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Monday, 11 March 2019

The Big Structure of the Sermon on the Mount

Some of the advice I received about memorising a long speech was to understand the structure. What are the main sections? How does the meaning flow from one to the next?
So here's an attempt to analyse the Sermon on the Mount.
I've broken it down into five sections: how to be blessed, how to obey, how to live, how to think and how to choose. All together, it looks like this.

Sermon on the Mount
  1. God’s people – how to be blessed
    1. The Beatitudes
    2. Salt & Light
  2. What about the law? - how to obey
    1. The fulfilment of the law
    2. Murder
    3. Adultery
    4. Divorce
    5. Oaths
    6. Eye for eye
    7. Love for enemies
  3. Acts of piety – how to live
    1. Giving to the needy
    2. Prayer
    3. Fasting
  4. State of mind – how to think
    1. Treasure in heaven
    2. Do not worry
    3. Judging others
    4. Ask, seek, knock
  5. Opposites – how to choose
    1. The narrow & wide gates
    2. True & false prophets
    3. True & false disciples
    4. Wise & foolish builders
My hope is that if I understand the way the sermon is constructed, I'll be able to move from one section to the next more easily.

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