* Logically, however, Ibbeken is driven to a belief in the entire compilation of the Matthean discourse, and he seems to acknowledge this on p. 5. It is impossible to agree with him that it makes no difference for the interpretation of the Sermon whether the parallelism is from Jesus or from the Evangelist. But his observation is a true one, often noted (see H. Holtz- mann, op. cit. p. 99; Godet, op. cit. p. 131), that the First Evangelist delights in arranging parallels between the events of Hebrew history and the events of Jesus’ life. In this interest and occupation he probably represented a large school of primi- tive Jewish Christians. It is quite likely that he and they found deep significance in comparing the law-giving by Moses with that by Christ. There is clearly an important truth in the parallelism ; Jesus came to create a second great epoch as Moses had created a first, and He gave to men a Gospel which super- seded the legal system (see Bacon, Sermon on the Mount, pp. 8f., 26, 36). But the artificial and dramatic devices for indi- cating the parallelism, which Ibbeken supposes, are hardly to be attributed to Jesus, and it is even doubtful whether the Evangelist intended them to be implied in his narrative. The circumstances and description of the giving of the Sermon are fairly simple and have verisimilitude.
14 SERMON ON THE MOUNT
analysis of the Sermon on the Mount is, properly speaking, excluded by the facts just mentioned, we can at least construct an outline of the dis- course as given to us by the Evangelists. *
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT AS RECORDED BY MATTHEW AND LUKE.
Theme: The Ideal Life :+ Its Characteristics, Mission, and Outworkings, and the Duty of attaining it.
A. The Ideal Life described, Mt 51-16, Lk 620-26, (a) its characteristics, Mt 51-12, Lk 620-26, (6) its mission, Mt 513-16,
B, Its Relation to the Earlier Hebrew Ideal, Mt 517-20,
C. The Outworkings of the Ideal Life, Mt 521-712, Lk 627-42, (a) in deeds and motives, Mt 521-48, Lik 627-30. 32-36, (b) in real religious worship, Mt 61-18, (¢) in trust and self-devotion, Mt 619-34, (d) in treatment of others, Mt 71-12, Lk 681. 37-42,
D. The Duty of living the Ideal Life, Mt 713-27, Lk 643-49,
4, THE CHIEF PROBLEMS OF INTERPRETATION. —It is an interesting evidence of the relativity of language, and of the large subjective element in all interpretation, that Jesus’ words in the Sermon have been variously understood in the Christian centuries. Men have found in them what they were prepared to find, by reason of their political ideas, their social environment, their philosophical theories, their theological beliefs, their moral character, and their spiritual aspirations. Nor can we hope to escape similar contemporary influ- ences when we attempt an interpretation. But in three important respects the expositor of to-day is in a more favourable position than his pre- decessors for getting at the true interpretation of Jesus’ teaching: (1) the prolonged, able, and thorough historical investigation of the four Gospels during the 19th cent. has given us a new knowledge and wisdom in determining the origin and the first meaning of Jesus’ words; (2) the present high development of the science of ethics—both individual and social ethics—has enabled us as never before to understand and to appreciate Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon; (3) the modern change of emphasis from a Christianity of right belief to a Christianity of right character and right social service has brought us nearer to Christ, and has made us both able and willing to learn from Him.
Space here permits only a brief, general treat- ment of the interpretation of the material con- tained in Mt 5-7, Lk 6?°-*9,
a. The Beatitudes.—Mt 5°-2=Lk 620-23 (24-26), Tp a discourse whose one purpose was to describe and to enjoin the true righteousness, it was altogether appropriate that the Divine ideal for men should be characterized at the outset. Jesus presented this ideal in a most significant way ; not in a re- enactment of the Ten Commandments of Moses— which His people for centuries had regarded as embodying the will of God for man ; nor in a new table of commandments to take the place of the old: but in a series of sayings which pronounce the highest blessings upon those who aspire to the best kind of life. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,
* The entire material of Mt 5-7 and Lk 620-49 ig included in this outline, since the passages regarded by the present writer as extraneous would not, if removed, essentially alter what is here given. That Mt 525. 26.31.32 67-15 76-11. 22, 23 “Tc 624-26. 38a. 39. 40. 45 can be best explained as belonging originally to other con-
" nexions-seems quite clear; but Mt 515-16. 29. 30 619-34 712-20 T}. 631. 43. 44 are here left uncertain.
t Or, The True Righteousness. The former phrase is given the preference here because ‘righteousness’ (Cizasoobvn) is a technical term of theology, and is seldom used outside of the vocabulary of religion. In Jesus’ day also it was a technical Jewish term. While it occurs five times in Matthew’s account of the Sermon (56.10. 20 61.33), it is wholly absent from Luke’s account. Nor does it appear in Luke’s Gospel except at 175, nor in John except at 168-10; and in Mark not at all. This indicates that the term was largely displaced among Gentile Christians by the non-technical terms ‘love’ (éyery) and