The author begins by discussing the ‘counter-culture’ of the younger generation. What evidence of this is there where you live? How do you react to it? How do you think Jesus would have reacted?

1. How would you answer someone who said that the Sermon on the Mount was intended only for super-saints and that ordinary Christians do not have to worry about its high standards?
2. How would you answer someone who said that the Sermon is a ‘thinly Christianized form of the Old Testament law …’, implying that, as Christians saved by grace alone, we can safely ignore it?
3. How would you answer someone who said that the Sermon represents a future heavenly ideal rather than something to be aimed at now?

It is suggested that you study the Beatitudes (5:3–12) on your own after the group meeting and perhaps spend some time discussing your answers at your next session together. Questions 8–11 are to get you going. Groups should move now to question 12.

1. Why should anyone have thought that Jesus had come ‘to abolish the law and the prophets’?
2. What three kinds of teaching are there in the Old Testament? In what sense does Jesus ‘fulfil’ each of these?
3. What two things does Jesus say his disciples should do with the Old Testament? How do you match up to his standards in this area?
4. Given the enthusiasm of the scribes and Pharisees for keeping the law, how can the Christian’s righteousness exceed theirs?
5. Jesus goes on to illustrate what he means with six examples of what the scribes and Pharisees were teaching, set against his own interpretation of the law’s requirements. What evidence is there to support this way of viewing 5:21–48?

1. Some people suggest that here Jesus is forbidding killing of any sort. What do you think, and why?
2. The author suggests that Jesus is making a rather different point here, and that he means not simply murder but even apparently rather less serious things like anger and insults. Why are these ‘tantamount to murder in God’s sight’?
3. What practical instruction does Jesus give (5:23–26)? Can you think of ways in which this would restore any broken relationships in your own experience? Is there anything that you should now do in the light of this?

1. In what ways does the author suggest the scribes and Pharisees were distorting the commandment against adultery?
2. What instructions does Jesus give to enable his disciples to maintain sexual purity? How does ‘moral sentry-duty’ work out in practice for you?

1. What distinguishes Jesus’ teaching from that of the scribes and Pharisees?
2. You might like to discuss the arguments for and against the authenticity of the ‘exceptive clause’ in 5:32 and 19:9. Which do you find the most persuasive?
3. How does the author approach the question of divorce? In what ways does this accord with biblical teaching?

1. How were the scribes and Pharisees distorting the commandment against the breaking of oaths?
2. What does Jesus tell his disciples to do to avoid this distortion? How does this apply to you?
3. How is what Jesus says here to be reconciled with the fact that God himself uses oaths in Scripture? And does it prohibit Christians from, for example, giving evidence on oath in a court of law?

1. The law of Moses does indeed lay down the penalty of ‘eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’ (Ex. 21:24). But the scribes and Pharisees were evidently distorting this commandment. How?
2. Jesus clearly forbids personal revenge. But how would you answer someone who went further and claimed that, on the basis of this passage, a Christian should never use force against anyone?

1. How have the scribes and Pharisees distorted the law in this instance?
2. ‘Since the God of the Old Testament obviously hates his enemies, why shouldn’t we hate ours?’ How would you answer this question?

1. In what three specific ways are we to ‘love our enemies’? Are you conscious of particular ‘enemies’ towards whom you need to take this sort of action?
2. ‘It is not enough for Christians to resemble non-Christians; our calling is to outstrip them … God’s people must imitate God rather than men …’. How is this possible for us as manifestly imperfect human beings?
3. ‘Jesus does expect of his followers the very things which others think cannot reasonably be expected of anybody’. How do you react to this? Pray together as you consider its implications for the way you live.

1. Having spoken about true moral righteousness in chapter 5, Jesus turns now to the righteousness his disciples are to display in their religious activity. What do you make of the apparent contradiction between 6:1 and 5:16?
2. The idea of ‘reward’ comes several times in this passage. How would you answer someone who suggests that this is an unworthy motive for Christian discipleship?
3. What is the great danger involved in religious duties like giving alms? How does Jesus instruct his disciples to avoid this? How does this apply to you?

Why does the hypocrite pray? How does Jesus instruct his disciples to avoid falling into the same trap? How does this apply in your own private prayer?

1. Fasting is not a popular pastime these days! What reasons does the author give for commending the practice?
2. ‘To do anything in order to be seen by men is bound to degrade it, while to do it to be seen by God is equally bound to ennoble it’. Think about your religious activities in the light of this statement. Does anything need to be changed?

1. Can you think of ways in which you ‘heap up empty phrases’ when you pray? What does Jesus give as the main reason why his disciples should not do this?
2. If God ‘knows what you need before you ask him’ (6:8), why do we need to pray at all?
3. The distinctive thing about Christian prayer is the nature of the God we address. What does the Lord’s Prayer tell us about God? How are these aspects reflected in your own prayers?
4. This model prayer begins by focusing attention on God—on his name, his kingdom and his will—rather than our own reputation, influence and desires. How much of a priority is this in your own prayers?
5. What do you understand by ‘bread’ in 6:11? Why does Jesus specify ‘daily bread’?
6. Why is God’s forgiveness of us dependent on our forgiving those who have wronged us? Can you think of anyone against whom you harbour resentment or bitterness? How do you think God views this?
7. What problems does the request ‘lead us not into temptation’ give rise to? How does the author answer these? What do you think?
8. ‘In the Lord’s Prayer Christians are obsessed with God …’. How does this attitude differ from the prayers of a. The Pharisees, and b. the Gentile pagans?

1. This is the first of four choices which Jesus lays before us. Do these verses mean that Christians should, for example, have no savings? If not, what is Jesus getting at here?
2. What do you think Jesus means by ‘treasures in heaven’? What distinguishes them from ‘treasures on earth’?

Bearing in mind the previous verses, what is the ‘eye’ a picture of here? What sort of things distort your vision? What can you do to make your eye ‘sound’?

What would count as ‘mammon’ in your life? How would you answer someone who said that Jesus is mistaken and that it is possible to serve (literally, ‘be a slave to’) God and mammon?

1. What is the significance of the ‘Therefore’ at the beginning of 6:25?
2. Jesus contrasts the ambitions of the Gentiles (6:32) with what his disciples should seek after (6:33). What are your ambitions in life? How do these verses relate to them?
3. List the reasons Jesus gives for not being preoccupied with food and clothing. How much does concern for material things influence your life? What do these verses suggest you can do to lessen your anxiety about these things?
4. The author mentions three wrong deductions which some people make on the basis of these verses. What are they and how would you answer them?
5. In contrast to the inappropriate and unworthy ambitions of the heathen, Jesus gives altogether higher goals for the Christian to seek. What does it mean to ‘seek first the kingdom of God’? How does this apply to you? In what ways will tomorrow need to be different if you take this seriously?
6. Do you agree with the author’s interpretation of what it means to ‘seek first God’s righteousness’? If not, how would you explain it? Either way, what changes do you need to make to your life in the light of this command?
7. ‘Lesser ambitions are safe and right provided that they are not an end in themselves (namely ourselves) but the means to a greater end (the spread of God’s kingdom and righteousness)’. Spend some time thinking and praying about your goals in life in the light of this statement.

1. We begin with the command ‘Judge not …’. Why was Tolstoy wrong to say that ‘Christ totally forbids the human institution of any law court’? Why is it wrong to say that Christ is here telling his disciples to refrain from making value-judgments? What then does Jesus mean here?
2. ‘To be censorious is … to try to play God’. Can you think of instances when you have done this? What does Jesus warn about the consequences?
3. What is the picture of the speck and the log intended to illustrate? Can you think of ways in which this applies to you? What is the solution?
4. ‘Jesus actually commands us to reprove and correct our brother’. But what precautions should we take before doing so? Are there any situations known to you which require your action on this point?

What does the author suggest is meant by ‘dogs’ and ‘pigs’? Do you know anyone who would come into this category? Why is it so important to obey this prohibition?

1. Jesus turns now to our relationship with our heavenly Father and continues his teaching on prayer. On what basis does he encourage his disciples to pray?
2. How would you answer someone who said that prayer is unseemly because it implies that God is ignorant or needs to be bullied into giving us what we need?
3. How would you answer someone who said that prayer is unnecessary because most people get what they need without it?
4. How would you answer someone who said that prayer is unproductive and doesn’t always work?
5. ‘Prayer presupposes knowledge … faith … desire’. How can we grow in each of these three qualities?

‘Such love is beyond us apart from the grace of God’. Think of situations where you have failed to live up to this high standard and pray together for the grace to love as God loves.

1. Jesus describes two ways. What are the four characteristics of each? To what extent have you found what Jesus says here to be true in your own experience?
2. ‘There is no third alternative’. What are the implications for us if we believe this?

1. Why are false prophets so dangerous?
2. In what way are false prophets deceptive? How does Jesus instruct his disciples to tell the difference between the true and the false? How is this aspect of Jesus’ teaching to be applied in your own situation?

Jesus comes now to his conclusion. What positive features can you identify in those whom Jesus calls ‘evildoers’? What is the crucial thing they lack?

1. Ultimately, there are only two possible responses to this Sermon. What are they?
2. Can you think of ways in which you have heard the words of Jesus without putting them into practice? What are the dangers of doing this?
3. ‘The Bible is a dangerous book to read … the church is a dangerous society to join’. Why?

1. How would you answer someone who said that the Sermon on the Mount is a plain account of Jesus’ ethical teaching without the unnecessary supernatural dogma about Jesus which Christianity has acquired since?
2. What was the reaction to Jesus’ teaching? How did he differ from the scribes? What was this due to?
3. The author goes on to suggest that the Sermon supports fundamental Christian claims about Jesus and his authority. What evidence is there that Jesus is the Christ? The Lord? The Saviour? The Judge? The Son of God? God himself?
4. ‘Only when the Christian community lives by Christ’s manifesto will the world be attracted and God be glorified’. What steps do you need to take in order to align your life more closely with Jesus’ teaching in this Sermon? Pray for one another as you put these into practice.