Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 54:214 (Apr 1897)
Article: The Place Of The Sermon On The Mount In The Christian System.
Author: A. A. Berle

BSac 54:214 (April 1897) p. 381

The Place Of The Sermon On The Mount In The Christian System.

A. A. Berle

A SERIOUS error seems to be increasingly prevalent concerning the place which, the Sermon on the Mount was designed to occupy amid the remedial agencies of the gospel. We hear much said about going back to the Sermon on the Mount, as if by so doing we should gain a distinct vantage-ground, and clear ourselves from later and useless excrescences; whereas the fact is that the Sermon on the Mount, by reason of the time at which it was delivered, if for nothing else, is occupied with only one phase of Christian truth, and would be extremely defective if made to stand by itself. The Sermon on the Mount is the law, and not the gospel, and, like the law of Moses, is but the schoolmaster leading to Christ. The more distinctive elements giving power to Christ’s works and words were brought to light subsequent to the delivery of this sermon. Indeed they were not available to the world until after Christ’s death and resurrection and the spiritual manifestation of Pentecost, and would now be largely beyond our reach but for the apostolic epistles which unfold and enforce them.

The truth of these statements will appear from even a. hasty glance at the sermon. The Beatitudes pronounce blessings only upon those who have kept the law, and the standard set up is one to which none of the hearers could say that he had attained. Who of Christ’s hearers could have said that he was one of the really poor in spirit, of the meek, of the merciful, of the pure in heart, of the peacemakers, and of those that hunger and thirst after righteousness? But only they were to be blessed. What chance therefore did the multitudes have, or does mankind in general have, to become partakers of these promises?

In the specific sections upon the fulfilling of the law, the exalted character of the standard set up appears in most emphatic terms. “Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven… . But I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire… . Agree with thine adversary quickly, …

BSac 54:214 (April 1897) p. 382

lest haply … the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the last farthing. … If thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee… . Resist not him that is evil; but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also… . But ...