Purpose of the Sermon on the Mount

And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying,... 

Matthew 5:2

"The words of Christ on the mount 

*were an expression of that which had been the unspoken teaching of His life, but which the people had failed to comprehend. 

*They could not understand how, having such great power, He neglected to use it in securing what they regarded as the chief good.

*Their spirit and motives and methods were the opposite of His. 

*While they claimed to be very jealous for the honor of the law, self-glory was the real object which they sought; and Christ would make it manifest to them that the lover of self is a transgressor of the law." E.G.W.