The Sermon On The Mount: The Kingdom Of Heaven

In Matthew 5-7, we have a record of the most famous sermon that has ever been preached. Most commonly referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount.” It has touched more hearts, and in turn has sparked more sermons than any other, but what is Jesus talking about in this sermon? In this brief, I will discuss its theme, its content, and how it defines “the Kingdom of Heaven.” The setting leading up to the sermon we read in Matthew 3:1-3, of the preaching of John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. The central theme of his preaching concerned “the Kingdom of Heaven.” In Matthew 4, we read of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. After His temptation, Jesus begins preaching a message like John’s. Jesus preaching in Galilee pertained to

When we compare it to the Kingdom of God, the gospels indicate that the terms refer to the same thing. We see that Matthew used “heaven”, almost exclusively, while the other gospel teachings used “God”. It may be entirely possible that since Matthew wrote his gospel for the Jews, he chose to use the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven”, most likely because the Jews’ reluctance to use the name of God. Because of the Jews’ misconception of the coming kingdom, most Jews anticipated a physical kingdom, while “heaven” would imply a spiritual kingdom. Therefore “the Kingdom of Heaven” has a future element along with a present element. In the present it is found wherever the sovereignty of God is accepted in the hearts of men. In the spiritual realm, God rules in the hearts of men. This future element is spoken by Jesus, Paul, and Peter. In the future, the kingdom will be seen with the coming of the Lord. It will be the new heavens and new earth described by Peter and John, and will be experienced only by those in the church who are submitting to God’s