Matthew 5:1

THE BEATITUDES. -- Matthew 5:1-16.

GOLDEN TEXT. -- Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ -- John 1:17. TIME. --A. D. 28. PLACE. --In Galilee. Supposed to have been on Mt. Hattin,. hill south of the sea, on the road to Nazareth. Here, when the Crusaders were in Palestine,. great battle was fought between them and the Saracens. HELPFUL READINGS. -- Luke 6:12-19; Luke 6:20-28; Mark 3:7-8. LESSON ANALYSIS. --I. The Kingly Teacher; 2. The Heirs of the Kingdom; 3. The Joy of Persecution; 4. The Salt of the Earth.

INTRODUCTION.

. comparison of Matthew with Luke 6:12-19 enables us to form some conception of the circumstances that called out the most remarkable address that was ever delivered. The Lord had been engaged in his ministry near. year and. half; the preceding night had been passed alone in prayer; the apostles were then commissioned, and. charge given to them;. great multitude from all parts of Judea gathered during the day, eager to know more of the kingdom that they believed would soon be set up. Not even the apostles had any conception of the real character of that kingdom. They supposed it would be temporal, would bestow abundant temporal blessings, that the blessedness of its citizens would consist in power, riches, honors, exaltation, and security. The object of the discourse is to give. truer idea of the kingdom, of the character required for citizenship, of its relation to the Jewish commonwealth, and of what was needful to enter into the kingdom. The attentive reader will observe that it begins by. statement of what spirit is required to have the kingdom of heaven, and closes by. declaration of what must be done to enter the kingdom (Matthew 7:21-25).

I. THE KINGLY TEACHER.

1. Seeing the multitudes.

We gather from Luke, chapter 6, that the Lord passed the night in the mountain in prayer; in the morning he chose and ordained the twelve; he then came down to the plain, where he found. vast multitude, whom he taught. It seems from Matthew that when he saw them he again ascended the mountain to gain. convenient elevation. The Horns of Hattin, the traditional locality of the Sermon on the Mount, has. plain lying at its base. The mountain is about seven miles from Capernaum, is easily reached from the lake by. few minutes' walk, and has. level place suitable for the collection of. multitude, to whence he could come down from the higher horns.

When he had sat down.

This is the usual posture of an oriental teacher, and is the natural one for familiar instruction. Christ never sought to play the part of an orator, as is too often the case with those who preach his gospel, but in plain, simple, conversational style, he sought to plant his truths in the human heart.

His disciples came unto him.

His disciples probably includes more than the apostles, and means all of the multitude who came to be taught. These gathered about him, while the rest of the multitude were farther away.