Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: Mandating a Better Righteousness

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is the best-known repository of the teachings of Jesus and one of the most studied. Amid the considerable erudition expended on the Sermon, however, Jack R. Lundbom argues that it has proven too easy to deflect or disregard the main thrust of the Sermon, which he characterizes as a mandate to holy living and a greater righteousness.

Through careful attention to the structure of Matthews Gospel and the place of the Sermon within it, keen sensitivity to th...