What are the Beatitudes?

The opening section of the sermon, a series of blessings pronounced over unexpected groups — "Blessed are the poor in spirit... those who mourn... the meek... those who hunger and thirst for righteousness... the merciful... the pure in heart... the peacemakers... those who are persecuted because of righteousness" (Matthew 5:3-10) — each paired with a specific promise.

Is the Sermon on the Mount one continuous speech?

It is presented as one in Matthew's Gospel, spanning three chapters (5 through 7), though many scholars believe Matthew may have gathered teaching Jesus gave on multiple occasions into a single structured sermon.

The Sermon on the Mount

Q: Where and to whom was the Sermon on the Mount delivered?

Matthew sets the scene simply: "Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them" (Matthew 5:1-2) — a deliberate teaching posture, seated, addressed first to his closest followers within a larger crowd.

Q: How did the crowd react to the sermon?

"The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law" (Matthew 7:28-29) — a contrast the Gospel draws deliberately with the religious scholars of the time.

A teacher who sits down before he speaks

Matthew introduces the scene with almost no ceremony: "Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them" (Matthew 5:1-2, NIV). Sitting down was the recognized posture of a teacher in that culture, not a casual choice — and Matthew is careful to note that while a crowd is present, Jesus addresses his disciples specifically. What follows is framed less as a public announcement than as instruction for those who had already chosen to follow him.

Blessing before demand

Rather than opening with rules, Jesus opens with the Beatitudes — a sequence of blessings that reverses ordinary expectations of who should be considered fortunate: "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 will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3-10, NIV). Each line names a condition that would ordinarily be read as a disadvantage — grief, meekness, hunger, persecution — and pairs it with a promise. Nothing is asked of the listener yet. The blessing comes first.

What the sermon covers after the Beatitudes

The teaching that follows, spanning the rest of Matthew 5 through 7, moves through some of the most quoted material in the Gospels: instruction on anger, honesty, and reconciliation; the command to love one's enemies; the Lord's Prayer; warnings against judging others and against storing up earthly wealth; and the closing image of a wise man who builds his house on rock rather than sand. The range is wide, but the throughline is consistent — an ethic that repeatedly asks for more than external compliance, reaching instead for the intention behind an action.

Why the crowd's reaction mattered

Matthew closes the sermon with a detail that's easy to skip past: "the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law" (Matthew 7:28-29, NIV). The comparison to the religious teachers of the day wasn't incidental — it marked a real and noticeable difference in how Jesus taught, citing no higher authority to back up his claims because he spoke as though he already carried one. That contrast, as much as any single line within the sermon, is why Matthew records the crowd's reaction as astonishment rather than simple approval.