Sermon On The Mount

In the New Testament, Matthew famously recounts Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In his sermon, Jesus discusses how those who are pure in heart and kind, even when they are persecuted, shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. After he lists those who have been downtrodden and comforted them, he speaks to his followers’ about their faith: “So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1086). Jesus, in broad strokes, preaches that the religion of God is not one to be hidden from society, but one to be held up high, to give light to all those who want it. The statements made in this excerpt bring out an idea that the Christian faith is one to be held proudly and publicly.
He tells his followers to “let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1086). Christ hopes that the good deeds of those who follow him will influence others to become Christians, who in turn will do more good deeds, exponentially growing this fledgling religion. He tells his disciples that, as followers of God, they are the ‘light of the world” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1086). It is here that Christ references the famous City upon the Hill, saying that a “city cannot be hidden when it is set on top of a hill” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1086). There is an interesting and important word choice here, as Christ specifically uses something that physically cannot be hidden as his first metaphor. Reading into this more, he is saying that true faith cannot be hidden; that it is, like the aforementioned City upon the Hill, obvious to everyone around them. Going to the later passage, Jesus brings up those who perform acts of charity and use these acts to better themselves in the eyes of their fellow man. He talks about individuals who “love to stand up in the synagogues and the corners of the squares to pray, so that they may be seen by men” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1087). If true faith cannot be hidden, then why do these individuals make such an effort to make their faith seen? The logical conclusion is that these hypocrites, as Jesus calls them, are
in Lawall et al. 1086). Christ makes his meaning clear: he wants his followers faith to shine brightly so others can see. Again, the word choice here is key. A lamp does not go out of its way to show others its light. When a lamp is lit, by its own nature, it illuminates everything around it. This is the distinction between the followers of Christ and those in the synagogue. When a true Christian performs an act of charity, they do it quietly and try not to bring attention to it. But these hypocrites that Christ speaks of like to “have a trumpet blown before” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1087) them, bringing attention to themselves. In this same stroke, they are not performing charity to help the children of God, but so that “men may may think well of them” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1087). This goes against the very base idea of Jesus’s teachings, especially in the Sermon on the Mount; after all, “blessed are the meek, because they shall inherit the earth” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1086). But those who aren’t meek are not following the word of God, they’re using the word of God for their own gain. Due to this they will not inherit the earth, so to speak. This is the “due reward” (qtd. in Lawall et al. 1087) Jesus mentions; that is, that those