Chapter 16—Sermon on the Mount
The Redeemer of the world sought to make his lessons so simple
that all could understand who heard them. It was not his choice to
teach within walls or temples. True, he often did so in order to reach
a class whom he would not be likely to meet while speaking in the
open air, but Jesus preferred the fields, the groves, and the lake-sides
for his temples. There were also his favorite resorts for meditation and
prayer.
He had special reasons for choosing these natural sanctuaries in
which to give instruction to the people. The landscape lay before
him, rich in scenes and objects familiar alike to the lofty and the
humble. From these he drew illustrations that simplified his teachings,
and impressed them firmly upon the minds of his hearers. The birds
caroling in the leafy branches, the glowing flowers of the valley, the
spotless lily resting on the bosom of the lake, the lofty trees, the fruitful
lands, the waving grain, the barren soil, the tree that bore no fruit,
the mighty hills, the bubbling brooks, the setting sun that tinted and
gilded the heavens, all served as means of instruction, or as emblems
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by which he taught the beauties of divine truth. He connected the
visible works of the Creator with the words of life which he spoke,
and thus led the mind from the contemplation of Nature unto Nature’s
God.
The malice of the Jews was so great in consequence of the miracle
of Jesus in healing the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day,
that he with his disciples withdrew to a more favorable field of labor.
They went to the seaside of Galilee, and great multitudes followed
him, for this new miracle wrought upon the Sabbath day was noised
abroad through all that region. As Jesus taught, many of the sick, and
those possessed with demons, were brought to him, and he made them
whole. His great heart of love was filled with divine pity for the poor
sufferers, many of whom sought only to draw near enough to touch
him, believing that in so doing they would be healed, and in this they
were not disappointed, for the touch of faith brought healing power
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