The Life of Christ

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He was later stoned and then beheaded.

Luke (Gospel writer)

• He was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

Mark (Gospel writer)

• He died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

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Mt. 5:1-2 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,

The location where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount is well established today.

• It lies only a few miles south of Capernaum and overlooks the Sea of Galilee.

• The terrain resembles a long slopping hill capable of seating thousands. At the top of the hill is a flat plateau, on which Jesus sat with His disciples (Lk. 6:17).

• As He spoke to the Twelve, the multitudes in the background also heard His teachings.

• The most amazing aspect of this hill is the natural acoustics it offers. From atop the highest point, the sound naturally carries all the way to the bottom of the hill.

• Those at the top heard the same as those at the bottom, about 500 yards away. This same acoustic phenomenon can be duplicated today.

The Sermon on the Mount is considered the grandest of all Jesus’ teachings on practical living and relationships.

• It begins with the Nine Beatitudes, includes the Lord’s Prayer, and offers a variety of practical advice on how to deal with other people.

• Those who hold to the classic dispensational view of theology believe this entire segment of Scripture was only meant to be lived during the millennium. Non-dispensationalists strongly reject that notion, questioning what right does one have to slice away any portion of New Testament teaching and place it out of the church age, unless clearly designated?

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The Beatitudes means to “be of these attitudes.”

• These Nine Beatitudes have been described as the New Testament counterpart to the Ten Commandments.

• The operative word that ties each thought together is “blessed.” This Greek word means happiness. More specifically it means possessing the favor of God, that state of being marked by “fullness from God.”

• There is another Greek word used in secular writings for happiness ( eutykhia) , but that word never once appears in the New Testament.

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