Who read the sermon twice a day for the last 40 years of his life?
Ghandi.
Jesus casts a vision for doing such good that people would see our light and be compelled to do what?
Praise our Father in heaven.
What should we be asking, seeking, and knocking for based on Matthew 7?
Wisdom in dealing with people.
What is the golden rule?
Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them.
No matter how secure you feel, how does Jesus want you to approach God?
Like a beggar.
What are the first three surprising beatitudes?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who grieve, and the vulnerable.
Jesus tells us to gouge out our eyes and cut off our hands if they cause us to sin. But where is the real source of sin?
Our heart.
Quick! You are about to remove a speck from your brother’s eye. What do you do?
Take the beam (log) out of your eye.
What are the next seven words: “Repent, for…”?
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Why shouldn’t we store up land treasure?
It won’t last. Moth and rust will destroy it, and thieves will break in and steal it.
What are the second three beatitudes, describing the character of Jesus-followers?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, and the pure in heart.
How are we supposed to give, pray, and fast?
In secret.
Why does Jesus tell us to turn the other cheek?
To make our opponent see us with dignity by inviting a palm slap.
There are two words for “blessed.” Which of the two is Jesus using in the sermon? “Blessed is the man...” or “God blessed them…”?
“Blessed is the man.”
Your eyes let light in and out. That’s why you don’t want bad eyes. What did Jesus mean by “bad eyes”?
Being stingy.
What are the last three beatitudes (which are only two)?
Blessed are the peacemakers and the persecuted.
Where does the broad road lead?
Destruction or ruin.
In his teaching on anger, Jesus does something interesting. As the actions decrease in severity (murderous rage to public shaming to insult), the consequences increase (town court to Supreme Court to divine court). What is the effect of this?
It reveals the power of the smallest act of contempt.
Jesus did not come to do what to the Torah?
Not to abolish, but to fulfill.
Throughout the gospel of Luke, what two things are bound up with debt?
Poverty and sickness.
Who believed that the sermon was the only way to receive true inner clarity and destroy Naziism?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Matthew and Paul use the word “righteousness” differently. For Paul, righteousness is something given to you. What is “righteousness” to Matthew?
It is something you do. Doing right by God and others.
There was a big debate in Jesus’s day about when a man could divorce his wife. What were the two main interpretations of the phrase “nakedness of a thing” from Deuteronomy 24?
House of Shammai - unchastity. House of Hillel - any indecent thing.
What are the five main teachings of the sermon?
Intro: the surprising identity of the kingdom people. The greater righteousness. Religious practices. Relationships with money and people. Conclusion: the choice.
In Jesus’s teaching on anxiety, he says not to be super concerned with food and clothes. What should we seek instead?
The kingdom of heaven and his righteousness.