Sermon on the Mount by Carl Bloch (1877)
The Message from Sunday, February 20, 2021
Scripture Readings:
Luke 6:17-38
The Message
"The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached"
Would you pray with me: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
The Greatest Sermon Ever
Preached came from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know it as the
“Sermon on the Mount.” Its words speak to us. It comforts us. And it
teaches us. Our founding Father, John Wesley, the father of Methodism
wrote and preached thirteen separate sermons on this one sermon which
our Lord shared with the multitudes. And today, I would like to share
some of his insights, along with some of what I leaned in my seminary
immersion experience in visiting the Holy Land virtually.
In John Wesley’s twenty-first sermon, [1] he tells us: “Our Lord had now 'gone about all Galilee', beginning at the time 'when John was cast into prison', not only 'teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom', but likewise 'healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people'. It was a natural consequence of this that 'there followed him great multitudes.” John Wesley later goes on to say: “And seeing the multitudes', whom no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, 'he went up into a mountain', where there was room for all that 'came unto him from every quarter'.
John Wesley tells us, that Jesus went up into a mountain where there was room for all. Yet how could the multitudes who followed him possibly hear what he had to say? Mount Beatitudes, as it is called today, overlooks the sea of Galilei and is actually about 82 feet below sea level.
Located not far from the town of Capernaum, which was the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilea, this hill with its hollowed slope serves as a natural amphitheater, amplifying the voice of any who speak. Therefore, Jesus went up into a mountain, into the hollowed slope of this hill, rather than up onto the mountain. Preaching in this hollowed slope, in a natural amphitheater, the multitudes could and did hear him.
And overlooking the sea of Galilei, the assembled crowd could be seen by the Romans who occupied a garrison just across the way. The Romans would have taken great interest in this gathering, possibly seeing it as a meeting for a potential uprising against Rome. And in a way, this gathering was an uprising. For Jesus turned upside down the worldly views of his time, and he continues to do so today.
In his sermon, John Wesley reminds us: “Let us observe who it is that is here speaking, that we may 'take heed how we hear'.” “It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all” “And what is it which he is teaching? The Son of God, who came from heaven, is here showing us the way to heaven, to the place which he hath prepared for us, the glory he had before the world began. He is teaching us the true way to life everlasting, the royal way which leads to the kingdom.” “For he taught them, (the multitudes) as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” “Nor was it only those multitudes who were with him on the mount to whom he taught the way of salvation, but all the children of men, the whole race of mankind, the children that were yet unborn – all the generations to come even to the end of the world who should ever hear the words of this life.”
John Wesley reminds us that it is God incarnate, Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things who is speaking to us in the words we heard today. And just as it was a message for the multitudes who gathered to hear Jesus speak, so too is it a message for us today. It is not the rich or the powerful who oppress the poor for their own self-worth and gains who Jesus has come to save. Rather he comes to the poor, to the hungry, to those who weep, to those who are hated, excluded, revile, and defamed. And Jesus warns of woe to come to those who are rich, withholding their earthly treasures for themselves. Woe to those take their fill, leaving others to suffer in hunger. Woe to those who laugh and ridicule others, putting them down to lift up themselves. It is a warning for them to change their ways.
And yet, Jesus tells all of us to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” [2] This is easier said than done, isn’t it? It is hard to turn the other cheek. It is hard to forgive when you have been sinned against and harmed. Yet Jesus asks us to “bless those who cure us” and to “pray for those who abuse us.” [3] He warns us not to judge, and not to condemn, but rather to forgive. He calls us to pray for those who cause us harm, and to forgive them even in the most difficult of situations. For is this not what Jesus did, as he hung upon that cross on Calvary.
Our Lord and Savior “was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;” and “upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” [4] Jesus is calling us to love our enemies, and to do good by them. He reminds us that Our Lord God Most High is kind even to those who are ungrateful and wicked. Does the sun not shine upon the just as well as the unjust? Does the rain that falls from heaven not quench the thirst of the rich as well as the poor? God pours out God’s love and grace upon all. God patiently waits for those who have not accepted his love to turn from their wicked ways, and to accept God’s mercy and grace given freely in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Jesus has set us free. He has shown us how we are to live in Holy Love. He gives us the way to heaven and life eternal. Let us be merciful as is our Lord and let us be generous in hearts as we seek to do good. May we be filled with Jesus’ power which comes out from him to be healed of our brokenness; to be healed of our sins, forgiven and made whole by the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of the only Son, Jesus Christ for the Glory of God the Father. Amen.
In John Wesley’s twenty-first sermon, [1] he tells us: “Our Lord had now 'gone about all Galilee', beginning at the time 'when John was cast into prison', not only 'teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom', but likewise 'healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people'. It was a natural consequence of this that 'there followed him great multitudes.” John Wesley later goes on to say: “And seeing the multitudes', whom no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, 'he went up into a mountain', where there was room for all that 'came unto him from every quarter'.
John Wesley tells us, that Jesus went up into a mountain where there was room for all. Yet how could the multitudes who followed him possibly hear what he had to say? Mount Beatitudes, as it is called today, overlooks the sea of Galilei and is actually about 82 feet below sea level.
Located not far from the town of Capernaum, which was the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilea, this hill with its hollowed slope serves as a natural amphitheater, amplifying the voice of any who speak. Therefore, Jesus went up into a mountain, into the hollowed slope of this hill, rather than up onto the mountain. Preaching in this hollowed slope, in a natural amphitheater, the multitudes could and did hear him.
And overlooking the sea of Galilei, the assembled crowd could be seen by the Romans who occupied a garrison just across the way. The Romans would have taken great interest in this gathering, possibly seeing it as a meeting for a potential uprising against Rome. And in a way, this gathering was an uprising. For Jesus turned upside down the worldly views of his time, and he continues to do so today.
In his sermon, John Wesley reminds us: “Let us observe who it is that is here speaking, that we may 'take heed how we hear'.” “It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all” “And what is it which he is teaching? The Son of God, who came from heaven, is here showing us the way to heaven, to the place which he hath prepared for us, the glory he had before the world began. He is teaching us the true way to life everlasting, the royal way which leads to the kingdom.” “For he taught them, (the multitudes) as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” “Nor was it only those multitudes who were with him on the mount to whom he taught the way of salvation, but all the children of men, the whole race of mankind, the children that were yet unborn – all the generations to come even to the end of the world who should ever hear the words of this life.”
John Wesley reminds us that it is God incarnate, Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things who is speaking to us in the words we heard today. And just as it was a message for the multitudes who gathered to hear Jesus speak, so too is it a message for us today. It is not the rich or the powerful who oppress the poor for their own self-worth and gains who Jesus has come to save. Rather he comes to the poor, to the hungry, to those who weep, to those who are hated, excluded, revile, and defamed. And Jesus warns of woe to come to those who are rich, withholding their earthly treasures for themselves. Woe to those take their fill, leaving others to suffer in hunger. Woe to those who laugh and ridicule others, putting them down to lift up themselves. It is a warning for them to change their ways.
And yet, Jesus tells all of us to “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” [2] This is easier said than done, isn’t it? It is hard to turn the other cheek. It is hard to forgive when you have been sinned against and harmed. Yet Jesus asks us to “bless those who cure us” and to “pray for those who abuse us.” [3] He warns us not to judge, and not to condemn, but rather to forgive. He calls us to pray for those who cause us harm, and to forgive them even in the most difficult of situations. For is this not what Jesus did, as he hung upon that cross on Calvary.
Our Lord and Savior “was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;” and “upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.” [4] Jesus is calling us to love our enemies, and to do good by them. He reminds us that Our Lord God Most High is kind even to those who are ungrateful and wicked. Does the sun not shine upon the just as well as the unjust? Does the rain that falls from heaven not quench the thirst of the rich as well as the poor? God pours out God’s love and grace upon all. God patiently waits for those who have not accepted his love to turn from their wicked ways, and to accept God’s mercy and grace given freely in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Jesus has set us free. He has shown us how we are to live in Holy Love. He gives us the way to heaven and life eternal. Let us be merciful as is our Lord and let us be generous in hearts as we seek to do good. May we be filled with Jesus’ power which comes out from him to be healed of our brokenness; to be healed of our sins, forgiven and made whole by the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of the only Son, Jesus Christ for the Glory of God the Father. Amen.
[1] John Wesley, “Sermon 21: Upon Our Lord’s Sermon On The Mount.” The Works of John Wesley: The Bicentennial Edition https://www-ministrymatters-com.dtl.idm.oclc.org/library/#/000wjw-new/640a42e18e1ecd59ff4591927f98f86f/sermon-21-upon-our-lordaposs-sermon-on-the-mount.html.
[2] Luke 6:27-28, NRSV
[3] Luke 6:27-28, NRSV
[4] Isaiah 53:5
Picture: By Carl Bloch -https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnRNQQcbhc9mVpfc7222-bHl9cQLLPh42NQ6JJODJtTJVw4qGjhbU8G2LYei5s86425A1PYzJpZ2sCgMVyO8oeAvbNrozB0f4ortpnXHijHd7lbNyiAFdtnu0Jv8rRQpGXG1BlyekJj3xy/s1600/Sermon_on_the_Mount_Carl_Bloch.jpg and Carl Bloch, p. 313, ISBN 9788798746591, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=186837
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