The roller-coaster weather continues to flank the area this week. The good thing is it cools down in the day, the bad is its high humidity makes most of us uncomfortable. Oh well, life is not always pleasant and perfect – sometimes, it is like Job’s response to his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity 難道我們從神手裡得福，不也受禍嗎? (Job 2:10)”. Ha..ha..ha..

Last week I shared with you one of the two themes from a retreat, today let me try to summarize another one, titled, “How to practice the Sermon on the Mount 如何實行登山寶訓”. The speaker is pastor Huang from New Jersey. The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’ teaching recorded in Gospel Matthew chapter 5 to chapter 7. How to interpret and practice the Sermon on the Mount has been a difficult subject throughout church history, since 16th century. For examples:

• If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 若是你的右眼叫你跌倒，就剜出來丟掉！寧可失去百體中的一體，不叫全身丟在地獄裡。 若是右手叫你跌倒，就砍下來丟掉！寧可失去百體中的一體，不叫全身下入地獄。(Matthew 5:29-30)
• But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 只是我告訴你們，不要與惡人作對。有人打你的右臉，連左臉也轉過來由他打 (Matthew 5:39)

The main difficulty lies on: do we practice the teaching “literally” or “spiritually”? Because of the diverse opinions, there are at least 6 different interpretations and practices as of today, per pastor Huang. The key to interpret the teaching correctly is to know its intended audiences and its historical background. Its background, according to pastor Huang, is from Isaiah 61:1-3 which foretells the coming of Messiah. And Jesus told His hometown people at Nazareth that He is the one who will be fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor主的靈在我身上，因為他用膏膏我，叫我傳福音給貧窮的人，差遣我報告被擄的得釋放、瞎眼的得看見，叫那受壓制的得自由，報告神悅納人的禧年(Luke 4:18-19)”

Pastor Huang also indicated that the intended audience for Jesus’ teaching is mainly for His disciples. However, crowd of Jews is also presented at that time. To be more specific, Matthew 5:3 to 7:12 is intended for disciples, while 7:13 to 7:28 is for general public. For example, depending on audience, the Beatitudes which is from 5:3-5:10, can be a commending or a demanding to the audience. When we realize that “Jesus is Messiah” and His intended audience, we then can understand the reason why Jesus said,

• “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 莫想我來要廢掉律法和先知，我來不是要廢掉，乃是要成全。(Matthew 5:17)
• For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 我告訴你們、你們的義、若不勝於文士和法利賽人的義、斷不能進天國。(Matthew 5:20)
• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 凡稱呼我『主啊，主啊』的人不能都進天國，唯獨遵行我天父旨意的人才能進去。(Matthew 7:21)

In the Beatitudes, per pastor Huang, the first 4 is focusing on God’s righteousness and the next 4 is focusing on how to live out the righteousness. Also, the first one (#1) and the last one (#8) are using present tense while #2 to #7 are in passive tense. To the disciples, the Beatitudes is Jesus’ commending to them. On the other hand, it is a demand to the general public to accept Him as the Messiah then you can see the kingdom of heaven.

In summary, the Sermon on the Mount is for Christians to follow the teaching according to Holy Spirit’s guidance, to live out God’s righteousness described in the Beatitudes. For those who are still non-believers, the Sermon on the Mount demands them to receive Jesus as the Savior first, then they can enter the kingdom of heaven.

Hope the summarized material can be of use to you….

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.