
Christian faith through an exploration of the Our Father.
 Prayer
• The Our Father begins with the words “Our Father”.
This shows us that we are children of God and we
should approach prayer as though we are speaking
to a loving parent.
• In this prayer we ask God to bring His Kingdom on
Earth. This is done through Him sending His son,
Jesus Christ.
• We ask for God’s help when we say “Give us this day
our daily bread” – we are actually asking for physical
and spiritual nourishment to help us on our journey.
• We confess our sins and ask for help to forgive others
who have sinned against us.
• We acknowledge the power and greatness of God
through this prayer.
 Fasting

• Jesus taught that when you fast you should put oil on your
head and wash your face so that others do not know that
you are fasting. In this way, God will see what you are doing
and will reward you.
• Jesus criticises the hypocrites who, when they are fasting,
make it known to others with their solemn faces. The only
reward they will get is the praise of others.
 Fasting
The Temptation of Jesus
1Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be

tempted by the Devil. 2 After spending forty days

and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. 3 Then
the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God's
Son, order these stones to turn into bread.”
4 But Jesus answered, “The scripture says,

‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but

need every word that God speaks.’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc-x4qKY6Wc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ycgPo-GPQ
Almsgiving
 Almsgiving
• Jesus teaches that when we give to charity we should do it in secret,
“so that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing”.
• He says that by giving in secret God will see what we have done and
we will be rewarded by Him.
• Jesus is teaching against the giving of charity for the sole purpose of
public praise and reward. Those who give in the synagogue and in the
streets publicly have received their reward – but all that will be is the
praise of others.
 Other important teachings that you have learnt….
Golden Rule
• Jesus moral teaching can be summed up in two sayings.
• The first is the Golden Rule:
In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is
the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
• The Golden Rule tells Christians to treat other people as they would
like to be treated.
 The Greatest Commandment
• The second is in Mark 12:28-34, where Jesus is asked what the
greatest of the commandments might be. Jesus took two of the Laws
from the Torah and joined them together:
The first is Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God, the Lord is one; you shall
love the Lord your God with all Love God your heart, and with all your
soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is
no other commandment greater than these.
• Thus, love of God and of neighbour are both vital and are like two
sides of the same, inseparable coin.