Chapter III: The Sermon on the Mount
Matt. v., vi., vii.; Luke vi. 20-49.
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| The Sermon on the Mount. J-J Tissot. |
Beneath such poetic parallels is there really any underlying truth? Can the Sermon on the Mount be set side by side with the Tables of Stone, graven by the hand of Jehovah, or in point of fact, did Jesus actually present to us a Code of Christianity? There is nothing to prove that this discourse, as preserved by Saint Matthew, had any such distinctive character; that the Evangelist made choice of this one in particular was because no other seemed to him better fitted to convey an idea of the Master's teaching. Indeed Jesus could not have found any more favourable opportunity for disclosing His doctrine.
Up to this time He never had had gathered about Him an audience having knowledge enough of heavenly things to enable them to understand Him; later on, being surrounded by spies, He had not the same liberty, and was often forced to use mystical language and to speak in parables. But at the time of the Sermon on the Mount the Saviour’s enemies were not tracking His footsteps so closely as to hound Him through every secluded spot like this; they were content to keep watch upon Him in the towns and synagogues. Freed for the time being from the hunter’s pursuit, and speaking to people who were wholly devoted two Him, Jesus could ease His overflowing heart, and reveal in its fullness the light He had brought into the world. The Sermon on the Mount, although quite similar in form to other of the Saviour’s instructions, has been chosen, however, for very good reasons, as being the completest expression of the doctrine of Christianity and a brief epitome of the Gospel.
We possess two accounts of it, Saint Luke's summary, written for the Pagan converts, which contains no allusion to Judaic custom; and the text of Saint Matthew, in which the Master’s words are reflected as in a clear and spotless mirror. In the latter record the whole scene about Him as He preached lives again before our eyes: the meadows dotted over with brilliant lilies, the thorn bush thickets, the rich greenery of the vines, fig trees growing alongside the thistles, birds flitting across the clear blue sky, while over yonder, around the doors of those humble cottages, you can see the cattle grazing, or at rest; there are fishermen coming up from the neighbouring shores of the lake, men who would be horrified at the thought of giving their children a serpent instead of a fish. From the high lands of Kourn Hattin, at one time, the Saviour could point out on the distant horizon some city built upon a hill; then again, close at hand, in the little hamlets among the mountains, He could remind these village-folk how the savourless salt is thrown out into the street, or He would picture them a scene within the walls of their farm houses, recalling the single flaring torch which they were accustomed to light at evening, hanging it over the heaps of grain so as to measure them off bushel by bushel; and from this He took occasion to say: "You are the light of the world; no one lights the lamp in order to put it under a bushel, but to set it within its socket, so that it may illumine the whole house; thus let your light shine before men."
By describing time and place so minutely Saint Matthew lets us know that he was one of the listeners to the heavenly discourse on this occasion; but need we conclude from this that he has given us every word uttered by the Lord on that great day? The most learned expounders have always held the opposite opinion, and everything sustains their theory, the concise expression of the ideas, the abundance of maxims, the brusque transitions, the parables and the similitudes but barely suggested; indeed, the divine Master was not accustomed to speak in such style. Suiting His words to the comprehension of the simple, earnest minds of His hearers, He would repeat one thought over and over again, putting it before them and under a new form each time until it was fully grasped; thus He followed no order, save only such as was prompted by a Heart which would sacrifice everything to its one longing to be known and loved. For Saint Matthew to recount these Homilies word for word would have been to go beyond the scope of his Gospel, since we know that Jesus was never too tired to prolong His instruction while there were souls who needed His help. The Evangelist is chosen rather to select such sayings of the Master as he deemed best adapted to represent His teaching.
Of all the words that fell from His lips on that day none were more strange and surprising in their tenor then the Beatitudes proclaimed by the Saviour; for every prejudice of Israel was overthrown by them. In truth, Moses, by making use of material images to move this worldly minded people, had thought to reach their hearts by setting before their eyes the earthly rewards of righteousness, and had promise Israel that its glory or its shame would finally depend upon its faithfulness to Jehovah. The Jews had concluded from this that prosperity always attends upon the godly man; that wealth being a mark of God's favour, sorrow and trouble are sure tokens of His wrath. Hence arose, despite the spirit of charity which breathes throughout the Law, that scorn of poverty and their harsh usage of the unfortunate and sick, whom they regarded as sinners meeting with a just punishment; hence too they imbibed the mistaken ideas as to the Messiah, who was to raise up their nation to the pinnacle of Glory and riches.
Few were the words which Jesus used to dispel such dreams as these. Instead of wealth He set before these Jews the happiness of the poor; to the passionate spirits whose visions are all have great victories perhaps he speaks of meekness; tells the hearts in love with pleasure that there is joy in the gift of tears; to the hungry and thirsty He says that righteousness shall sustain them; preaches mercy to the pitiless natures, the loveliness of purity to the sensual man; teaches the blessed us of the peaceful and long suffering to the people writhing beneath a yoke. What a disenchantment for the mighty ones of this world! But for the poor and the lowly of earth was there ever revelation so unhoped for? Only consider for a moment how dreadful their destitution was, even here in Israel; think of the oppressions enjoyed by the weak and gentle; imagine the despair of those whom misfortune had overcome, who had no-one to wipe away the tears; and remembering this we can understand the joy of wretched and weary souls when they heard the Christ speaking these words to them:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, because to them belongeth the Kingdom of Heaven.
"Blessed are those who weep, because they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, because they shall possess the land.
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice because they shall have their fill.
"Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the peace-makers, because they shall be called the Children of God.
"Blessed are those who are pure of heart, figures they shall see God.
"Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice’ sake, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."
Seeing the Master destroy so many of their illusions, the Jews might well believe he wished to revolutionise all Israel; and indeed this is why the He was so careful to add that His Mission was not to abolish the Law, but to elevate it to the point of perfection. Moses had said: Thou shalt not kill; Jesus would even forbid angry words and feelings of hatred. Moses denounced adultery; Jesus condemned an impure glance or an evil thought. Moses tolerated divorce; Jesus restored marriage to its primitive sanctity. It was written in the Law, "Thou shalt not perjure thyself, but thou shalt perform thine oaths unto the Lord."
"And now," spoke the Christ, "I say to you: Do not swear at all, neither by Heaven nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem. Let your speech be: ‘This is so,’ ‘That it is not so,’ — ‘Yes,’ ‘No.’ Everything which is more than this comes from and evil source."
"You have heard that it has been said: Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. And now I say to you, Do not withstand violence; but if anyone strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other. And if anyone wish to enter into judgment with you, and contend with you for your tunic, let him take your mantle also. And if anyone force you to go one mile, go with him two miles more. Give to whoever asks, nor rebuff him who would borrow of you."
Still these divine instructions lacked somewhat of fulfilling the ancient Law in its perfectness. To completely develop its germ of life, and to make it bear the fruits of grace, it was necessary that Jesus should shatter the close and narrow circle within which the Jews had confined it; therefore He must first work a change in the feelings toward other nations. Moses, knowing the weakness of His people, had prohibited any commerce with Idolaters; the Jewish Doctors had turned this precaution into an odious precept, looked upon every foreigner as an enemy, and wrote down such ruthless and dicta as were afterwards to find a place in the Talmud: "Have no pity upon Gentiles." "And the Pagan is not our neighbour." Against this Law of Hate Jesus pleaded for Charity, which finds its brothers in all mankind, and in God their common Father.
"Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; pray for those who maltreat you and slander you, in order that you may be the children of your heavenly Father, who makes His sun rise upon the good and upon the bad, and sends down rain upon the just and unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward shall you merit? Do not the publicans as much? And if you greet your brethren only, what more are you doing? Do not Pagans the same? Be you therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
How differently the Law sounded, listening to the Lord's simple reading of it, and contrasting it with the hypocritical practices which the Pharisees had miscalled the Law! Jesus denounced these sectaries, zealous to preserve a decorous outside, but caring nought for the corruption and malice seething in their own hearts, sounding trumpets when they gave alms to publish their virtues before the world, disfiguring themselves to make a show of their fasts before men, haughtily standing up and praying with a loud voice in the synagogues hand on the corners of the streets.
"Do not imitate them," said the Saviour, "for your Father knows of what you had need before you ask it of Him. As for you, pray thus:
"Our Father Who art in Heaven;
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven;
"Give us this day our daily bread;
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
"And lead us not into temptation;
"But deliver us from evil."
Nothing could show better than this prayer how Jesus would change the sons of Israel into a new people by diverting their desires from us and raising them to Heaven, by proposing nobler ends as the rewards of righteousness. Undoubtedly Heaven existed for the Jews as it does for us today, yet he never lifted his eyes on high, but looked for his recompense here below. The disciple of Jesus, taught to long after celestial goods, spurns such as are the creatures of time; for his thoughts are all fixed on incorruptible and eternal things. In this new realm of the Spirit he does not fail to fulfil all the duties of life, nor to endure its trials. He fasts as formerly, but with a serene countenance, seeking to attain by mortification to a real detachment from worldly feelings, and to a complete or union with God. He prays, but it is in secret he communes with the Father; he distributes alms, but without letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing. With toil and trouble he seeks his daily bread, yet without uneasiness or anxiety, without clinging to the treasures which rust can corrode and thieves filch away; not, like the Jews, seeking to share his heart between God and Mammon, but rather putting all his trust in the Providence of the Father, he relishes, through all their loveliness, something of the holy Truth of his Master’s words:
"Be not harassed about your life, what to eat or what to drink, nor for your body as to how you shall be clothed. Is not the life more than the food, and the body more than the raiment?
"Look up at the birds in the sky: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into granaries, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you much more than they?
"And which one of us by disquieting himself can add another moment to his life's allotted span?
"Why are you solicitous as to your raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and nevertheless I say to you not Solomon himself in all his Glory was ever arrayed like one of these wild flowers.
"If then, this grass of the fields, which is today, and tomorrow will be cast into the oven, God doth attire after this sort, how much more shall He do unto you, Oh Ye men of little faith?
"Do not be troubled therefore, saying, What shall we eat? Or What shall we drink? Or wherewith shall we be clothed? The Pagans seek after these things, but your Father knows that you have need of them.
"Then seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you, added unto them.
"Be not anxious concerning the morrow. The morrow shall be anxious for itself. Unto each day its own evil suffices."
To these instructions, which were the striking features of the discourse, said Matthew adds certain precepts, given by the Saviour at the same time. It is difficult to find the link which bound together these thoughts and images of widely different nature; probably it is useless to seek any connection of the kind, the design of the Evangelist being, not to present us with a body of doctrine, but to preserve such few sentences as still lingered fresh in his memory.
"Judge not, and you shall not be judged... You give, and it should be given unto you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they shall pour into your bosom." Here upon the Lord speaks of the two blind men, one of whom cannot lead the other without both falling into the ditch; of the mote and the beam; of the pearls put before swine; of the Door opening wide to whosoever knocketh earnestly. "Who is the man among you who gives his son a stone when he asks for bread? And if he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you, then, wicked though you be, willingly give to your children of the good things which are given you, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give truly good gifts to them that have recourse unto Him!" Then, as the Master’s thoughts follow one upon the other in swift sequence, we see the smooth and spacious high road which sweeps on to perdition; the little gateway and the narrow path which leads to life; there are the false prophets clad in sheep's clothing, whom you may recognise as you test a tree by its good or bad fruits. Finally we find that room and the false disciples of the Christ, "cats or those who say, Lord! Lord! Shall not for that reason enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."
Jesus terminated these teachings with a striking figure. He had before His mind one of those sheltered ravines which had cut deep into the flanks of some mountainside, while its floor is strewn with rocks and sand. For the Oriental there is every temptation to build here in the bed of dried-up torrents: he has little more to do than to stoop and collect together the smooth stones; it costs but a little labour after that to level away the sand and erect his home. And yet, woe to the imprudent fellow who lets himself be seduced by the seeming security and safety of this sheltered spot, where no toil is needed to the making of his dwelling! Beneath those southern skies storms burst forth in an instant, emptying streams of water down upon the mountain tops; then of a sudden these parched channels which wind through the gorges are transformed into raging torrents once more. Before the mighty onrush of the waters everything is crumbled crushed and whirled away in confusion. It were wisdom to dig one’s solid habitation deep and strong among the higher rocks; there, raised upon its firm base, his home can defy the fury of tempest and floods.
"Whoever," said the Lord, "hears these my words and puts them in practice I will show you to whom he is like.
"He is like to a man who building a house, and having dug deep beforehand, sets its foundations upon the rock.
"The rains fall, the floods come, the wins below and beat about this house; but it has not fallen, because it is founded on the rock.
"And he who hears these words which I speak and does not put them in practice is like a foolish man who has built his house upon the sand.
"The rain falls, the floods come, the winds blow and beat about this house, and it has fallen, and its a ruin has been great."
Such was the Sermon on the Mount. With a deep respect we may thus gather together all that Saint Matthew and Saint Luke have remembered and recorded; but there is that which they were unable to set down here, the heavenly accents of the Master and the grace which exhaled from His lips. The listening throngs were touched with wondering rapture. That which charmed them more than all besides was that He spoke and "taught as one having authority, and not as their Scribes." Never before, indeed, had Israel hearkened to language like this; they no longer heard teaching like that of their Doctors, a dry and heartless code of ethics, unending disputes about trivial subjects; here was no strained or tedious interpretation of the Law, no slavish attachment to the dead letter. Everything about Jesus bespoke the sovereign Master of the hearts of men, lifting them up toward the Truth, yet without wrenching them away from earth; the loftiest subjects were set before them in such homely phrases that the lowly folk and little ones could grasp His meaning. He spoke to the villagers of life in the open fields, of trees in fruit or with barren boughs, of wildflowers and of mountain torrents; to the fishermen who spoke of their lake or of their nets; to all He told of what they knew and loved, and they all, bending forward with rapt and breathless interest, followed the Word in wonder and delight.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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