Two Accounts of the Sermon on the Mount

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 15
The account given in Matthew and Luke are compared, and we are supposed to be driven into a corner, from which there is no escape, by the question, “Which of the two really reproduces the words of Christ?” For instance, did He say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:33Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)), or, “Blessed be ye poor” (Luke 6:2020And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. (Luke 6:20)); or again, did He say, as in Matthew 7:2424Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (Matthew 7:24), “Whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine,” or as in Luke 6:4747Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: (Luke 6:47), “Whosoever cometh to Me and heareth My sayings”?
A little careful reading will show that there is, or ought to be, no real difficulty here at all, for the following two verses show unmistakably that Matthew’s and Luke’s reports contain, not two conflicting accounts of the same sermon, but two separate and faithful records of two different sermons altogether.
According to Matthew 5:11And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (Matthew 5:1), Jesus went up into the mountain (evidently alone), for we read that, “when He was set His disciples came unto Him”; whereas Luke tells us that, after He had spent a night in prayer on the mountain, He came down with His disciples and sat on a level place (R. V., Luke 6:1717And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; (Luke 6:17)). So that it is very clear that the Lord Jesus preached a somewhat similar sermon on two different occasions, although it is often assumed that Matthew and Luke report the same sermon.
This is further shown by the fact that the sermon recorded by Matthew was preached some time before Matthew was called to be a disciple of Christ—the sermon appearing in chapters 5, 6 and 7, and the call of Matthew in chapter 9:9; whereas, on reference to Luke 6:1515Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called Zelotes, (Luke 6:15), it will be seen that Matthew was amongst the disciples which came down with Jesus into the plain (or level place) when He preached that sermon.