The Sermon on the Mount

What does a life that is pleasing to God look like? How we answer

this question shapes our religious lives as well as the religious practices

we follow. The Gospel of Matthew uses the word righteousness to

refer to a life that is pleasing to God.

In an insightful study of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, biblical scholar

Steve Langford uses Jesus’s statement about “a righteousness that

exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” as a guide to interpreting

the sermon. Langford uses the beatitudes to identify the foundational

attitudes of Jesus’s heart-oriented spirituality (righteousness) and

the impact those attitudes have in the lives of his followers. As

he explores the remainder of the sermon, Langford details how

Jesus addressed four barriers to his heart-oriented spirituality. The

sermon’s conclusion reflects the life-defining choice faced by the

original audience. Included are reflection questions that help believers

personalize Jesus’s teachings.

The Sermon on the Mount is a thought-provoking study of the teachings

of Jesus that encourages believers to embrace an authentic or healthy

spirituality in order to live a life that is pleasing to God.