阅读经文 

想像一下，你生活在一世纪，耶稣恰巧到访你所在的村庄。如果你听到耶稣声称自己“与父原为一”，（参约 10:30）或者听到祂挑战宗教领袖，你觉得自己会有什么反应呢？

你会对耶稣的教义感兴趣吗，甚至会感到兴奋吗？你看到法利赛人（宗教领袖）被置于他们的地位会开心吗？或者你会对这个自称代表神说话的陌生人持怀疑态度呢？

当耶稣颁布登山宝训时，祂知道祂是在对一群背景各异的人说话。人群中的许多人是犹太人，而有些人则来自其他文化和传统。

在这段经文中，耶稣声明，祂希望每个人都能明白祂作为神所应许的弥赛亚，有权力教导和招聚跟随祂的人。

整个旧约的故事中，从创世记到颁布十诫，从列王时代到被掳流亡及以后，都指向弥赛亚，祂要来修复神的子民和神治理的世界。耶稣来，带来了生命，这生命总是要在与神的关系中活出来。

今天，我们仍然要决定是否相信耶稣带给我们永生之道。祂来是要成全律法和先知？还是祂仅仅在讲自己的话？

Imagine that you were living in the first century and Jesus had just come to your village. If you heard Jesus claim to be “one with the Father,” or if you heard him challenge the religious leaders, how do you think you would have reacted?

Would you be interested—or perhaps even excited—by Jesus’ teachings? Would you be delighted to see the Pharisees (the religious leaders) put in their place?

Or would you have been skeptical of this stranger who claimed to speak for God?

As Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, he understood that he was speaking to a mixed crowd. Many of the people in the crowd were Jewish, while some came from other cultures and traditions.

In this passage Jesus shows that he wanted everyone to understand his right to teach and to gather followers as the promised Messiah.

The entire Old Testament story, from Genesis to the Ten Commandments, and from the time of the kings to the exile and beyond, pointed to the Messiah who would come to restore God’s people and God’s world. Jesus had come to bring life as it was always meant to be lived in relationship with God.

Today we still have to decide if Jesus can be trusted to bring us the words of life. Has he come in fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets? Or does he merely speak for himself?