Jesus continues with the Sermon on the Mount, basically explaining that what we do, we should do for God, not for man.

He tells us how to give quietly, without seeking approval from others, and that our reward will come instead in His eyes. And when we pray, keep in mind the same thing.

And then, He tells us how to pray, giving us the words to The Lord’s Prayer.

He tells us to fast without complaint or for praise.

Then he explains that the things we accumulate here on earth are all temporary, so we should collect future rewards — or crowns — in heaven where they will be eternal.

This is the passage where the saying, “You cannot serve two masters.” He teaches us that we have to pick whether we worship money and possessions or worship God.

In the final part of this chapter, He teaches us that we don’t need to worry about worldly things. This is helpful for anxiety.

This is a lot of teaching, and it is about how to comport ourselves here on earth and how to keep our minds free of anxiety and our eyes on the prize.

In this chapter, Jesus calls those who follow Him to engage in radical devotion and radical dependence on God.

So many important things in the bible happen on mountains, and this is no exception.

He was sitting while he gave this sermon, which is how rabbis frequently taught disciples.

The first part of the sermon is called “the Beatitudes.” They are the verses which have the word “blessed” in them (verses 3 through 11). They are comforts to believers who suffer.

The second part contains the new laws, and they contrast toe old law of Moses with the new laws of Christ. A new era began with the ministry of Jesus, who came to fulfill the law, which he explains in verses 17 through 20.

This chapter has some of the most quoted verses in the New Testament, and I know that even before I knew anything about Jesus and Christianity, I had heard the Beatitudes.

They are truly words to live by.

Although this sermon is not the reason Christ was born, as so often misstated, it are very important for Christians because it tells us how to live.