Which chapter of the gospel contains the Sermon on the Mount. Sermon on the Mount

The first public speech of Jesus outlining the foundations of the Christian faith.

“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, persecute you, and slander you in every way unrighteously for me, for great is your reward in heaven” (Mt 5:1-11).

Addressing His disciples, Jesus said:

“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 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.” (Matthew 5:13-16).

So, in His first public speech, called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ develops the "Ten Commandments" of the Old Testament and, in turn, gives nine "commandments of beatitude", observing which one can gain eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

It is probably not by chance that Jesus put the “poor in spirit” in the first place. However, there is no unity among interpreters as to who should be kept in mind.

According to one interpretation, “the poor in spirit” are people who have chosen the path of repentance, humility, “strive to be rewarded with the highest blessings of heaven with a holy life” (such, for example, is the point of view of M.I. of our speech”, publishing house “Svetlyachok”, St. Petersburg, 1998). According to another, "the poor in spirit" are people who are not very intelligent and therefore weak, dependent. Here, gradations are possible: from simply narrow-minded, incapable of abstract thinking, to weak-minded, fools, wretched (under the protection of "God"), holy fools. Not without reason in the Russian people "fools", holy fools received the name "blessed", "blessed". It was “sinful” to offend them (one of the most heinous acts of Fyodor Karamazov was the desecration of the feeble-minded Lizaveta Smerdyashchaya; and Dostoevsky “punishes” the libertine with death at the hands of his son from the “holy fool”).

The attitude towards the “blessed” was ambivalent: both reverently compassionate and mocking - this was reflected in the distortion of the word “holy fools” - “ugly” (A. S. Ostrovsky, “Each sage is quite simple”). The same duality is evidenced by the presence in the language of words with the same root, but with a negative connotation: “wish” (stupid whim), “bliss” (play the fool).

“Blessed are those who mourn (those who mourn for their sins), for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4). (Matthew 5:5).

"Blessed are the meek (patiently enduring the vicissitudes of fate), for they shall inherit the earth."

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mt 5:6).

The hungry are those who persistently strive for spiritual values ​​in the hope of finding the meaning of existence in them, looking for moral guidelines, truth.

In one of the psalms about the search for the promised land by the Israelites, it says: “They wandered in the desert along a deserted path and did not find a populated city; endured hunger and thirst, their soul melted away in them. But they called on the Lord in their sorrow, and He delivered them from their misfortunes, led them to the straight path, so that they would go to the populated city. Let them praise the Lord for His mercy and for His wonderful works for the sons of men: for He has satisfied the thirsty soul and filled the hungry soul with good things” (Ps 106:4–9).

In a playful context, “hungry” people are called hungry, thirsty.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart (devoid of evil thoughts), for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers (those who live in peace with all and reconcile others), for they will be called sons of God” (Mt 5:7–9).

Peace is the greatest value for humanity, people, family, individual and one of the central themes of the Bible.

The wise teach: “Better is a piece of dry bread, and peace with it, than a house full of slaughtered cattle, with contention” (Proverbs 17:1).

“Mercy and truth meet, righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Ps 84:11).

The Kingdom of God is “not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17).

“God is not a God of disorder, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33).

Jesus Christ inspires: “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 rival quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest your rival hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to a servant and throw you into prison” (Mt 5:23-25).

At first glance, it may seem that another statement of Christ: “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt 10:34) - conflicts with what has just been quoted. For a correct understanding of His position, one should be guided not by the letter, but by the spirit of the Christian doctrine, based on non-violence and universal reconciliation, giving paramount importance not to the internal, but to the external. Then it becomes clear that the "sword" should not be directed against other people, but against one's own sins and shortcomings.

Phrase.: "dove of peace"; "go in peace"; "peace to you"; "peace to this house"; "peace to the nations" (Zech. 9:10).

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you (those who bring the Word of God to people) when they reproach you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for me, for great is your reward in heaven” (Mt 5:10-11).

Lit.: G. Gunnarson, novel "Blessed are the poor in spirit." F. Dürrenmatt, novel "The Hungry". N. A. Ostrovsky, “There is enough simplicity for every wise man.” D. H. Lawrence, essay "Blessed are the strong." L. N. Tolstoy, novel "War and Peace". F. M. Dostoevsky, the novel "The Idiot", the story "The Meek One".

In a certain sense, almost all the heroes of F. M. Dostoevsky are “blessed”: the “meek” Sonya Marmeladova, the “poor in spirit” Prince Myshkin, the “pure in heart” Alyosha Karamazov, the “weeping” characters of “Poor People”, the “peacemaker” Makar Ivanovich from "Teenager" and even "hungry rebels" Ivan Karamazov and Andrey Versilov.

Jesus dwelled in detail on the Ten Commandments of God, which he developed and supplemented.

“You 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; but whoever says, “foolish,” is subject to hellfire” (5:13–22).

Anger, while it is just a feeling, "is subject to judgment" - in the sense of moral condemnation. Poured out in the form of a swear word (“raka” means “fool, insignificance”), it becomes an act and deserves a trial in the Sanhedrin. And, finally, classifying someone as insane is the infliction of serious moral and legal damage, followed by the Judgment of God and "fire hell."

He went on to say about adultery: “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 your whole body be 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 adultery, gives her an occasion to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (5:27-32).

About an oath. “You have also heard what was said to 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; but what is more than this is from the evil one” (5:33-37).

About non-resistance to evil by violence. “You heard what was 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 him your coat as well. And whoever forces you to go with him one race, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you” (5:38-42).

About love for people. « 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?" (5:43-47).

About perfection. “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (5:48). On almsgiving. “Look, do not do your alms before people so that they see you: otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Father in Heaven. 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" (6:1-4).

About prayer. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love in synagogues and on street corners, stopping to pray in order to show themselves to 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" (6:5-13).

About forgiveness. “If you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, your Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (6:14-15).

About the post. “Also, when you are fasting, do not be despondent like the hypocrites, for they put 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 men, but before your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly" (6:16-18).

About spiritual values. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures for yourselves 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 your heart will also be” (6:19-21).

About the inner light. “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? (6:22-23).

“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” (6:24).

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your soul what you will eat or 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 don't sow, they don't reap, they don't 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: they do not toil, they do not spin; but I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory did not dress like one of them...

So do not worry and do not 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 do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own: enough for each day of its own care” (6:25-34).

“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, behold, there is a log in your eye? 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" (7:1-5).

About shrines. “Do not give anything holy to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample it under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces” (7:6).

"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 such a person among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? .. So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him ”( 7–11).

The Golden Rule of Morality: “In everything you want people to do to you, do to them, for this is the law and the prophets” (7:12).

“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” (7:14).

“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...” (7:15–20).

Word and deed. “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.

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" (7:21-27).

“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” (Mt 7:28-29).

Quote: Saul Bellow: “You know, Your Majesty, there are brave men in the world who know how to repay good for evil. Which sickens to participate in the relay race of evil. The brave will try to turn the tide - to make sure that evil ends on him.The novel Henderson, the Rain King.

The character of Iris Murdoch's novel "The Unicorn" in a conversation with a friend recalls "the phenomenon of Ata, to which the ancient Greeks attached great importance and which consists in the transfer of suffering from one person to another ... Feeling like a victim breeds new victims. By executing retribution, goodness turns into its opposite. But in the end, Ata is defeated by a pure soul who suffers, but refuses to pass on suffering further and thereby breaks the vicious circle.

Franz Kafka: "One of the most effective temptations of evil is the call to fight.""Aphorisms".

Richard Aldington:

“Violence and murder inevitably give rise to new violence and murder. Isn't that what the great Greek tragedies teach us? Blood for blood. Great, now we know what's what. Whether to kill alone or en masse, in the interests of one person, a band of robbers or the state - what's the difference? Murder is murder. By encouraging him, you are violating human nature. And a million murderers, who are incited, praised, admired, will bring upon you the angry legions of the formidable Eumenides. And those who survive will bitterly pay until their death for their unforgivable guilt. Doesn't it matter? Are you going to bend yours? It is necessary to produce more children, will they soon make up for the losses? So get another glorious, merry war, and the sooner the better...” “Death of a Hero”.

F. M. Dostoevsky (about the death penalty): “What is happening to the soul at this moment, what convulsions are it brought to? An insult to the soul, nothing more! It is said: "Thou shalt not kill", so for the fact that he killed, and kill him? No, you can't..."

L. N. Tolstoy:

“If only we could always have time to see the beam in our own eyes, how kinder we would be.”

“Having read the Sermon on the Mount, which always touched him, he [Nekhlyudov] saw for the first time in this sermon not abstract, beautiful thoughts, for the most part making exaggerated and unrealistic demands, but simple, clear and practically executable commandments, which, if they are fulfilled, ... they established a completely new structure of human society that surprised him, in which not only all the violence that so outraged Nekhlyudov was destroyed by itself, but the highest good available to mankind was achieved - the kingdom of God on earth.

The novel "Resurrection".

Alexander Kostyunin

I remembered how this great holiday was held a year ago.

We have neighbors on the site: two men, both zealous parishioners of the church. They turn to each other with a request to forgive involuntary insults, dirty words ... They do it passionately, passionately, uncompromisingly. Cockerels: "No, excuse me, I was not restrained." “First you me! Take your hands off!..” The blissful Orthodox ritual smoothly turns first into a domestic quarrel, then into a massacre. Both spend the night in the bullpen, in harsh circumstances that reconcile them, spiritually bring them together. From there they come out enlightened, they come out as brothers.

Forgive me too."

D. G. Lawrence: “ Blessed are the strong, for theirs is the kingdom of the earth."

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 direction. 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 presented 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 observation of the lives of ordinary people - reapers, plowmen, vine-growers, shepherds, as well as the harsh beauty of his 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 two forces did it: state power (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 your whole body be 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 him your coat as well; 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 do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own: enough for each day of its own 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. 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: “So, in everything you want people to do to you, do to them the same way” 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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"Essays on Orthodox Culture - OPK"]

Christian doctrine and morality in its self-awareness is, as it were, the highest level of the biblical, actually Jewish, worldview. They (Christian dogma and morality) seem to continue Judaism and at the same time, as it were, oppose themselves to it. This can be observed in all parameters of the historical and logical comparison of Christianity with Judaism, or, as it is customary to say in theological circles, the biblical Old Testament and the biblical New Testament. Let us turn to the moral teaching of evangelical Christianity.

The core of Old Testament morality was set forth by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Hence it is also called the Sinai legislation. The core of New Testament morality is set forth by the Son of God, Jesus Christ, also on the mountain. Hence it is called the Sermon on the Mount of Christ. The core of all Sinai legislation is the Ten Commandments of Moses (Decalogue). The heart of Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount is the Nine Beatitudes.

It would be wrong, as is often done by ignorant believers and theologians, to reduce all the Old Testament moral teaching to the Decalogue, and the New Testament to the Beatitudes. Moses, according to the Old Testament, on behalf of God offered the Jews, according to the calculations of the Talmudists, 613 commandments (365 - by the number of days in a year - prohibitions and 248 - by the number of bones and cartilage in the human body - prescriptions), and Christ outlined his moral teaching, according to the estimates of Christian theologians, in many of his sermons, 40 parables and confirmed by 38 miracles. The Evangelist John reports that if everything said by Jesus Christ “were to be described in detail, I think that even the world itself could not contain the books that were written” (John 21:25).

The most complete and detailed moral teaching of the gospel Jesus Christ is set forth in chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. It can be assumed that the main elements of the Sermon on the Mount were repeated by Jesus Christ, interpreted by his apostles and disciples in other writings of the New Testament. So, in the Gospel of Luke, the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ proper are transmitted in a different presentation and under different circumstances. Let us first read the text of the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew.

After being baptized in the Jordan River, after forty days in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan, Jesus Christ " went to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum by the sea"(Matthew, 4: 12-13) that on the shore of the Tiberias (Galilee) lake (sea). Here he begins his preaching exclusively among the Jews, chooses 12 disciples (apostles). " And Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, every infirmity among the people. And the news about him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all the weak, possessed by various diseases and seizures, and demon-possessed, and lunatics, and paralyzed, and He healed them. And a multitude of people followed Him from Galilee and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan(4:23-25).

Seeing 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 (5:1-2):

(according to the gospel of Matthew)

Who is blessed?

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

9. 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 [and] the prophets who were before you.

(Gospel of Matthew, 5:2-12)

Beatitudes

I. Who is blessed?

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for yours is the Kingdom of God.

2. Blessed are those who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

3. Blessed are those who weep now, for you will laugh.

4. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they excommunicate you and revile you and carry your name as dishonorable for the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven. This is what their fathers did to the prophets.

II. Who is threatened by grief?

Against,

1. Woe to you rich! for you have already received your consolation.

2. Woe to you who are now satiated! for you will cry.

3. Woe to you who laugh now! for you will weep and wail.

4. Woe to you when all people speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

(According to the Gospel of Matthew)

I. You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world :

1. 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.

2. 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.

II. Don't Break the Laws

and the instructions of the prophets of the Old Testament :

3. 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.

III. The Christian must transcend

Old Testament righteousness :

You have heard what the ancients said:

4. Do not kill, whoever kills is subject to judgment. And I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother in vain will be subject to judgment.

5 .Whoever says to his brother: "cancer" (simple), is subject to the Sanhedrin. And I tell you that anyone who says against his brother: "insane" (fool), is subject to hell fire.

6 If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, then leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Reconcile with your opponent quickly, while you have not yet quarreled 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. But you you won’t get out of there until you give it back to the last penny (the last penny - E.D.).

8. You have heard what the ancients said: do not commit adultery. And I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 9. 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 your whole body be 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.

10. It is also said that if a man divorces his wife, let her give her a divorce. And I tell you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of adultery, he gives her a reason to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

11. You also heard what was said of the ancients: do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths before the Lord. And I tell you: do not swear at all: neither by heaven, because 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.

12. You have heard it said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And I tell you: Resist not 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 him your coat as well; 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.

13. You heard what was said: love your neighbor and hate your enemy. And 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?

So, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

IV. Do charity in secret.

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.

V. How to Pray

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!

I.D but hallowed be thy name;

2. let your kingdom come;

3. may Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;

4. give us our daily bread this day;

5. and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors;

6. and lead us not into temptation,

7. but deliver us from the evil one.

VI. Forgive people for their sins.

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.

VII. Fast without discouragement.

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.

VII. One cannot serve God and mammon.

1. 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.

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. You cannot serve God and mammon.

VII. Don't worry about tomorrow .

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. Yes, and which of you, taking care, can add one cubit to his stature?

4. 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!

5.So, do not worry and do not 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.

6. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.

7.So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow [itself] will take care of its own: enough for [each] day of its care.

IX. Judge not, lest you be judged.

Judge not, lest you be judged, for by what judgment you judge, [by such] you will be judged; and with what measure you use, it will be measured to you. 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, behold, there is a log in your eye? 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.

X. Shrine is not for dogs, pearls are not for pigs.

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.

XI. Ask, seek, knock.

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? So, if you, being evil, 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.

So, in everything you want people to do to you, so do you to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

XIII. Choose the strait gate and the narrow path.

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.

XIV. Beware of false prophets - wolves in sheep's clothing.

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.

XV. Listen to my words and do 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.

Continuation of Christ's Sermon on the Mount

(According to the Gospel of Luke)

I. Instructions to the Followers of Christ :

But to you who hear, I say:

1. Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.

2. Offer the other to the one who slaps you on the cheek, and do not prevent the one who takes your coat from you to take your shirt.

3. To everyone who asks of you, give, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand back.

4 .And as you want people to do to you, so do you to them.

5. And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? for even sinners love those who love them.

6. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? for sinners do the same.

7. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what thanks do you have for that? for even sinners lend to sinners in order to get back the same amount.

8. But you love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

9. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you: good measure, shaken together, shaken together, and overflowing, they will pour into your bosom; for with what measure you mete, it will be measured to you again.

So be merciful, as your Father is merciful

2. He also said to them in parables:

1. Can the blind lead the blind? will they not both fall into the pit?

2. The student is not higher than his teacher; but even when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

3. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye? Or, how can you say to your brother: brother! let me take the speck out of your eye, when you yourself don't see the log in your eye? 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.

4. There is no good tree that bears bad fruit; and there is no bad tree that bears good fruit, for every tree is known by its fruit, because they do not gather figs from the thorn bush and do not pick grapes from the bush. A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart, but an evil man brings forth evil out of the evil treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks.

5. Why are you calling me: Lord! God! - and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will tell you to whom he is like. He is like a man who builds a house, who dug, deepened, and laid his foundation upon the rock; why, when there was a flood and the water rushed over this house, it could not shake it, because it was built on a stone. And he who hears and does not do is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, which, when the water came down on him, immediately collapsed; and the destruction of this house was great.

When He finished all His words to the listening people, He entered Capernaum.

(Luke 6:27 - 7:1)

"Blessed" - this is how the Greek word "makarios" is translated into Church Slavonic, which means "happy." The ancient Greek philosopher Plato considered “Bliss”, “Good” to be the highest Idea and identified it with God.

In the ancient lists of the New Testament it was written: "Blessed are the poor." The expression "poor in spirit" was inserted later - somewhere in the 5th-6th century, after the canonization of the text of the Bible.

The Gospel of Luke says that after settling in Capernaum, Christ begins to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God and heals the sick. People flock to him. “In those days He ascended the mountain to pray, and remained all night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles” (Luke 6:12-13). And descending with them, he became on level ground(The Gospel of Matthew says that Christ " climbed the mountain, and not “came down from the mountain” and did not “stand on level ground” _E.D.) and a multitude of His disciples, and many people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seaside places of Tire and Sidon, who came to listen to Him and be healed of their diseases also those suffering from unclean spirits; and were healed. And all the people sought to touch Him, because power came from Him and healed everyone. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and spoke” (Luke 6:17-20).

The Holy Scripture of the Jewish religion (the Old Testament part of the Christian Bible) is divided into three parts: the Law (in Hebrew - the Torah, which includes the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), the Prophets (books written by the prophets) and the Scriptures (books instructive and liturgical). Here Jesus Christ speaks of the need to accurately and completely fulfill all the prescriptions that are set forth in the Torah (in the Law) and in the prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Gehenna is a garbage pit in which sewage was burned near Jerusalem. In the mouth of the gospel Jesus Christ, Gehenna means hell boiling with stinking tar, in which sinners are tortured (Matthew, 18:9; Mark, 9:14; Luke, 12:5).

More extensively about self-mutilation in the name of heavenly bliss, Christ says this: “And if your hand offends you, cut it off: it is better for you maimed to enter into life than with two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die and the fire does not fading away. And if your foot offends you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life lame, than with two feet to be cast into hell, into unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. And if your eye offends you, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with one eye, than with two eyes to be cast into hellfire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:43-48). Jesus Christ advises the most courageous to castrate themselves in the name of the Kingdom of Heaven. About this in the Gospel of Matthew it is written as follows: “And the Pharisees came to Him and, tempting Him, said to Him: Is it permissible for a man to divorce his wife for any reason? He answered and said to them: Have you not read that He who created male and female in the first place created them? And he said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh. So what God has joined together, let no man separate. They say to Him: how did Moses command to give a bill of divorce and divorce her? He says to them: Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but at first it was not so; but I tell you : whoever divorces his wife not for adultery and marries another, [he] commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. His disciples say to him: if such is the duty of a man to his wife, then it is better not to marry. He said to them: not all can accommodate this word, but to whom it is given, for there are eunuchs who were born like this from the womb of their mother; and there are eunuchs who are castrated out of men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever is able to contain, let him contain” (Matthew 19:3-12).

Christian theologians in their interpretations of the prayer proposed by Jesus Christ call it the Lord's Prayer and distinguish three components in it: 1. Appeal to God; 2. Seven petitions and 3. Final praise of God.

The gospel Jesus Christ repeated the commandment to forgive the sins of others several times. “Then Peter came to Him and said, Lord! how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times? Jesus says to him, I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22). It is not difficult to calculate that a believing Christian during one day must forgive the same criminal 490 of his sins.

Having begun to preach the Heavenly Beatitudes, Christ and his disciples led a vagabond life. in modern terms, they were homeless. Jesus Christ complained to one of the scribes: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head” (Matthew 8:20). The lifestyle of homeless people is also offered to all Christians: “And one of the leaders asked Him: Good teacher! what should I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him: why do you call me good? none is good but God alone; you know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother. And he said, All this I have kept from my youth. When Jesus heard this, he said to him: There is one more thing you lack: sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was saddened, because he was very rich. Jesus, seeing that he was sad, said: How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:18-25).

Christian theologians inspire believers that Christ marked the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. In religious terms, this is the atonement for the sins of all people. Christ overcame death, opened the gates of heaven for those who believe in him. With Jesus Christ, a new era begins for mankind and life according to the new, Christian, moral precepts. Among these commandments, according to the theologians, the greatest and newest is the commandment of love. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another,” said Christ (John 13:34). And again: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) But in his lofty expression, Jesus Christ prosaically repeated himself. The commandment to love from all sides was not new at the time of its utterance by the gospel Jesus Christ. Love for each other is also inherent in animals, in the environment of which man was formed. The oldest, in my opinion, the first, works of art speak of love. The object of this love was a woman, the first image of which is presented in a stone statue of the "Windsor Venus", made 30 thousand years ago. In all ancient, ancient and modern religions, in one form or another, the commandment to love each other is inherent. In the religion of the Greco-Roman pantheon there was a whole bunch of gods of love: here are Cupid with Amurchik, and Venus with Hera, and Aphrodite with Juno, and the loving Zeus who abducted Europe ... Christian apologists say that Christ's commandment about love was new compared to the commandments of the Old covenant. But it's not. The Old Testament speaks of love for one another. "Do not be at enmity against your brother in your heart ... Do not take revenge and do not bear malice against the sons of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself, says in Leviticus 19:17-18. As for the commandment: in everything, as you want people to do to you, so do you to them. then this commandment is eternally inherent in all moral codes, including the codes of all religions: Vedism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism ... To the question of his student: "Is it possible to be guided by one word all your life?" Confucius (551 - 479 BC) replied: "The word is reciprocity: don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do". Speaking of a primitive society in which there was a war of all against all, the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) wrote that in society everyone “should be content with such a degree of freedom in relation to other people, which he would allow in relation to himself "(Leviathan, ch. XIV). The basic and universal rule of morality, later called golden, is the following: "do not do to others what you would not want to be done in relation to you" (Leviathan, ch. XV).

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Beatitudes

1. Seeing the people, He went up the mountain;
and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(The poor in spirit can be understood as poor in health or sick. Since the spirit in some understanding is interpreted as Life. Example, the Earth is spiritualized, saturated with Life).

4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
(In the ordinary sense, meekness is understood as the gentle and quick-witted disposition of a person who is ready to consciously forgive mistakes and insults from others. Such people will inherit the Earth, that is, a calm and joyful earthly Life and human memory after it).

6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

7. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

10. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11. Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and speak unrighteously of all kinds for me.

12. 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
(Life is not given for despondency and boredom, but is given for happiness and joy).

13. 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.
how can you throw it out to be trampled by people. You are the Light of the World

14. You are the Light of the World.
(Man is the likeness of God and must carry the Light)
A city on top of a mountain cannot hide.

15. And he who has lit a candle does not put it under a vessel, but on a candlestick,
and shines for everyone in the house.

16. So let your Light shine before people,
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.

17. Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets:
I came not to destroy, but to fulfill.

18. For truly I say to you:
until heaven and earth pass away,
not an iota or a tittle shall pass from the law,
until everything is done.
(Meaning, when Heavenly Life and Earthly Life come together, and there will be one Eternal Life).

19. So whoever breaks one of the commandments and teaches people so,
he will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven;
(Slightest, that is, insignificant)
and whoever Creates and Teach, he will be called Great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

20. For I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
then you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You can't be angry.
(Pharisees and scribes, these are believers and priests of that time)

21. You heard what the ancients said:
do not kill, whoever kills is subject to judgment.

22. But I tell you that everyone
he 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.
(Raka and insane, among the Jews it was considered a strong humiliation of a person, these concepts of words are almost never translated into other languages, but something like a fool, an empty person).

23. So, if you bring your gift to the altar
and there you will remember that your brother has something against you.

24 Leave your gift there before the altar,
and go first be reconciled to your brother,
and then come and bring your gift.
(If you remembered an unforgiven offense, even at the altar, then leave everything, come back and first ask for forgiveness from your brother, because you don’t just need to perform the ceremony .. but you need to ask your heart ... why am I doing this). ..

25. Make up with your rival quickly, while you are still on the way with him,
so that the opponent does not give you to the judge,
and the judge would not hand you over to a servant, and they would not throw you into prison;

26. Truly I say to you: you will not leave from there until you have paid to the last coin.
(The meaning of the speech is that if a person does not reconcile with his rival and brings the matter to court, then he must undergo judicial punishment and pay the entire debt. This shows how early reconciliation is necessary).
You cannot commit adultery in your heart.

27. You have heard what the ancients said: do not commit adultery.

28. But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

29. If your right eye offends you, tear it out 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.
(Adultery here has the power of a great sin, and before approaching it, it is worth considering what its redemption threatens. Because of this, families break up, children suffer, and this is the foundation of the foundations of the Christian world.)

30. 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. Can't get divorced

31. It is also said that if a man divorces his wife, let him give her a divorce.

32. But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of adultery, gives her an occasion to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Don't swear at all
(It means that a husband cannot be divorced, except, perhaps, because it is NOT POSSIBLE to leave his wife and children for the sake of his whims. A woman must be either married or virgin, everything else leads to a great sin).

33. You also heard what was said to the ancients: do not break your oath, but fulfill your oaths before the Lord.

34. But I say to you: do not swear at all: neither by Heaven, for it is the throne of God;

35. Nor the earth, for it is His footstool; nor Jerusalem, because it is the city of the Great King;

36. Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black by nature.

37. But let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and what is more than this is from the evil one. Give to the one who asks you.

38. You heard what was said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

39. But I say to you: do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;
(There is a meaning here that many people understand in a completely different way. In any quarrel or enmity, one side must give in so that it does not develop into a larger enmity. In order to eradicate evil, it is impossible to respond to evil with evil, otherwise the circle will close on evil.
At the same time, if someone threatens your life or a person close to you, then protecting yourself and your neighbor is the duty of every Christian. Love requires protection from evil, and at the same time being invincible and indestructible).

40. And whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your coat as well;

41. And whoever asks you to go with him one race, go with him two.

42. Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. Everyone needs to be loved, including enemies.

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.
(Here again it is said that it is impossible to respond to evil with evil, because evil burns in hell when we wish it good and love. But again, this is what we and the world society as a whole should strive for).

45. May you be the Sons of your Father in Heaven, for He commands 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?
(Publicans are tax collectors.
The Pharisees were in the time of Jesus the most influential of all Jewish religious sects.
"The scribes and Pharisees have taken the place of Moses and are adjusting the laws of God to suit themselves. These words of Jesus show that the Pharisees did not recognize Jesus, they lived by the law of Moses.
“They do everything they do to be seen. They were arrogant.
For the fact that they did NOT fulfill all the commandments of Scripture, but to a greater extent - ritual ones and which are in plain sight:
... you close the Kingdom of Heaven before people. The Pharisees did not allow people to come to the Truth).
Matt. 23:27)

47. And if you greet only your brothers, what do you do especially? Don't the pagans do the same? Be perfect.

48. Therefore, be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

CHAPTER 6 (Arch. Averky)

Alms and goodness cannot be done for show

1. See that you do not do charity and your kindness before people so that they see you: otherwise you will not be rewarded from your Heavenly Father.

2. Therefore, when you do alms and good, do not blow your trumpet before you and people, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and in the streets, so that people glorify them. I tell you truly, they already receive their reward.

3. With you, when you do charity and good, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing,

4. That your almsgiving and kindness be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. How to pray.

5. And when you pray, do not 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.

6. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the Mystery; and your Father, who sees the secret, will reward you openly.

7. And while praying, do not say too much, like pagans and Phorisees, for they think that in their verbosity they will be heard;

8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Lord's Prayer

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. Need to forgive

14. For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you,

15. And if you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. No need to fast for a show

16. Also, when fasting, 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.

17. And you, when you fast, wash your head and wash your face,

18. To appear to those who fast, not before men, but before your Father who is in the secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly.

Don't lay up treasures for yourself on Earth

19. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal,

21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp for the body is the eye.

22. The lamp for the body is the eye. So if your eye is clear, then your whole body will be bright;
(The eye is thoughts)

23. If your eye is evil, then 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.

24. 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.
(Mammon is the son of Satan, the personification of greed and enrichment. Living in the body but not in the soul).

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?
(After all, the soul is much more than food, and the body is 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 dresses like this, how much more than you, you of little faith!
(The grass of the field is beautiful, it dresses in a way that Solomon did not dress. But usually it is only good for being thrown into the oven. You take care of clothes. But you are incomparably superior to the lilies of the field, and therefore you can hope that God will clothe you more better than field lilies).

31. So worry not, and say, What shall we eat? or what to drink? Or what to wear?
(You do not need to direct all your thoughts to what to eat and 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.
(One must Live by Love, Truth and Life, and the rest will come).

34. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own: enough for each day of its own care.
(This rule is written in all books on psychology).

CHAPTER 7 (Arch. Averky)

Judge not lest ye be judged.

1. Do not judge, so that you will not be judged,

2. For with 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. Do not give shrines to dogs.

6. Do not give anything holy to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample it under their feet and, turning around, tear you to pieces.
(Meaning, don't explain the Truth to those who turn away from you.)
Ask, and it shall be given you.

7. Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you;
(Only by hard work and diligence can you achieve what you want).

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. Golden Rule.
(Children mean both your children and people in general. Because, any evil can be defeated by Love, since She is invincible).

12. 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

13. Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it;
(Do not look for easy ways).

14. 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

15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
(Any evil disguises itself under a "good" mask and enters your house).

16. By their fruits you will know them. Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
(Evil is always cunning and we can do good to you, taken from others, bringing them suffering).

17. So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

18. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

20. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.

21. 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 of you have a faith of fear that they will not enter Paradise, this is false faith. True faith is faith in Love and helping others, similar to how the Lord helps us, for His help is gratuitous).

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. The Parable of the Prudent Builder.
(You must live and create with your own hands and on your own behalf, and with your labors, you will be rewarded).

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 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.

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 fell, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and attacked that house; and he fell, and his fall was great.

End of the Sermon on the Mount

28. And when Jesus finished these words, the people marveled at his teaching,

29. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as scribes and Pharisees.

Sermon on the Mount(Matt. 5-7; Lk. 6, 12-49) - the sermon of Jesus Christ, which contains the whole essence of the gospel teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount was delivered by the Savior on a low mountain in Galilee not far from the Lake of Gennesaret between Capernaum and Tiberias, after He chose 12 apostles from His disciples. He descended with the newly elected apostles from the top of the mountain, on which he spent the whole night in prayer to God, and stopped on the ledge of the mountain, which was a flat place of considerable space.

The selection of the twelve apostles caused many to think that He would finally bring about the long-promised kingdom of God. Proud of their chosenness and unable to come to terms with the loss of their independence, the Jewish people began to dream of the coming of such a Messiah who would free them from foreign domination, take revenge on all enemies, reign over the Jews and enslave them all the peoples of the earth, and give them purely fabulous prosperity. With such false dreams of earthly bliss that the Messiah will give them, they surrounded Jesus Christ.

And in response to these thoughts and feelings of theirs, the Lord revealed to them His gospel teaching about the beatitudes, shattering their delusions at the root. He showed the spirit of His kingdom, taught that in this life we ​​need to be spiritually reborn in order thereby to prepare for ourselves the bliss of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus Christ showed how we must fulfill the law of God in order to receive a blessed (that is, supremely 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 non-judgment of others, about forgiveness of neighbors, about love for them, about prayer and fasting, about almsgiving, and about many other things.
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 grace.

The Holy Apostle Matthew ends his account of the Sermon on the Mount by testifying that the people marveled at the teaching of Christ, because Christ taught them as having authority, and not as scribes and Pharisees. The teaching of the Pharisees consisted, for the most part, in trifles, in useless convolutions and word disputes - the teaching of Jesus Christ was simple and sublime, for He spoke as the Son of God, as no one had ever spoken before, while speaking personally from Himself: "But I say you," in His words one could clearly feel the Divine authority and power.

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 was eager to touch the Savior, because power emanated from Him and healed everyone .

Seeing a multitude of people in front of Him, Jesus Christ, surrounded by His disciples, ascended a hill near the mountain 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 a 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, 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 .

In the 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) .

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.

Matt. 5:3 blessings who are in spirit: for those are the kingdom of heaven.

Poor in spirit- 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.

Matt. 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn: for thee shall 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. .

Matt. 5:5 Blessed are the meek: as you inherit the earth.

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. They will receive a heavenly dwelling in their possession, that is, a new (renewed) earth in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matt. 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for thee shall be satisfied.

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.

Matt. 5:7 Blessed m And lostivii: like ti pom there will be ilovani.

Gracious- people with 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.

Matt. 5:8 Blessed h And verses with the heart: like you will see God

Pure in heart- people who not only protect themselves from bad deeds, but also try to make their soul pure, that is, 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.

Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: as your sons of God will be called.

peacekeepers- 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.

Matt. 5:10 Blessed be the expulsion of the truth for the sake of: for those are 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.

Matt. 5:11 Blessed are you, whenever they reproach you, and depend on you, and tell every evil verb against you, for me:

Matt. 5:12 rejoice and be merry And you, as your reward is many in heaven: so for expelling the prophets, And same [besha] before you

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 is for 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 only love 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 always treat our neighbors, in any case, Jesus Christ gave us this rule: "in everything, as you want people to do with you (and we, of course, want all people to love us" did to us good and forgave us), so do you also with them. "(Do not do to others what you do not wish for yourself).

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 people glorify them. Truly I say to you, they already receive their reward. With you, when you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing (i.e., yourself in front of you do not boast of the good that you have done, forget about it), so that your alms may be in secret, and your Father, who sees the secret (that is, 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.