Sunday, January 1 marks the beginning of a series of sermons which examine the teaching of Jesus. The first series will come from the Sermon on the Mount. In February we will begin a series on the Lord’s Supper, and so on. Please read through this week’s devotional guide to be prepared for Sunday’s launching of a deep study of Jesus’ teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5-7 and contains the most complete look at what Jesus’ taught his disciples in the Bible. John R. W. Stott writes that it is the “nearest thing to a manifesto that Jesus ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do.”

Introductory Overview of the Sermon on the Mount

“What great blessings there are for the people that want to do right more than anything else! God will fully satisfy them.”
— Matthew 5:6

Key Thought
Other translations use the wording of hungering and thirsting after righteousness where this translation refers to those who want to do right. Except for a voluntary fast, most of us who spend our time on the net don’t know what it’s like to be hungry. But nearly all of us, at one time or another, have been very, very thirsty! To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to want what pleases, honors, and reflects God more than anything else. To be righteous becomes our consuming passion. This spiritual commitment takes on a primal drive, much like hunger and thirst drive us physically. Like so many of these beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-11, finding our lives in God, his nature and his character is our only path to fulfillment.

Today’s Prayer
Holy and Righteous Father, while I know I can never even approximate the edges of your righteous character, please use the Holy Spirit to make me into the person who reflects your holiness to those around me. Where I am inconsistent, please help me become faithful. Where I am tempestuous and undisciplined, please bless me with self-control. Where I am insensitive and unfeeling, please help me see life from the point of view of others. O Father, I so much want to please and honor you in what I say and do. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Today’s Verses in Context
Jesus saw the many people that were there. So Jesus went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him. Jesus taught the people. He said: “What great blessings there are for the people that {know they} have spiritual needs! The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. What great blessings there are for the people that are sad now! God will comfort them. What great blessings there are for the people that are humble! They will have the land {God promised}. What great blessings there are for the people that want to do right more than anything else ! God will fully satisfy them. What great blessings there are for the people that give mercy to other people! Mercy will be given to them. What great blessings there are for the people that are pure in their thinking! They will be with God. What great blessings there are for the people that work to bring peace! God will call them his sons and daughters. What great blessings there are for the people that are treated badly for doing good! The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. “People will say bad things against you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things against you because you follow me. But when people do those things to you, know that God will bless you. Be happy and glad. You have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did those same bad things to the prophets that lived before you. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its taste, then it cannot be made salty again. Salt is good for nothing, if it loses its salty taste. It must be thrown out and people walk on it. “You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. No. People put the light on a lamp table. Then the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that people will see the good things you do. Live so that people will praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:1-16

Related Scripture Readings
Christ had no sin. But God made him become sin. God did this for us, so that in Christ we could become right with God.
2 Corinthians 5:21

A deer gets thirsty for water from a stream. In the same way, my soul is thirsty for you, God.
Psalm 42:1

But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” So the followers asked themselves, “Did somebody already bring Jesus some food?” Jesus said, “My food is to do what the One (God) who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do.
John 4:32-34

Hymn of the Week: Purer in Heart, O God, by Fannie E. Davidson, 1877.

This hymn captures the spirit and intention of the Sermon on the Mount, namely, to be more like what God created us to be: pure in heart, obedient, and sinless. Hymns like this are, with their melodies, a good way to recall the direction we are called to walk in as Jesus disciples. Read and enjoy.

Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
May I devote my life wholly to Thee:
Watch Thou my wayward feet,
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart, help me to be.

Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
Until Thy holy face one day I see:
Keep me from secret sin,
Reign Thou my soul within;
Purer in heart, help me to be.

Prayer for the Week:
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the light of your incarnate Word – Jesus:
Grant that this light, blazing in my heart, may shine forth in my life;
I pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.