Hindsight

When we look at the story Jesus tells at the end of the sermon on the mount we don’t often fully grasp the significance of that summation.

Matthew was a tax collector.  As a tax collector he was trained in a Roman form of short-hand.  When he listened to Jesus sermons I’m sure he took a few notes.  So when we read Matthew we find 5 major sermons given by Jesus.

Yet when I read the sermon on the mount it doesn’t really read as one sermon, it feels more like a compilation of the poignant ideas of many sermons blended together by topic.  In fact that’s the way the Old Testament recorders of history put together their stories.  They didn’t feel it necessary to put stories in chronological order but sometimes preferred topical order. 

Matthew puts this house on the rock story at the end of what we call the sermon on the mount.  So we need to think of it as the culmination, pinnacle, apex and climax of Jesus story.  We also need to use it to interpret the entire sermon.  

When you go see a movie and you find out who the murderer is at the end, all of a sudden all the clues throughout the movie make sense.  The same is true of the sermon on the mount.

Therefore you can read the sermon on the mounts as follows:

If you apply the Beatitudes (5:1-20) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the King’s Edicts (5:21-48) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Strategy for Spiritual Growth (6) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Relationship of Father to Son (7:1-23) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

Read through Matthew 5, 6, & 7 and see if this story helps you read the rest of the sermon.