Location of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Christ's Sermon on the Mount (with explanations). About the Providence of God

SERMON ON THE MOUNTAIN. Gospel of Matthew

After the election of the apostles, Jesus Christ descended with them from the top of the mountain and stood on level ground. Here His numerous disciples were waiting for Him and a great crowd of people gathered from all over the Jewish land and from neighboring places. They came to listen to Him and receive healing from their diseases. Everyone sought to touch the Savior, because power emanated from Him and healed everyone.

Seeing before Him a multitude of people, Jesus Christ, surrounded by His disciples, went up to the hill and sat down to teach the people.

First, the Lord indicated what His disciples, that is, all Christians, should be like. How they must fulfill the law of God in order to receive blessed (that is, in the highest degree joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. For this he gave nine beatitudes. Then the Lord gave teachings about the Providence of God, about not judging others, about the power of prayer, about almsgiving, and about many other things. This sermon of Jesus Christ is called upland.

So, among the clear spring day, with a quiet breath of coolness from the Lake of Galilee, on the slopes of a mountain covered with greenery and flowers, the Savior gives people the New Testament law of love.

IN Old Testament The Lord gave the Law in the barren wilderness, on Mount Sinai. Then a formidable, dark cloud covered the top of the mountain, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed and a trumpet sounded. No one dared to approach the mountain, except for the prophet Moses, to whom the Lord handed over the Ten Commandments of the Law.

Now the Lord is surrounded by a dense crowd of people. Everyone is trying to come closer to Him and touch, at least to the edge of His clothes, in order to receive grace-filled power from Him. And no one leaves Him without consolation.

The Old Testament law is the law of strict truth, and the New Testament law of Christ is the law of Divine love and grace, which gives people the power to fulfill God's Law. Jesus Christ Himself said, "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5 , 17).

THE COMMANDMENTS OF BLESS

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as a loving Father, shows us the ways or works through which people can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. To all who will fulfill His instructions or commandments, Christ promises, as the King of heaven and earth, eternal bliss(great joy, supreme happiness) in the future, eternal life. That's why he calls these people blessed, i.e. the happiest.

1. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Mat. 5:3)

Poor in spirit (humble)- these are people who feel and recognize their sins and shortcomings of the soul. They remember that without God's help they themselves cannot do anything good, and therefore they do not boast and are not proud of anything, neither before God, nor before people. These are humble people.

With these words, Christ proclaimed to mankind a completely new truth. To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it is necessary to realize that in this world a person has nothing of his own. His whole life is in the hands of God. Health, strength, ability - everything is a gift from God.

Spiritual poverty is called humility. Without humility it is impossible to turn to God, no Christian virtue is possible. Only it opens the human heart to the perception of Divine grace.

Physical poverty can also serve spiritual perfection, if a person chooses it voluntarily, for God's sake. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke about this in the Gospel to one rich young man: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven…”

The young man did not find the strength in himself to follow Christ, since he could not part with earthly wealth.

Rich people can also be poor in spirit. If a person understands that earthly wealth is perishable and transient, then his heart will not depend on earthly treasures. And then nothing will prevent the rich man from striving for the acquisition of spiritual goods, for the acquisition of virtues and perfection.

The Lord promises the poor in spirit a great reward - the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Mat. 5:4)

crying(about their sins) - people who mourn and cry about their sins and spiritual shortcomings. The Lord will forgive their sins. He gives them comfort here on earth, and eternal joy in heaven.

Speaking of weeping, Christ meant repentant tears and sorrow of the heart for the sins committed by man. It is known that if a person suffers and cries because of pride, passions or pride, then such suffering brings torment to the soul and does not give any benefit. But if a person endures suffering as a test sent by God, then his tears purify his soul, and after suffering the Lord will surely send him joy and consolation. But if a person refuses to repent and suffer in the name of the Lord and does not mourn his sins, but is only ready to rejoice and have fun, then such a person will not receive God's support and protection during his lifetime, and will not enter the Kingdom of God. The Lord said about such people: “Woe to you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and mourn” (Luke 6:25).

The Lord will console those who weep over their sins, grant them blessed peace. Their sorrow will be replaced by eternal joy, eternal bliss.

“I will change their sorrow into joy, and I will comfort them, and make them glad after their affliction” (Jer. 31:13).

3. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Mat. 5:5)

meek- people who patiently endure all sorts of misfortunes, without being upset (without grumbling) at God, and humbly endure all sorts of troubles and insults from people, without getting angry at anyone. Meek people are deprived of selfishness, pride, arrogance and envy, boasting and arrogance, vanity. They do not strive to get a better position or a higher place in society for themselves, they do not seek power over other people, they do not crave glory and wealth, since the best and highest place for them is not earthly illusory blessings and imaginary pleasures, but to be with Christ, imitating Him . They will receive a heavenly dwelling in their possession, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.

A meek person never grumbles either against God or against people. He always regrets the cruelty of the hearts of those who offended him and prays for their correction. The greatest example of meekness and humility was shown to the world by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when, crucified on the Cross, He prayed for His enemies.

According to the teachings of Jesus Christ, that person who is capable of repenting for his sins and realizing his shortcomings, who sincerely wept and mourned over sin together with Christ and worthily endured the torments of suffering, such a person is most likely to learn meekness from his Divine Teacher. As we can see, such properties of the human soul (which are indicated in the first two Beatitudes) as the ability to repent, as sincere tears for sin, contribute to the appearance and are inextricably linked with such a quality of the human character as meekness, which the third commandment says.

“When He saw the people, He went up into the mountain; and when He had sat down, His disciples came to Him.
And He, opening His mouth, taught them..." (Matthew, V 1-2)

First, the Lord indicated what His disciples should be, i.e. all Christians. How they must fulfill the law of God in order to receive a blessed (that is, in the highest degree joyful, happy), eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. For this, He gave the nine beatitudes. Then the Lord gave teachings about the Providence of God, about not judging others, about the power of prayer, about almsgiving, and about many other things. This sermon of Jesus Christ is called the Sermon on the Mount.

So, on a clear spring day, with a quiet breath of coolness from the Lake of Galilee, on the slopes of a mountain covered with greenery and flowers, the Savior gives people the New Testament law of love. And no one leaves Him without consolation.

The Old Testament law is the law of strict truth, and the New Testament law of Christ is the law of Divine love and grace, which gives people the power to fulfill God's Law. Jesus Christ Himself said: "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it" (Matt. 5:17).

(according to "The Law of God". Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy
-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm)

THE COMMANDMENTS OF BLESS

" If you love me, keep my commandments ".
GOSPEL FROM JOHN, ch.14, 15.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as a loving Father, shows us the ways or works through which people can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. To all who will fulfill His instructions or commandments, Christ promises, as the King of heaven and earth, eternal bliss (great joy, the highest happiness) in the future, eternal life. That is why He calls such people blessed, i.e. the happiest.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for those are the kingdom of heaven.	1. Blessed are the poor in spirit (humble): because theirs is (that is, it will be given to them) the Kingdom of Heaven.
	The poor in spirit are people who feel and recognize their sins and shortcomings of the soul. They remember that without God's help they themselves cannot do anything good, and therefore they do not boast and are not proud of anything, neither before God, nor before people. These are humble people.
2.Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.	2. Blessed are those who mourn (over their sins), for they will be comforted.
	Crying - people who mourn and cry about their sins and spiritual shortcomings. The Lord will forgive their sins. He gives them comfort here on earth, and eternal joy in heaven.
3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.	3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit (take possession of) the earth.
	The meek are people who patiently endure all sorts of misfortunes, without being upset (without grumbling) at God, and humbly endure all sorts of troubles and insults from people, without getting angry at anyone. They will receive a heavenly dwelling in their possession, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.
4.Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.	4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (those who desire righteousness); because they get fed up.
	Hungry and thirsty for the truth- people who zealously desire the truth, like hungry (hungry) - bread and thirsty - water, they ask God to cleanse them from sins and help them live righteously (they want to be justified before God). The desire of such people will be fulfilled, they will be satisfied, that is, they will be justified.
5. Blessed are the mercies, for they will have mercy.	5. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
	Gracious - people who have a good heart - merciful, compassionate to everyone, always ready to help those in need in any way they can. Such people will themselves be pardoned by God, they will be shown the special mercy of God.
6.Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.	6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
	Pure in heart are people who not only guard themselves from bad deeds, but also try to make their soul pure, that is, they keep it from bad thoughts and desires. They are close to God even here (they always feel Him with their soul), but in the future life, in the Kingdom of Heaven, they will forever be with God, see Him.
7.Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.	7. Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called (named) sons of God.
	Peacekeepers are people who do not like any quarrels. They themselves try to live peacefully and friendly with everyone and to reconcile others with each other. They are likened to the Son of God, who came to earth to reconcile sinful man with the justice of God. Such people will be called sons, that is, children of God, and will be especially close to God.
8. Blessed are the exiles for the sake of righteousness, for those are the kingdom of heaven.	8. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
	Exiled for the truth- people who so love to live in truth, that is, according to God's law, in justice, that they endure and endure all kinds of persecution, deprivation and calamity for this truth, but do not change it in any way. For this they will receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
9. Blessed are you, when they reproach you, and they give you up, and they say all sorts of evil words against you lying, for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is many in heaven.	Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad then, for great is your reward in heaven.
	Here the Lord says: if you are reviled (mocked at you, scolded, dishonored you), applied and falsely speak evil of you (slander, unfairly accused), and you endure all this for your faith in Me, then do not be sad, but rejoice and be glad, because the greatest, greatest reward in heaven awaits you, that is, a particularly high degree of eternal bliss.

ABOUT THE PROVISION OF GOD

Jesus Christ taught that God provides, that is, takes care of all creatures, but especially provides for people. The Lord takes care of us more and better than the kindest and most sensible father takes care of his children. He gives us His help in everything that is necessary in our life and that serves our true benefit.

"Do not worry (unnecessarily) about what you eat and what you drink, or what you wear," said the Savior. "Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into a barn, and your Heavenly Father feeds them; but are you not much better than them? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, nor spin. But I tell you that Solomon, in all his glory, was not dressed like any of them, but if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God dresses like that, how much more you, you of little faith! your Heavenly One knows that you have need of all this. Therefore, seek first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

ABOUT NON-JUDGING YOUR NEIGHBOR

Jesus Christ did not command to condemn other people. He said this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned. the judgment will be merciful to you.) And with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you again. : why do you like to notice even minor sins and shortcomings in others, but do not want to see big sins and vices in yourself?) Or, as you say to your brother: let me take the speck out of your eye; but, behold, there is a log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye (try first of all to correct yourself), and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother's eye" (then you will be able to correct the sin in another without offending or humiliating him).

ABOUT FORGIVENING YOUR NEIGHBOR

"Forgive and you will be forgiven," said Jesus Christ. "For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses."

ABOUT LOVE TO THE NEAR

Jesus Christ commanded us to love not only our loved ones, but all people, even those who offended us and harmed us, that is, our enemies. He said: “You heard what was said (by your teachers, the scribes and Pharisees): love your neighbor and hate your enemy. that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

If you love only those who love you; or will you do good only to those who do it to you, and will lend only to those from whom you hope to receive back, for what should God reward you? Don't lawless people do the same? Don't the pagans do the same?

So be merciful, as your Father is merciful, be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect?

THE GENERAL RULE FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEIGHBORS

How should we treat our neighbors always, in any case, Jesus Christ gave us this rule: " in everything you want people to do to you(and we, of course, want all people to love us, do us good and forgive us), so do you with them". (Don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do.)

ON THE POWER OF PRAYER

If we earnestly pray to God and ask for His help, then God will do everything that will serve our true benefit. Jesus Christ said this about it: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If he asks him for bread, would he give him a stone? And when he asks for a fish, would he give him a snake? If then, being evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him."

ABOUT ALMS

We must do every good deed not out of boasting before people, not for display to others, not for the sake of human reward, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor. Jesus Christ said: “Look, do not do your alms before people so that they see you; otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Heavenly Father. as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that the people may glorify them. Truly, I say to you, they already receive their reward. left hand yours does not know what the right one is doing (that is, do not boast in front of yourself of the good that you have done, forget about it), so that your almsgiving is in secret; and your Father, who sees the secret (i.e., everything that is in your soul and for the sake of which you do all this), will reward you openly" - if not now, then at His last judgment.

ON THE NEED FOR GOOD WORKS

So that people know that only good feelings and desires are not enough to enter the Kingdom of God, but good deeds are necessary, Jesus Christ said: "Not everyone who says to Me: Lord! Lord! - will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who the will (commandments) of my Heavenly Father", that is, it is not enough to be only a believer and pilgrimage, but we must also do those good deeds that the Lord requires of us.

When Jesus Christ finished His preaching, the people marveled at His teaching, because He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Pharisees taught. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him, and He, in His mercy, performed great miracles.

NOTE:
See in the Gospel of Matthew chapters - 5, 6 and 7, from Luke, ch. 6:12-41.
and the Law of God. Prot. Seraphim Sloboda-http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/bible/zb/zb143.htm
Prayers on the Internet.

Beatitudes
What is their meaning and difference from the Old Testament commandments
(conversation with Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Ilyich Osipov)

When it comes to Christian commandments, these words usually mean the well-known to all: “I am the Lord your God<…>may you have no other gods; do not make yourself an idol; do not take the name of the Lord in vain…” However, these commandments, through Moses, were given to the people of Israel 1,500 years before the birth of Christ.

In Christianity, there is a different code of relations between man and God, which is usually called the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12), about which modern man knows much less than about the Old Testament commandments. What is their meaning?
What blessing are we talking about? And what is the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament commandments?
We talked about this with a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Ilyich Osipov.

- Today the word "bliss" for many means the highest degree of pleasure. Does the Gospel presuppose just such an understanding of this word, or does it put some other meanings into it?
- There is one common thesis in the patristic heritage, which is found in almost all Fathers: if a person considers the Christian life as a way to achieve some kind of heavenly pleasures, ecstasies, experiences, special states of grace, then he is on the wrong path, on the path of delusion. Why are the holy fathers so unanimous on this issue? The answer is simple: if Christ is the Savior, therefore, there is some kind of big misfortune from which we all need to be saved, then we are sick, we are in a state of death, damage and spiritual clouding, which does not give us the opportunity to achieve that blissful union with God, which we call the Kingdom of God. Therefore, the correct spiritual state of a person is characterized by his desire for healing from any sin, from everything that prevents him from reaching this Kingdom, and not by his desire for pleasure, even heavenly. As Macarius the Great said, if I am not mistaken, our goal is not to receive something from God, but to unite with God Himself. And since God is Love, then the union with God joins us to that highest, which in human language is called love. A higher state for a person simply does not exist.

Therefore, the very word “bliss” in this context means communion with God, who is Truth, Being, Love, the highest Good.

What is the fundamental difference between the commandments of the Old Testament and the Beatitudes?

All the Old Testament commandments are of a prohibitive nature: “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not covet”… They were called upon to keep a person from violating the Will of God. The Beatitudes have a different, positive character. But they can only conditionally be called commandments. In essence, they are nothing but a representation of the beauty of the qualities of that person whom the apostle Paul calls new. The beatitudes show what spiritual gifts one receives new person if he follows the way of the Lord. The Decalogue of the Old Testament and the Sermon on the Mount of the Gospel are two different levels of spiritual order. The Old Testament commandments promise a reward for their fulfillment: that your days on earth may be long. Beatitudes, without canceling these commandments, elevate the consciousness of man to the true goal of his being: God will be seen, for beatitude is God Himself. It is no coincidence that such a connoisseur of Scripture as St. John Chrysostom says: "The Old Testament is separated from the New, as the earth is from heaven."

It can be said that the commandments given through Moses are a kind of barrier, a fence on the edge of the abyss, holding back the beginning. And the beatitudes are the open prospect of life in God. But without the fulfillment of the first, the second, of course, is impossible.

What is the "poor in spirit"? And is it true that in the ancient texts of the New Testament it says simply: “Blessed are the poor,” and the word “in the Spirit” is a later insert?
- If we take the edition of the New Testament in the ancient Greek language by Kurt Aland, where the interlinear references are given to all the discrepancies found in the found manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament, then everywhere, with rare exceptions, the word “spirit” is present. And the very context of the New Testament speaks of the spiritual content of this saying. Therefore, the Slavic translation, and then the Russian one, contains precisely “the poor in spirit” as an expression that corresponds to the spirit of the whole sermon of the Savior. And it must be said that this full text has the deepest meaning.

All the holy fathers-ascetics constantly and persistently emphasized that it is the awareness of one's spiritual poverty that is the basis of the spiritual life of a Christian. This poverty consists in a person's vision, firstly, of the damage to his nature by sin, and secondly, the impossibility of healing it with his own strength, without God's help. And until a person sees this poverty of his, he is not capable of spiritual life. Poverty of the spirit is essentially nothing but humility. How it is acquired is briefly and clearly discussed, for example, by St. Simeon the New Theologian: “Careful fulfillment of the commandments of Christ teaches a man his infirmities,” that is, reveals to him the illnesses of his soul. The saints affirm that without this foundation no other virtues are possible. Moreover, the virtues themselves without spiritual poverty can lead a person into a very dangerous state, into vanity, pride and other sins.

If the reward for the poverty of the spirit is the Kingdom of Heaven, then why are the rest of the beatitudes needed, because the Kingdom of Heaven already presupposes the fullness of goodness?

Here we are not talking about a reward, but about the necessary condition under which all further virtues are possible. When we build a house, we first lay the foundation, and only then we build the walls. In the spiritual life, humility - spiritual poverty - is such a foundation, without which all good deeds and all further work on oneself becomes meaningless and useless. This was well said by St. Isaac the Syrian: “What salt is for every food, humility is for every virtue. because without humility all our deeds, all virtues and all deeds are in vain. But, on the other hand, spiritual poverty is a powerful stimulus to a correct spiritual life, the acquisition of all other god-like properties and, thus, the fullness of the good.

- Then the next question is: are the commandments of beatitude hierarchical and are they a kind of system, or is each of them completely self-sufficient?

It can be said with full confidence that the first step is the necessary basis for receiving the rest. But the enumeration of others does not at all bear the character of some logically connected strict system. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke themselves, they are in a different order. This is also evidenced by the experience of many saints, who have a different sequence of acquiring virtues. Each saint had some special virtue that distinguished him from the rest. Someone was a peacemaker. And someone especially merciful. This depended on many reasons: on the natural properties of the individual, on the circumstances of external life, on the nature and conditions of achievement, and even on the level of spiritual perfection. But, I repeat, the acquisition of spiritual poverty, according to the teachings of the fathers, has always been regarded as an unconditional requirement, since without it the fulfillment of the remaining commandments leads to the destruction of the entire spiritual home of a Christian.

The Holy Fathers give sad examples when some ascetics who have achieved great talents could heal, see the future, prophesy, and then fall into the gravest sins. And the fathers directly explain: all this happened because, without knowing themselves, that is, their sinfulness, their weakness in the feat of purifying the soul from the action of passions, in other words, without acquiring spiritual poverty, they were easily subjected to devilish attacks, stumbled and fell.

- Blessed are those who weep. But people cry for different reasons. What crying are you talking about?
- There are many types of tears: we cry from resentment, weep from joy, weep from anger, weep from some kind of grief, weep from misfortune. These types of crying can be natural or even sinful.

When the holy fathers explain Christ’s blessing to those who weep, they are not talking about these reasons for tears, but about tears of repentance, contrition of the heart about their sins, about their powerlessness to cope with the evil that they see in themselves. Such lamentation is the turning of both mind and heart to God for help in spiritual life. And God will not reject the heart of the contrite and humble, and will certainly help such a person to overcome evil in himself and acquire good. Therefore, blessed are those who weep.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. What does it mean? In the sense that all the unmeek will eventually kill each other, and only the meek will remain on earth?
- First of all, it is necessary to explain what meekness is. Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) wrote: “The state of the soul, in which anger, hatred, remembrance and condemnation are eliminated from it, is a new bliss, it is called meekness.” Meekness, it turns out, is not some kind of passivity, weakness of character, inability to repulse aggression, but generosity, the ability to forgive the offender, not to return evil for evil. This property is completely spiritual, and it is a characteristic of that Christian who has conquered his egoism, conquered passions, primarily anger, which push him to revenge. Therefore, such a person is capable of inheriting the promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.

At the same time, the holy fathers explained that here we are not talking about this, our earth, filled with sin, suffering, blood, but about that earth, which is the abode of the eternal future life of man - the new earth and new heaven, about which the Apostle John the Theologian writes. in his Apocalypse.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. That is, it turns out that God treats the merciful differently than the unmerciful. He favors some and not others?

It would be a mistake to understand the word “pardoned” in a legal sense, or to believe that God, having anger against a person, but seeing his mercy towards people, transferred His anger to mercy. Here there is no judicial pardon of the sinner, nor a change in God's attitude towards him for his kindness. Rev. Anthony the Great explains this beautifully: “It is absurd to think that the Deity was good or bad because of human deeds. God is good and does only good things, remaining always the same; but when we are good, we enter into communion with God - by our likeness to Him, and when we become evil, we separate ourselves from God - by our dissimilarity with Him. By living virtuously, we become God's, and by becoming evil, we become rejected from Him; and this does not mean that He had wrath on us, but that our sins do not allow God to shine in us, but they unite them with tormenting demons. If later, by prayers and good deeds, we gain permission in sins, then this does not mean that we have pleased God and changed Him, but that by means of such actions and our turning to God, having healed the evil that is in us, we again become able to taste God's goodness; so to say: God turns away from the wicked is the same as to say: the sun hides itself from the blind. That is, pardon here does not mean a change in God's attitude towards a person for his mercy, but this mercy towards his neighbor makes a person himself capable of perceiving God's unchanging love. This is a regular and natural process - like is combined with like. The closer a person becomes to God through his mercy to his neighbors, the more God's mercy he becomes able to accommodate.

- Who are the pure in heart and how are they able to see God, who is the Spirit and about whom it is said: No one has seen God?

By “pure heart” the holy fathers understand the possibility of achieving dispassion, that is, liberation from slavery to passions, for everyone who commits sin, according to the word of Christ, is a slave of sin. So, as a person is freed from this slavery, he really becomes more and more a spiritual spectator of God. As we experience love, we see it in ourselves, so, similarly, a person can see God - not with external vision, but with an internal experience of His presence in his soul, in his life. How beautifully the Psalmist speaks of this: Taste and see that the Lord is good!

- Blessed are the peacemakers - who is this about? Who are the peacemakers and why are they promised bliss?

These words have at least two conjugate meanings. The first, more obvious, concerns our mutual relations with each other, both personal and collective, public, international. Those who disinterestedly strive to establish and preserve peace are gratified, even if this was associated with some infringement of their pride, vanity, etc. This peacemaker, in whom love overcomes his often petty truth, is gratified by Christ.

The second meaning, deeper, refers to those who, by the feat of struggle with passions, cleansed their hearts from all evil and became able to receive into their souls that peace about which the Savior said: My peace I give you; not as the world gives, I give to you. This world of the soul is glorified by all the saints, who affirm that he who acquires it acquires true sonship with God.

- Well, the last question - the exiled for the sake of truth. Isn't there a certain danger here for a modern person - to confuse their personal problems, which have caused unpleasant consequences for you, with persecution for Christ and the truth of God?

- Of course, this danger exists. After all, there is no good thing that cannot be spoiled. And in this case, we all (each one, to the extent of our susceptibility to passions) are sometimes inclined to consider ourselves persecuted for that truth, which is not at all the truth of God. There is an ordinary human truth, which, as a rule, is, in mathematical terms, the establishment of the identity of relations: twice two - four. This truth is nothing but the right to justice. V. Solovyov very accurately said about the moral level of this right: "Law is the lowest limit or a certain minimum of morality." Exile for this truth, if we correlate it with the modern context of the struggle for freedoms and human rights, it turns out, is not the highest dignity of a person, because here, along with sincere aspirations, vanity, and calculation, and political considerations, and others, not always disinterested, are often manifested. , motives.

What kind of truth did the Lord speak about, promising the Kingdom of Heaven to those who were exiled because of it? Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote about her: “Mercy and justice in one soul is the same as a person who worships God and idols in one house. Mercy is the opposite of justice. Justice is the equalization of the exact measure: because it gives to everyone what he deserves ... But mercy. compassionately bows to all: he who is worthy of evil does not repay him with evil, and he who is worthy of good fills him with excess. Just as hay and fire do not tolerate being in the same house, so justice and mercy are in the same soul.

There is a good saying: "Demanding your rights is a matter of truth, sacrificing them is a matter of love." God's truth is only where there is love. Where there is no love, there is no truth. If I say to a person with an ugly appearance that he is a freak, then formally I will be right. But God's truth will not be in my words. Why? Because there is no love, no compassion. That is, the truth of God and the truth of man are often completely different things. Without love, there is no truth, even if everything looks quite fair. And, conversely, where there is not even justice, but there is real love, condescending to the shortcomings of the neighbor, showing patience, there is true truth. St. Isaac the Syrian cites God Himself as an example: “Do not call God just, for His justice is not known in your deeds. more than that, He is good and gracious. For he says: There is good to the evil and the ungodly (Luke 6:35). The Lord Jesus Christ, being a righteous man, suffered for the unrighteous and prayed from the Cross: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Here, it turns out, for what kind of truth one can and should really suffer - for love for a person, for truth, for God. Only in this case, those persecuted for the truth will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

St.

Rev.

blissful

Rev.

St.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)

St.

St. Filaret (Drozdov)

St.

arch. Alexander Glebov

archim.

arch.

prof.

Trinity sheet

prof. CM. Sarin

HELL. Trinity

priest Vladislav Kumysh

Sermon on the Mount- a sermon in which the essence of the New Testament moral law (moral teaching) and its difference from.

The Sermon on the Mount was delivered on a hill near Capernaum in Galilee, following the call 12 . The content of the sermon is set out in the Gospel of Matthew ch. 5-7 and Luke ch. 6:17-49.

Sermon on the Mount

Archpriest Alexander Glebov

Bible History of the New Testament

Only in the Gospel of Matthew is there a coherent speech of Christ, consisting of separate sayings. These sayings concern the moral life of a person and his behavior. This speech is called the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a very meticulous composition. It is presented in a single block by the Evangelist Matthew in the fifth, sixth and seventh chapters, that is, it occupies three chapters. But, of course, it was not pronounced in the way described by the Evangelist Matthew. Let's say that the Evangelist Luke's topics that are touched upon by the Sermon on the Mount are scattered throughout the Gospel, which is probably more in line with the way Christ delivered his moral teachings. We cannot speak of the Sermon on the Mount as if it were a separate sermon delivered in one place. There are strong and convincing arguments that the Sermon on the Mount is much more than just one sermon. It's just that the Evangelist Matthew, for convenience, collected all the sayings of the Savior that relate to the moral life of a person and relationships between people, and combined them into one composition. For example, anyone listening to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount for the first time would simply be overtired long before it ended. It has too much to take in all at once. After all, it is one thing to sit and read, lingering, stopping while reading, comprehending what has been read. And it is quite another to listen to it for the first time in oral form. We can read as we are used to, at our usual speed, but hearing it for the first time means being overwhelmed with an excess of information, which means losing sight of much of the important content of this sermon.

The Gospel of Matthew is, first of all, the Gospel of Christian teaching. It is characteristic of Matthew that he collects the teachings and deeds of Christ into separate blocks. There is a section devoted to parables, there is a section on miracles, and there is a section on the doctrine of the end of the world. It is on this principle that Matthew brought together the moral teaching of Christ for the convenience of studying it. In the Gospel of Luke, the Sermon on the Mount immediately follows the selection of the twelve apostles. In the person of the apostles, Christ chooses his helpers, but in order for these helpers to successfully and effectively do their work, they must first be taught. Therefore, in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord gives instructions to his apostles, and through them to all of us. Since the Lord himself did not write anything down, everything that we know about him came down to us from his disciples, which is why it is called "Apostolic". Therefore, one theologian called the Sermon on the Mount: "a sermon on the occasion of the initiation into the dignity of the twelve." Just as a young priest who enters the ministry for the first time must be given a task, so Christ preached a sermon to the twelve disciples before they began their tasks. There is an assumption that, having finally chosen the twelve apostles, Christ retired with them for a week, maybe even more, to some quiet place and taught them during this time, and the Sermon on the Mount is already summary of that teaching. But this, of course, is only an assumption.

There is probably no other material in the Gospel that has been so thoroughly discussed as the Sermon on the Mount. The controversy began already in the first century of Christianity and continues to this day. Some understand the commandments literally, others symbolically, and many divisions have occurred in Christianity due to different understandings of the words of the Sermon on the Mount. Some currents that have arisen under the influence of the Sermon on the Mount in Russian culture are well known to us, for example, the Tolstoyans - followers of the religious teachings of the great Russian writer, Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Tolstoy in his own way understood some of the provisions of the Sermon on the Mount, for example, about non-resistance to evil. Tolstoy took this literally and much more than he opposed himself to the official Church. Some see in the commandments of the Sermon on the Mount requirements that cannot be fully fulfilled, and therefore they speak of the symbolic meaning of the commandments. Others see specific directions and talk about their literal meaning. When reading the Sermon on the Mount, we should not forget our personal experience. It is unlikely that there is any other gospel text that presented us personally, our conscience, with such demands as the Sermon on the Mount. We must take into account that the Sermon on the Mount was not delivered for our particular society, but was delivered in a specific historical setting. After all, it was not the Christians who listened to this sermon, but the Jews. It must be remembered that the commandments of the Sermon on the Mount were preceded by a thousand-year religious history of the Jewish people - a cult law, an ethical law. Therefore, the words of the Sermon on the Mount are addressed not just to the first comer, but to people who have already passed a long path of religious and moral development. This must be taken into account when we read the Sermon on the Mount.

Let's talk about the form of the Sermon on the Mount. The Evangelist Matthew tries to imitate the Torah. Christ ascends the mountain before delivering the Sermon on the Mount, from where He gives commandments to people and proclaims His moral law. In the minds of the Jews, all this was associated with the giving of the Old Testament commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here the Evangelist Matthew shows Christ as the new Moses. Christ began to teach when he sat down. It is very important. Christ sat on the pulpit as a teacher. During official teaching, the Jewish rabbi always sat. The Greek word for "pulpit" means "seating," and many European languages still say that the professor's desk is the pulpit. By the way, the Pope, when he speaks ex cathedra, from his seat, from his throne, when he speaks from the pulpit, then he proclaims the doctrine. It is upon this that the dogma of papal infallibility rests. The rabbi often taught while walking or walking, but he began the official teaching by sitting in his place, on the pulpit. Thus, the very indication that Christ sat down before he began to teach his disciples indicates that this teaching occupies a central place and is, as it were, official.

Before considering the very content of the Sermon on the Mount, we must think about how to understand what Christ said in it. This important question, for it is obvious that Christ here offers his teaching in a completely different way than the textbooks of ethics and even differently than the way ordinary people express the same thoughts. As a good teacher, Christ naturally uses forms of language and expression that mean a lot to those who hear Him. His teaching contains at least three distinctive features.

First. Most of the Sermon on the Mount is verse, although it is difficult for us to recognize this as poetry, since our poetry is built on the effect of rhyme and stress. Jewish poetry was different. It was based on the effect of parallelism, that is, the correspondence of thought. Similarities of thought or its differences. European poetry and Middle Eastern, including Jewish, are built on a completely different principles. We are accustomed to the so-called syllabic, rhythmic poetry. Any of our poems is divided into syllables, the stress falls on the syllables and a certain rhythm is obtained: "Frost and sun, a wonderful day ...". Syllabic rhythm creates our European poetry; it seems to originate from music. But there is a completely different kind of poetry in the Bible, and the Bible is permeated with poetry. There are a lot of verses there, but when we read the Bible, the Old Testament, we do not notice this, because we are used to other poetry. In the Bible, it is not the rhythm of syllables, but the rhythm of concepts, the rhythm of words, the rhythm of symbols, and this happens in the following way. For example, any psalm is poetry. "Psalm" means "song". It is divided into lines, and when the second line repeats the first line in meaning or negates it, then these lines are parallel or anti-parallel. When the second line repeats the first in meaning, this is called synonymous parallelism. And in the psalms, and in other poetic sections of the Old Testament, there are many examples of this. Any psalm, for example, the most famous, the 50th psalm begins like this: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy” - this is the first line. “And according to the multitude of Thy mercies cleanse my iniquity” is the second line. They are similar in meaning, just different words expresses the same idea. “Washed me most from my iniquity” is the first line. "And cleanse me from my sin." But “washed from iniquity” and “cleansed from sin” are the same thing. This is called in poetry parallelism or rhythm along parallels. This structure pervades almost the entire Bible, because the entire Bible is very poetic. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord follows this poetic tradition of his people. For example, Christ says: "Do not give anything holy to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine." Before us is genuine Jewish poetry, in which the second line repeats the thought, that is, it is parallel to the first, but uses a different image. The psalm consists of stanzas, each stanza has two lines, but each of the lines can be not only parallel, but also anti-parallel to the other. The anti-parallel type of Hebrew poetry is called antithetical parallelism. There are also many examples of antiparallelism. For example: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” or “He who believes in Me has eternal life, but he who does not believe goes to destruction.” Both lines contain similar lessons, but the thought is expressed using exactly opposite concepts. Such poetry is also found frequently in the Old Testament. Even the Lord's Prayer can be arranged poetically.

The second property of Christ's teaching is its figurativeness. Sometimes the teaching is given in the form of parables, other times it is just living illustrations from everyday life. Many parables teach moral lessons, but the Sermon on the Mount uses more imagery from real life. We often talk about ethics in the abstract, but Christ always operates with concrete things. For example, we can say this: "Materialism can be a hindrance to spiritual growth." And Christ said this: “No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon,” that is, more specifically.

Third. Christ teaches very vividly. He often resorts to exaggeration to underline the meaning. For example, He says that "It is better to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand than to fall into adultery." It is clear that Christ does not call us to self-mutilation, but He uses such extravagant language to make the hearers feel the seriousness of His message. Or, for example, “whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in Me, it would be better for him if they hung a millstone around his neck and drowned him in the depths of the sea.” Of course, this is not a call to kill. Here we are talking about the increased responsibility of those who, by their words or actions, can shake the faith in people. He also says: “Have the faith of God, for truly I say to you, if anyone says to this mountain, be lifted up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that it will come to pass according to his words, it will be for him whatever he says.” . But this does not mean that the degree of one's faith should be tested in this way - by commanding the mountains to plunge into the sea. By this comparison, the Lord makes it clear what power faith in Him has. Nothing is impossible for unshakable faith, because nothing is impossible for God. When we read the Sermon on the Mount, we must bear in mind these various tricks used by Christ in his gospel. Recognizing the various forms can help us better understand what Christ meant and what He spoke about.

So what kind of ethics did Christ propose? What principles of conduct should guide those who accept the divine will in their lives? There are two things that distinguish New Testament ethics from most other ethical systems.

First. The ethical teaching of Christ is absolutely inseparable from His teaching about the power of God in people's lives. Without understanding this, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount. All ethical systems have a foundation upon which they are built. The ethical teaching of Christ is based on the statement that the God who created and acted in the history of Israel in the Old Testament can be known in a real, personal way. The behavior and way of life of His followers are the way to know God. This principle has always been central to Judaism. The Old Testament itself was founded on a principle that is fundamental to the teachings of Christ in the New Testament as well. This basis is that the goodness of man has its origin in God. The central provision of one section of the Old Testament law was the statement: "Be holy, for holy am I, the Lord your God." And Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount: "Be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect." In the Old Testament, the Lord calls people to holiness, but why does he call? Why should people be saints? Because God is holy, and people should be like Him. "Holy be you, for holy am I, the Lord your God." And Christ gives the same justification for his moral teaching: "Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect," that is, we must be perfect, because God is perfect. The ethical standards required of God's people were no less than a reflection of the character of God himself. It is important for us to understand why we have been given the moral law. It is absolutely wrong to think that if we keep the commandments, then when we die, we will receive a reward for this, just as a child is encouraged by his parents for good behavior. And if we do not fulfill, then in the future we will face retribution. Of course, retribution exists, and each of us will receive what he deserves, but divine retribution is not a judge's sentence to a criminal for a crime committed. God in the legal sense does not punish or encourage. He just reveals inner world every person and the state of this world either dooms a person to suffering, or opens him to the joy of communion with God. In the Gospel there is a story about the healing of a demon-possessed person by the Lord. It is interesting that when Christ began to approach him, the possessed man shouted: "Do not torment me." This means that God, who is love, was a source of torment for a demon possessed by a person, which means that if people liken themselves to a dark force, if they do the will of the devil, and not the will of God, then standing before God will become a torment for a person. Not in the sense that God will begin to torment a person, but in the sense that a person will feel his complete incompatibility. After all, everyone feels comfortable only in the co-natural world, among like-minded people. For every normal person who accidentally stumbles, going to prison will be a torment, because he ended up in a world completely alien to him: with his own laws, concepts, vocabulary, outlook on life, and so on. But on the other hand, when an inveterate recidivist is released, he cannot find himself among normal people. This normal world is alien to him, he suffers in it. Such people often commit crimes again not for profit, but only in order to get back on the bunk, into the world of unfreedom, which frightens any person so much, but for a criminal it is natural. He is in the cell like a fish in water. This, of course, is a comparison, and although every comparison is inaccurate, it can nevertheless help us understand the nature of the suffering of a sinful human soul when it appears before God. In order for there to be no suffering, for the world of God to become close to the world of man, one must take upon oneself the work of forming the world of God in oneself. And so the commandments and, in general, all the moral provisions of the gospel teaching set forth in the Sermon on the Mount are the mechanisms, the tools by which a person forms the qualities of God in himself. God is not something amorphous, God is a living person, which means that He has a character, some qualities, properties. In the cycle of our conversations, I have already mentioned that man is created in the image and likeness of God. Similarity is the goal of human existence. As a result of life, a person must become like God, become like Him. By committing sin, people lost this ability, because they broke the connection with God, but in Christ the communication between God and people was restored. God entered the world by the power of his grace, and the goal of becoming like God became real again. The gift of grace is what God has done for us, and in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord tells us what we need to do to achieve this goal. With the help of the moral law, man - the image of God - develops himself to the likeness of God. Fulfilling the commandments, a person develops in himself the qualities of God, His character, acts as Christ did, and, as you know, like is known by like. Appearing after physical death before the face of God, a person finds himself in the close and co-natural world of the Kingdom of God.

The second basis of New Testament ethics - what does it consist of? One scholar, summing up all the provisions of the Sermon on the Mount, described biblical ethics as "the science of human behavior as determined by divine behavior", that is, people should act as God does. One of the most characteristic features God's action in Israel's experience is His willingness to care for people who don't even think about Him. Abraham was called out of Mesopotamia, he was given a new country, not because of any moral or spiritual superiority he would have, but simply because the attention and love of God were poured out on him. Israel was subsequently saved through all the hardships of the exodus from Egypt and what followed, not because of their own moral perfection, but simply because of the care of a loving God. On the basis of these undeserved acts of mercy, God made certain demands upon his people. After all, the ten commandments begin with the statement: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,” and so on. This is the premise upon which the commandments are based. Because God has done something for his people, he must repay Him with love and obedience. The same can be found in other places of the Old Testament law: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God delivered you, therefore I command you today ...”, then what He already commands. New Testament ethics have exactly the same basis. For example, it is striking that the apostle Paul, wishing to stop the ongoing strife in the Philippian church, calls not for ordinary common sense to solve the problem, but precisely for the same aspect of the character of God that we saw in the Old Testament. He gives an example of how God in Christ gave Himself for our salvation. I will read this passage: “For there must be in you the same mind that was in Christ Jesus: He, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; humbled himself, was obedient even unto death, and the death of the cross ”(). This is what the Apostle Paul makes the basis of his moral appeal to his readers: since Christ has given up everything for us, we must be ready to sacrifice our selfishness in order to be pleasing to Him. We must do as Christ did: "the same mind must be in you, which was in Christ Jesus." Elsewhere the apostle will say that we must have "the mind of Christ" (). This refers, of course, not to Divine Wisdom, but to the human mind of Christ. It is necessary to think in those categories in which He thought. And what kind of category is clear from the commandments and the ethical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.

So there are two points on which New Testament ethics is based. First, we must be perfect and holy, because God is perfect and holy, and people must be like him. And second, we must treat God the way He treats us. Ultimately, this is what Christ Himself proclaimed as the supreme and dual commandment to love God and neighbor. Through love for our neighbor, our love for God is manifested. When we love our neighbor, we try to treat God the way He treats us.

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Many Jews came to listen and be healed by Jesus. Many people were weak and sick, they wanted to touch Him, His garments, at least to the edge, because they believed that if they touched, they would be healed. Jesus, seeing this multitude, decided, together with his disciples, to climb the mountain near the Lake of Galilee. There He sat down and began to teach the people.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ pointed out what Christians should be like - they should be His disciples and should bear the commandments of beatitude. Further, His teaching was about the Providence of God, that one cannot condemn - one must forgive, love one's neighbor. It was also said about almsgiving and the need for good deeds.

Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ

Bliss commandments.

Jesus Christ shows us through what ways and deeds we can enter the Kingdom of God. To all who will fulfill His commandments, Jesus promises eternal bliss, that is, great joy, eternal life in the future.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me.
Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:3-12)

Blessed are the poor in spirit- the humble, who feel their shortcomings and are aware of their sins, understand that without God they cannot live and do a good deed.

crying- from their sins, about shortcomings in the soul. The Lord forgives our sins here on earth and comforts us.

meek- patiently endure all adversity, grief, do not get angry with anyone, give the situation into the hands of the Lord.

Hungry and thirsty- those who want to see the truth that receives in the word of God, who are thirsty for cleansing from sins and to be led by God. And they will be justified - they will be satisfied.

Gracious- people with a good heart, merciful, ready to help, such people will be pardoned themselves.

Pure in heart- Christians who take care of their hearts, purify their soul, protecting it from bad deeds and thoughts.

peacekeepers– Jesus commands to live in peace, friendliness and trying on others.

Exiled for the truth- Christians who live according to the word, the law of God, who endure all sorts of persecutions and disasters for him.

Do not be sad if they persecute you for the Word of God and slander you, the reward for this will be great - a particularly high degree of bliss.

25 Therefore I say to you, worry not for your soul what you should eat or drink, nor for your body what you should wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you much better than them?
27. And who among you, by taking care, can add even one cubit to his stature?
28. And what do you care about clothes? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: neither toil nor spin;
29 But I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like one of them;
30. But if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God so dresses, how much more than you, you of little faith!
31. So worry not, and say, What shall we eat? or what to drink? Or what to wear?
32. because the Gentiles are looking for all this, and because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this.
33. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.
(St. Matthew 6:25-33)

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said that God cares (provides) about man. He provides His help in everything that benefits us and that is necessary in life.

About not condemning your neighbor.

1. Do not judge, so that you will not be judged,
2. For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured to you again.
3. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye?
4. Or how will you say to your brother: “Give me, I will take the speck out of your eye,” but, behold, there is a log in your eye?
5. Hypocrite! first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
(St. Matthew 7:1-5)

Jesus did not order to condemn others, because with what coin you judge, such will you be judged, be indulgent, and God will be merciful to you at his judgment. Look for sin in yourself, destroy it, and do not search for such in others, we are all not perfect, but with God we can do more.

About forgiveness.

14. For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15. But if you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
(St. Matthew 6:14,15)

About love for your neighbor.

43. You heard what was said: love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,
45. May you be sons of your Father in Heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Do not the publicans do the same?
47. And if you greet only your brothers, what do you do especially? Don't the pagans do the same?
48. Therefore, be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
(St. Matthew 5:43-48)

Jesus commanded to love not only those close to you, because they are easy to love, but also your enemies. If we do good and give love only to relatives and friends, then why should God reward us? God wants us to take an example from His Son Jesus Christ.

General rule of dealing with neighbors.

12. Therefore, in everything you want people to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets.
(St. Matthew 7:12)

Do to people what you want for yourself, I think everyone wants to be loved and pitied, forgiven, so do it with your neighbor.

On the power of prayer

If we pray according to the word of God, with faith, diligence, we will receive everything that will help us for good.

7. Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you;
8. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
9. Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone?
10. And when he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake?
11. If then, being evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.
(Holy Gospel of Matthew 7:7-11)

About mercy.

1. Be careful not to do your charity in front of people so that they can see you: otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Heavenly Father.
2. Therefore, when you do alms, do not blow your trumpets before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward.
3. With you, when you do alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing,
4. that your charity be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.
(St. Matthew 6:1-4)

We must do all good deeds in the name of love for God, neighbor and His glorification, not for the sake of praise or for show. Do not boast of goodness even to yourself, forget about it, the main thing is that God remembers it.

On the need for good deeds.

22. Many will say to Me in that day: Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and did they not cast out demons in your name? and did not many miracles work in your name?
23. And then I will declare to them: I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity.
24. Therefore, whoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock;
25. And the rain came down, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and rushed against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on a stone.
26. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand;
27. And the rain came down, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and attacked that house; and he fell, and his fall was great.
(Holy Gospel of Matthew 7:22-27)

Jesus said that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, it is not enough just to be kind and think good things, good deeds are also needed.

The parable of the prudent builder teaches us on what basis we need to live and build our lives, so that in time of trouble we see the obvious privilege of living with God.

I want to dwell on the prayer of the Our Father. This is the only prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples as an example, showing with it all the greatness and power of our Father, His mercy and goodness towards us. Pray this prayer, learn it by heart.

9. Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven! hallowed be thy name;
10. Thy kingdom come; may Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
11. give us our daily bread for this day;
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors;
13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
(Holy Gospel of Matthew 6:9-13)

Blessings to you my dear readers, I pray for you!

INTRODUCTION

Jesus Christ is the founder of the world religion bearing His name - Christianity. He is also the creator of life teaching, which can be briefly defined as the ethics of love. Jesus Christ combined religion and morality into a single whole: His religion has a moral content: His religion has a religious basis and orientation. According to Jesus Christ, man's troubles began from the very moment when he fell away from God and, firstly, he thought that he himself could know and judge what is good and what is evil, and, secondly, he decided to fight evil by its own means, primarily by deceit and violence. Accumulating and multiplying, these disasters reached catastrophic proportions, brought man and humanity to the line, beyond which - the eternal torment of dying. The only salvation of a person is to return to the original sources and realize that the very path of dividing people into good and evil and resisting evil with evil is false. To understand: all living things are created by God, all people are His children. This is their first and most important characteristic. Relationships between people are true when they are what should be the relationship between brothers, children of the same father - a relationship of love. Love is originally, self-sufficient, it does not need any foundations, it itself is the only foundation on which only a human house can firmly stand.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF JESUS CHRIST

We know about the life of Jesus Christ from the testimonies of His disciples and the disciples of His disciples. These biographies are called Gospels (Gospels) and differ from each other by the names of the narrators. Four Gospels are considered authentic - from Matthew, from Mark, from Luke, from John, canonized by the Christian church in the 4th century. The moral teaching of Jesus Christ is presented in all four Gospels, considered in their entirety. It is expressed in the most complete and concentrated way in the famous sermon that Jesus delivered when he ascended the mountain (hence its name, the Sermon on the Mount), and which is reproduced in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Jesus Christ is the God-Man, as the Gospels tell us. “The birth of Jesus Christ was like this: after the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were combined, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wanting to publicize her, wanted to secretly let her go. But when he thought this, behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said: Joseph, son of David! do not be afraid to accept Mary as your wife, for what is born in her is from the Holy Spirit; she will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins ... Rising from sleep, Joseph did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him, and accepted his wife, and did not know Her. How at last she gave birth to her firstborn son, and he called his name: Jesus. He was born in the city of Bethlehem, in a stable, and only a star pointed the way to Him. After that, the king of the Jews - Herod - found out about His birth and wanted to kill Him, but the Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and told him to go with his family to Egypt and stay there. After the death of Herod, the Angel of the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him to go to the land of Israel. The Bible tells us about this event: "... and when he came, he settled in a city called Nazareth ...". When Jesus was 12 years old, the family came to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. On the way back, the parents found that their son was not with them. Worried, they returned to the city, searched for Him for three days and found Him in the temple, listening and asking for teachers. Jesus showed an early interest in spiritual matters. He also learned the craft of a carpenter. As for education... He knew the books of Moses and the prophets well. Another source of his mental inspiration was his observation of life. ordinary people- reapers, plowmen, winegrowers, shepherds, as well as the harsh beauty of their native northern Palestine. His worldview was an amazing combination of spiritual depth and ingenuous naivety.

Jesus came out with his own teaching at the age of 30. He preached for 3 years, after which He was accused by the Sanhedrin of blasphemy and executed (crucified on a cross). The decision was made by the Sanhedrin and, at its insistence, as well as under the pressure of the parishioners excited by the clergy, it was approved by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. The execution was carried out by the Roman authorities. The form of execution applied to Jesus Christ was considered the most shameful, intended for slaves and robbers. He was crucified for the word, for the thought, for the teaching. And this was done by two forces: government(secular and spiritual) and an angry mob. Thus, these two forces revealed their dark essence and branded themselves forever as forces hostile to the individual, to the free spirit. Jesus had doubts in the face of violent death, He asked God to carry this cup past Him. However, He quickly overcame a moment of weakness and showed a calm determination to follow His path to the end. The greatness and inner harmony of His spirit, as well as the meaning of His teaching, are evidenced by the words spoken by Him from the cross: “Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." It was He who asked for His executioners, for those who shared His clothes below and shouted gloatingly: "Let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ." After which He died, and He was buried in the tomb of a rich man, a stone was rolled over and guards were placed. On the third day He rose again, as He promised. After spending another 40 days among the disciples, He ascended to heaven and promised to return a second time, but in order to take away those who believe in Him and are waiting for His coming.

TEACHINGS OF JESUS CHRIST

What is the preaching of Jesus Christ? What vital things did He want to convey to the people? Why is He remembered and confessed already 2000 thousand years later? What is so special about Him, because He is the Son of a carpenter and, preaching to people for 3 years, “had no where to lay his head”? So, to find out the answers to these questions, let's turn to the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ.

“When He saw the people, He went up the mountain; and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its potency, how will you make it salty? She is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled by people. You are the light of the world. A city on top of a mountain cannot hide. And having lighted a candle, they do not put it under a vessel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all in the house. So let your light shine before people, so that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. So, whoever breaks one of these least commandments and teaches people so, he will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You have heard what the ancients said: do not kill; whoever kills is subject to judgment. But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother in vain is subject to judgment; whoever says to his brother: "cancer", is subject to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, "insane," is subject to fiery hell. So if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make peace with your opponent quickly, while you are still on the way with him, so that your opponent does not hand you over to the judge, and the judge does not hand you over to a servant, and plunge you into prison; Truly, I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid every last penny. You have heard what the ancients said: do not commit adultery. But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, and not all your body was cast into hell. And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell. It is also said that if a man divorces his wife, let her give her a divorce. But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of fornication, gives her a reason to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. You also heard what was said of the ancients: do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths before the Lord. But I say to you: do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor the earth, for it is His footstool; nor Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King; do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and what is more than this is from the evil one. You have heard it said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you: do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; and whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give it to him and outerwear; and whoever forces you to go one mile with him, go two mile with him. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You heard what was said: love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Do not the publicans do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what special thing do you do? Don't the pagans do the same? Therefore, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Be careful not to do your alms before people so that they can see you: otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Heavenly Father. Therefore, when you do almsgiving, do not blow your trumpets before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward. With you, when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love in synagogues and on street corners, stopping to pray in order to appear before people. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your closet, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And while praying, do not say too much, like the pagans, for they think that in their verbosity they will be heard; do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven! hallowed be thy name; let your kingdom come; may Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us our daily bread this day; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive people their trespasses, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses. Also, when you fast, do not be despondent like the hypocrites, for they take on gloomy faces in order to appear to people who are fasting. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may appear to those who are fasting, not before people, but before your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and do not steal, for where your treasure is, there it will be. and your heart. The lamp for the body is the eye. So if your eye is clear, then your whole body will be bright; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. So if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness? No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you: do not worry about your soul what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your body what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you much better than them? And who among you, by taking care, can add even one cubit to his stature? And what do you care about clothes? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow: neither toil nor spin; but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like any of them; But if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow will be thrown into the oven, God dresses like this, how much more than you, you of little faith! So don't worry and don't say: what shall we eat? or what to drink? Or what to wear? because the Gentiles are looking for all this, and because your Heavenly Father knows that you need all this. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you. So don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow he will take care of his own: enough for each day of his care.

Judge not, lest you be judged, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured to you again. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye? Or how will you say to your brother: “Give me, I will take the speck out of your eye”, but here, in your eye is a log? Hypocrite! first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother's eye. Do not give holy things to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample it under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? and when he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? If then, being evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him. Therefore, in everything you want people to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it; for narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord, Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day: Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and did they not cast out demons in your name? and did not many miracles work in your name? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. So whoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain fell, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and rushed against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on a stone. And whoever hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand; and the rain came down, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and fell upon that house; and he fell, and his fall was great. And when Jesus finished these words, the people marveled at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5-7).

jesus christ preaching teaching

PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS REGARDING THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Jesus Christ calls to that in which many do not understand happiness. For example, how can we be happy when we are persecuted for the truth, reviled for the name of Christ, slandered in every possible way? "Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven..." Jesus preaches about the Kingdom of Heaven, about paradise, where there is peace with God, where there is joy and happiness. Earthly life is the path that God provides for a person to make a choice for himself where he wants to spend eternity - in hell or in paradise. This choice is the behavior of the individual from conscious age to death. Every person who follows Christ will receive his reward in heaven, so there is no reason to grieve, despair, there is reason to rejoice. And why does a person rejoice, but because He knows that all trials, persecutions and life difficulties are sent to Him by God for his own good, to teach him to live happily and fully. “The furnace is for silver and the furnace is for gold, but the Lord tests hearts” (Proverbs 17:3). The more stupid, selfish and rude a person behaves in life in relation to others, the more unhappy he is. Living for others, a person becomes useful, necessary, and this is what each of us lacks.

Many thought that Jesus was breaking the law because they saw how He healed the sick, the dumb, the lepers on the Sabbath day, for example, which the Jews honored, and the violation of which was a sin. But Jesus explains that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. I would even say to complicate. After all, it is much easier to act according to justice than according to grace.

So, Jesus, addressing the people, said that if their righteousness did not surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, then they would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And then he explains about the essence of the commandments that God commanded the "ancient", i.e. Jewish people when he freed them from Egyptian slavery. They heard that killing is a sin, and Jesus reveals these words, saying that if we call our neighbor a fool or insane, we have already killed him in our heart and are subject to "gehenna of fire." He turns inside out all the feigned righteousness of the Pharisees, calling them "painted tombs", because a person looks at the face, God looks at the heart. It was important for Jesus to convey this to everyone. He continues to destroy the stereotypes of people, calling them to the opposite - they had an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and Jesus tells them not to resist evil, and if "whoever strikes you on the left cheek, turn to him the other." He calls to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who offend us. What lofty and incomprehensible sayings to our minds! How much wisdom, simplicity and at the same time loftiness! Where can you find such a person? Is it possible to have in oneself the same feelings that Christ had? The apostle Paul affirms that it is possible, moreover, necessary to have them in oneself: "For the same feelings must be in you, which were in Christ Jesus." Why does Christ call us to do this? But because we are His children, because He loves us, so imperfect, and accepts us as we are, with all our "cockroaches", so to speak. After all, the Lord God "commands His sun to rise over the evil and the good." And again, if we love only those who love us, what is our reward for this? After all, it is easiest to love someone who loves you, gives you gifts, treats you well. And the person who is bad in appearance and character is unfriendly towards you? Love for such is developed by patience, humility, sacrificing one's interests and pleasures. Why should we donate? Because Jesus sacrificed His life for us, suffered on the cross and endured great shame. And our mood can be taken beyond the limits of good by some small insulting word, and here our patience is sometimes undermined. So Jesus calls us to be perfect. Of course, of course, we cannot become perfect, however, we can strive for this unattainable, because "there is no limit to perfection."

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives a simple example of the Lord's Prayer, which is a direct conversation between man and God. Now you do not need to go to the temple and perform certain rituals or go to the priest, God hears us at any point in the Universe and at any second of time.

Christ calls us to move away from hypocrisy and be who we are. Do everything from a pure heart and with a clear conscience. Because “everything secret becomes clear” for the Lord, and sometimes it floats to the surface in front of the people around us. If we condemn a person, then we ourselves will be condemned, therefore Christ teaches us not to condemn our neighbor, but first look into our hearts, deal with personal “logs”, and only then see how to remove the “bitch” from the eyes of a brother. And you can take it out only with love, mercy and compassion, to which the Lord calls.

The world-famous phrase: “Therefore, in everything you want people to do to you, so do you to them” - is the words of Jesus Christ. And indeed, that this should become one of the basic rules in our lives. Verbosity is inappropriate here.

“Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it; for narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” It all comes down to us finding that "narrow path" that leads to heaven, if that's what we want. To do this, we certainly need to follow Christ, to accept His sacrifice. After all, why did He even come and walk the earth, teaching the people? He came for that one main purpose - to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. A person himself cannot do this, because. he is sinful, and innocent blood is needed. Christ is a dear price for our sins. Firstly, He is the Son of God, secondly, He lived an absolutely sinless life (there was nothing to crucify Him for), thirdly, His death was shameful. But the Father was compelled to do so, thus giving every man a choice: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). What is this choice? Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me”; “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life.” Through Jesus Christ we can come to the Father, i.e. to go to heaven, have eternal life, having repented of our sins and believing that Jesus has forgiven them to us, this is the good news. Or choose to pay for your own sins by refusing the offer of Jesus, but for this we will need a long and painful eternity in hell.

CONCLUSION

Summing up His life, Jesus says, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He won by the fact that, having stood in the way of love, mercy, he did not turn away from him. Jesus was born in a barn, He ended his life on the cross. He went through the misunderstanding of his relatives, the betrayal of his students, the persecution of the authorities. He could harden His heart a thousand times. He had enough reasons and reasons to tell people that they were not worthy of His love. But He didn't; even crucified, He asks to forgive his executioners and thinks about the soul of the high-ranking thief. This is His victory over the world. This is His freedom.

God born in a barn; God spat upon by the crowd; God crucified on the cross - if these ideas, absurd by all the laws of logic, are subject to reasonable understanding, then it consists precisely in the fact that the very ability of Jesus to be firm in meekness, to go to the end the path of sacrificial love, no matter what, is the expression His divine nature, His freedom.

Obviously, not a single commandment of Christ, no matter how indigestible it may seem, is for our good, for our happiness. His commandments are simple and at the same time complex, they are clear to everyone, but they do not penetrate into every heart. They are for everyone and everyone. They lead us on the path of freedom, morality and life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Huseynov A.A. Great prophets and thinkers. Moral teachers from Moses to the present day, Moscow: Veche, 2009.

2. Bible.

.Bondireva S.K. Morality, - M .: Publishing house of the Moscow Psychological and Social Institute; Voronezh: NPO MODEK Publishing House, 2006.

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