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Plough Publishing House. Used with permission."

This e-book is a publication of Plough Publishing House,

Farmington, PA 15437 USA (www.plough.com) and Robertsbridge,

East Sussex, TN32 5DR, UK (www.ploughbooks.co.uk)

Chapters five, six, and seven of the Gospel of Matthew have been reprinted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1946, 1952, by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches. Used with permission.

The verses quoted at the end of The Fight Against Mammon (James 5: 1–7) have been reprinted from Holy Bible, New International Version®, ©1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

We have listened to the Sermon on the Mount and perhaps have understood it. But who has heard it aright? Jesus gives the answer at the end (Matt. 7:24– 29). He does not allow his hearers to go away and make of his sayings what they will, picking and choosing from them whatever they find helpful and testing them to see if they work. He does not give them free rein to misuse his word with their mercenary hands, but gives it to them on condition that it retains exclusive power over them.

Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience, not interpreting it or applying it, but doing and obeying it. That is the only way to hear his word. He does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal; he really means us to get on with it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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