A description not a prescription – 4th Sunday in ordinary time – Matthew 5: 1-12

Matthew’s gospel is often referred to as the teaching gospel for it contains five great discourses into which Matthew has gathered so much of his teaching material.

Writing to a Judeo- Christian audience sometime between 75- 90 AD the gospel has strong overtones of a ‘family feud’. In 80 AD, the Rabbis of Jamnia had placed the Christians outside the community of Judaism. The ‘birkat hamminim,’ a curse pronounced on heretics and which included the Christians, set the Christians community firmly outside the boundaries of Judaism, something that the community of St Matthew will contest.

Matthew’s gospel has two clear focuses; that Jesus is the Christ and that the kingdom of God that he proclaims will break upon the world soon.  The gospel of today is the opening verses of the first of the five discourses and is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount.

Enunciated in this sermon, are the key attitudes that the disciple must live by. The intended hearers of the sermon are the disciples but the crowds present are not barred from the message of Jesus.  In Chapter 7:28 it is the crowds who, having heard the sermon, react to the words of Jesus.