The Sermon on the Mount

fulfilled its demands against us by dying for us.

This is our hope because Christ did what we could never do—he fulfilled the Law.

he was explaining in the most dramatic terms the impossibility of salvation apart from his grace.

The righteousness that Christ demands is supremely radical.

was merely external.

Jesus was demanding a deeper obedience

“Don’t think I have come to make things easier by reducing the demands of the Law. Far from it! In fact, if your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you’ll never make it!”
What a dilemma! What is the solution?

It involves knowing what he desires

when God says certain people will be called “great”—megas—big in the kingdom—he means it! In fact, we can only guess what this means, and our guesses will almost certainly fall short!

brought the great doctrines of the Old Testament to fruition by his teaching and person.