Build on the rock

February has been our month to review the Sermon on the Mount, viz. Matthew chapters 5 - 7.

Well here we are at the end of February (also marking the official end of summer here in Australia) and we haven't even talked about chapters 6 and 7! 

I've just read them in my copy of the Living Bible. 

Jesus' teachings are direct, practical, wise, and reassuring. They are our gold standard. Maybe we are still amazed at this sermon, as were the original listeners. It is recorded that he spoke with "great authority, and not as their Jewish leaders" (Matt. 7: 28 TLB).

Here's a passage that stopped me in my tracks this evening. Matt. 7: 24-25 - "All those who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents, and the floods rise and the storm winds beat against his house, it won't collapse, for it is built on rock."

Now, we know that Jesus gave Simon the new name of Peter after he impetuously speaks up and identifies Jesus as "the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Matt. 16: 16 TLB).  He says: "You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church..." (Matt. 16: 18 TLB). 

In her textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy tells us that "rock" stands for "Spiritual foundation; Truth" (SH 583)*. This hints at how we might build our lives on solid ground and thus avoid being blown off course when winds blow.

Readers will want to pull out their Concordances or open up the indispensable online Concord to study references to this mighty sermon in Mrs. Eddy's writings. Here are just a few to get us started: 

The first lessons of the children should be the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 3–17), the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6: 9–13), and its Spiritual Interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy, Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 3–12).
(Man. 62:24–4 The)

Every man and woman should be to-day a law to himself, herself, — a law of loyalty to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
(Mis. 12:12–14)

No purer and more exalted teachings ever fell upon human ears than those contained in what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount, — though this name has been given it by compilers and translators of the Bible, and not by the Master himself or by the Scripture authors.
(Ret. 91:5–10)

Genuine Christian Scientists will no more deviate morally from that divine digest of Science called the Sermon on the Mount, than they will manipulate invalids, prescribe drugs, or deny God.
(Rud. 3:14–17)

To my sense the Sermon on the Mount, read each Sunday without comment and obeyed throughout the week, would be enough for Christian practice.
('01 11:16–19)

Julie Swannell

*The whole definition reads: ROCK. Spiritual foundation; Truth. Coldness and stubbornness. (SH 583)

Matthew 5

I have neglected our February blog work but turned to the Sermon on the Mount this morning. So, what is the message Mind has for me this morning Sunday, 22^nd February 2026?

“Ye have heard that it was said….” Matt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43.

Why have I never noticed these introductory words throughout the latter part of Matthew 5 before?

 

Verse 21 Jesus begins to elaborate on the commands God gave to Moses.

The first is the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” Jesus warns of the dangers of being angry with one’s brother, or say to him “Raca.” (Google: Raca comes from the Aramaic term reqa. It was a derogatory expression meaning “empty-headed,” insinuating a person’s stupidity or inferiority.)

My goodness. What meaning is behind that word Raca which one doesn’t expect to find!

So. When we look at our fellow man, we are obliged to see nothing but God’s perfect man. No stupid or inferior or lacking in intelligence man or woman or child shall we see. The concluding verse of this chapter gives us the clue – “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)

 

Verse 27 handles “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Lust is equated with adultery, or rather, the starting point of it.

 

Verse 31 carries on the adultery theme with relation to divorce.

 

Verse 33 “Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.”

AI has for forswear, “...to swear falsely, commit perjury, or break a vow made in God’s name.”

There is one article in JSH-Online, Perjury and Profanity, by A. M. Crane in the February 1888 Journal which covers this fully. Here is an excerpt:

Jesus was talking to Jews. They recognized two offences: Profanity, or taking the name of God in vain; and Violation of Oaths, or what we should call, in the present day, Perjury. Taking an oath was to them no more of an offence than it is today in our courts of justice, where oath-taking is required; the offence was in Forswearing. Their distinction was very much like ours, and in the same line. They had a distinct formula of words for each offence.

 

Lev. 19:12: And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. The NRSV has, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.”

And of course, there is the seventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

 

Verse 38 “Ye have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.”

AI. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a principle of reciprocal justice—known as lex talionis—stating that a person who causes injury should be penalized to a similar degree. Found in the Bible Exodus 21:24 and the ancient Code of Hammurabi, it served to limit vengeance, ensuring punishment does not exceed the original crime. (Quoted from Wikipedia).

Jesus gives us a Christian view with: “That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (verse 39). He goes even further in verses 40-42. We are to give the man who takes you to court for a coat a cloak also; when compelled to go a mile with a man, go with him two miles; give to one who asks of you and lend.

 

Verse 43 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.”

We first hear “Love thy neighbour as thyself” in Leviticus 19:18, and as for “hate thine enemy,” AI says it is a traditional, human-added interpretation, a popular saying, not a command from God. However, Psalm 139:19-22 may be taken into account.

 

Verses 44-48 Of course, Jesus negates all the negatives with the verses following. And in Mary Baker Eddy’s Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 we have the wonderful chapter Love Your Enemies to direct our work. See Mis. 8-13. Hear Jesus’ words: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (verse 44).

 

To recap, the chapter ends, as has been said, with: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Joyce Voysey

"Makarios" unfolding

Since reading yesterday's lovely blog post by Joyce Voysey, I've re-visited the Greek word "makarios" which has been translated in the Sermon on the Mount (King James Version of the Bible) as "blessed".

Here are two meanings of the word makarios:

 - fully satisfied

 - joy independent of all chances

I like that meanings of words (ideas) can unfold to us. 

And I like the example of unfoldment shared at a recent online testimony meeting of The Mother Church.

A Sunday school teacher gave each student a sheet of newsprint and asked them to fold the page over as many times as they could until it was very small with just a few lines of print being visible. 

The students were then asked to read the story on that page. Of course, they could read very little. 

The teacher then instructed them to unfold the page just a little. Now they could read a bit more of the story. 

Little by little, more of the story was revealed as the number of folds was reduced, until finally the page lay completely open and the whole story was plainly visible.

Julie Swannell