Note: Apparently, in some manuscripts of Matthew 5 verses 4 (mourn) and 5 (meek) were transposed. I've kept to that order.
Because our Lord Jesus Christ, according to all the prophecies of the Prophets, is the salvation and light of the world, the teacher of righteousness and the legislator of evangelical instruction, therefore, when the opportune time had come, He did what had been foretold concerning Himself by handing on the evangelical law. And because the law was to be given to all, openly proclaimed, and ordered toward the correction and perfection of humankind, the Savior, seeing a very great crowd following Him—needing instruction and weighed down by vices—ascended a mountain, first so that He might be seen better by all and heard more clearly; second, so that by the lofty mountain the excellence of the evangelical law and discipline might be shown, concerning which excellence of the law the saying of the Psalmist may rightly be understood: “Your justice is like the mountains of God”; third, so that He might demonstrate that the preacher of the word of God ought to ascend the heights of virtue, according to that saying of Isaiah: “Go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion.” Finally, according to Augustine, in this sermon of the Lord is contained everything that pertains to the best morals and to the perfection of Christian living. Therefore, insofar as the Lord grants it, we must dwell more carefully upon the present chapter and certain subsequent ones.
Mt 5:1-2 He says, therefore: “Seeing the crowds…”—with His bodily eye He saw the crowds of whom mention was made at the end of the preceding chapter, whom He nevertheless continually saw with His intellectual vision. For the soul of Christ, from the beginning of its creation, by the knowledge of vision actually understood all things that ever were, are, or shall be. “He ascended a mountain,” namely a certain mountain of Galilee, that is, Mount Tabor or some other mountain according to Jerome—not the Mount of Olives, as some have thought. Why He ascended a mountain has already been stated.
And when He had sat down on the mountain, as a teacher—for sitting belongs to one who teaches—His disciples came to Him, who, as being more perfect than the rest, were able to follow the Master of perfection and to be more closely united to Him. “And opening His mouth…” By this circumlocution the greatness of what was to be said is indicated. Thus, opening His mouth, that is, speaking by Himself and in His own person and delivering the law—He who formerly spoke through angels and prophets and proposed the law through Moses—He taught them, saying. It is not said that He taught the crowds, but the disciples; how this is to be understood will soon be shown.
Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” At the beginning of this most sacred sermon, the Only-Begotten Son of God teaches eight beatitudes. It must therefore be noted that virtues, gifts, fruits, and beatitudes agree in some respects and differ in others. Virtue and gift agree in this, that each of them is a habit; they differ, however, in that gifts perfect virtues and make them prompt in operation, and excel them in dignity—except for the theological virtues, which are more excellent than the gifts. Hence virtues are more numerous than gifts, which are only seven.
Beatitude and fruit agree in this, that each is an act of virtue; but beatitude adds to fruit the notion of what is perfect and eminent, such that it belongs to the very definition of beatitude that it be the act of an excellent virtue, whereas for fruit it suffices that it be an act of virtue accompanied by spiritual delight. Sometimes, however, fruit is taken for the delight of a virtuous act, and beatitude for the virtue or habit itself. Indeed, some understand these beatitudes as the virtues themselves, although more properly they are understood as acts, for beatitude consists in an act, not in a habit, according to the Peripatetics—although some have said it consists in a habit.
Just as Christian teachers distinguish virtues in such a way that virtues existing in the highest degree are called divine and befitting the state of the perfect rather than of beginners or those progressing, so the Peripatetics called such virtues heroic, while the Platonists or Stoics called them virtues of a purified soul, freed from passions and vices. The acts of these virtues, therefore, are especially called beatitudes. Some further assert that beatitudes are rather acts of the gifts than of the virtues, since the gifts exceed the virtues. But this should be understood thus, in my opinion: virtues do not elicit beatitudes except insofar as the gifts perfect the virtues, making them prompt to act and able swiftly and easily to repel every obstacle.
Concerning the first and fundamental beatitude, Truth says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” In every beatitude two things are touched upon, namely merit and reward. The merit is the beatitude of the way, that is, the act of virtue, which is indicated when it is said “Blessed…”; the reward is the recompense corresponding to the merit, which is indicated when it is said “for theirs is…”. Since the act of virtue in this life is in some way laborious, especially at the beginning—for art and virtue deal with what is difficult, according to the Philosopher—therefore the Savior, commending the beatitudes, immediately adds the reward, in order to spur us on to the exercise of the beatitudes. For the remembrance of reward provokes and strengthens the one who labors.
It is also useful to know that beatitude is twofold: of the way and of the homeland. Beatitude of the way is the virtuous action; beatitude of the homeland is the heavenly reward. Beatitude is also had in two ways: in hope and in reality. Beatitude of the homeland is now possessed by the way in reality, for this is the nearest and highest disposition to that final beatitude, which is possessed in hope. Furthermore, since beatitude, strictly taken, is the best operation of the most perfect virtue, it is necessary that among the eight beatitudes there be one supreme beatitude, essentially called beatitude—especially since in every ordered multitude there is one principal thing to which the others are ordered. This beatitude in the way is purity of heart; in the homeland it is the vision of God, which is placed as the entire reward. To purity of heart, therefore, the other beatitudes dispose and are referred. From this it is clear that the beatitudes are not enumerated here according to the order of dignity or perfection, whereby the more excellent and better are placed first, but partly according to the order of generation, in which the imperfect precedes the perfect. According to this mode the Apostle says: “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is animal; then that which is spiritual.”
Jerome, Augustine, and Chrysostom explain the first beatitude—“Blessed are the poor in spirit”—as humility, so that the sense is: Blessed are the poor in spirit, that is, the humble of heart, who are not puffed up, who do not presume great things about themselves, nor attribute any good to themselves, but ascribe everything to God, pondering that saying of the Apostle: “What do you have that you did not receive?” and that other: “If anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Of these the Psalmist says: “The Lord will save the humble in spirit.” But those who are great and wise in their own eyes, and think themselves more perfect than others, are not poor in spirit.
Ambrose and Pope Leo, however, explain this beatitude as voluntary poverty assumed for God, desired or embraced, so that the sense is: Blessed—already in hope, indeed even blessed in reality, speaking of the beatitude of the way—are the poor, that is, those lacking temporal goods, in spirit, that is, with an affection of heart such that they do not seek riches but despise them and rejoice in their poverty, possessing nothing as their own, saying with Paul: “I count all things as dung, that I may gain Christ.” This is evangelical poverty, which Christ counsels when He says: “Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple,” and again: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor.” This is that most rich poverty of which the Apostle speaks: “Their deepest poverty abounded unto the riches of their simplicity.” This is also that most powerful poverty of which Peter spoke to the man lame from birth: “Silver and gold I have none, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus, rise and walk.”
Of both kinds of poverty may be understood that saying of Isaiah: “Lord God, I will give thanks to You, for You have become a strength to the poor and needy in their distress.” This poverty, therefore, despises all exterior things—honors and riches—as far as possible, so that the human person may adhere with a free and undivided mind to the Supreme Being, in whom all goods, all beauty, and all things desirable are contained most abundantly; for one is joined to God all the less the more one is entangled in transitory things and distracted by them.
O poverty to be loved, venerated, and embraced! Of which Christ gave an example, becoming poor for our sake though He was rich, according to His saying: “The birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Finally, according to either interpretation, poverty of spirit is the base or foundation of all the other beatitudes. For humility is the root, guardian, and firm support of the virtues and of all perfection. Likewise, the casting away of riches makes a person ready for all spiritual things and abundantly capable of heavenly graces.
Then the reward of the poor in spirit or the recompense of voluntary poverty is added: “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” that is, the wealth of the heavenly homeland is owed and prepared for them as a reward. The kingdom of heaven, therefore, signifies the fullest sufficiency of all goods, of which Isaiah and Paul testify, saying that “eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him.” And what are these goods except, objectively, God Himself—glorious, blessed, rich in Himself and rich in others—who will be all in all? Formally, however, they are the endowments of soul and body and the other things that adorn, complete, and perfect heavenly beatitude. Since the reward corresponds to the merit, abundance and sublimity of the heavenly kingdom are rightly promised to the poor and humble.
Mt 5:5 “Blessed are the meek,” that is, those who restrain all irrational anger and, with a gentle spirit, endure adversities and injuries inflicted upon them, and do not become angry at anything contrary that occurs. Meekness or gentleness is a moral virtue restraining and moderating the passion of anger. Here especially mention is made of meekness of a purified soul, and meekness is taken for the act of meekness. It seems, however, that meekness is taken here somewhat more broadly than in the manner just described, namely insofar as it includes patience of suffering, so that meek people are those who are patient, lacking bitterness, indignation, and the desire for vengeance.
Just as anger belongs to folly—since it greatly hinders the act of reason and produces unbecoming gestures in face and body, for which reason Ecclesiastes says, “Be not quick to anger, for anger rests in the bosom of a fool,” and Job says, “Anger kills the foolish man,” and Solomon testifies, “He who works folly is foolish,” and that wisdom is known through patience—so meekness greatly adorns knowledge and merits the illumination of divine wisdom, making a person truly wise, modest, and well ordered, according to the saying of the Psalmist, speaking of God: “He will guide the meek in judgment; He will teach the meek His ways.”
And because meekness merits wisdom and disposes one to stable contemplation by removing the impediments to contemplation and the internal causes of instability—namely anger, impatience, indignation, and bitterness—therefore the meek experience the sweetness of interior peace, according to that saying of the Psalmist: “The meek shall inherit the land and shall delight in the abundance of peace.” This virtue also obtains a special grace and familiarity with God, indeed even exaltation to the height of beatitude, as is said in the Psalm: “The Lord is well pleased with His people; He will exalt the meek unto salvation.” It also makes a person lovable to his neighbors, as Ecclesiasticus writes: “My son, complete your works in meekness, and you will be loved more than by human glory.” James says in his Epistle: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom.” Hence, in the Epistle to the monk Demophilus, it is asserted that Moses, Joseph, and David found the greatest favor with God precisely because they were meek.
Consequently, there is set forth the proportionate reward of this beatitude: for they shall possess. In the present life they shall possess their own body—that is, their flesh—which they will have subject to the rule of reason, composed, ordered, and governed. For when they are taught by divine wisdom, they govern themselves in all things. In the future, however, they shall possess the land, that is, the firm and abiding dwelling of the heavenly paradise, of which the Prophet speaks: I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, and again, I shall please the Lord in the land of the living. And in Isaiah it is written: If you glorify the Lord while not doing your own will, I will lift you up above the heights of the earth, says the Lord. This, then, is the fitting reward of the meek, since we may judge that in the future the meek cannot be driven from the heavenly land by invisible enemies, as they are now often expelled from earthly and hereditary land by visible enemies.
Moreover, meekness is fittingly placed after poverty of spirit. First, because the humble and the poor are easily despised and injured and experience many hardships and inconveniences; therefore, they are especially in need of meekness, lest they be provoked to anger and impatience. Second, because the humble and the poor are most disposed to observe meekness, just as the proud and the greedy are inclined to the contrary, according to the saying: Where there is pride, there also is disgrace; but where there is humility, there is wisdom.
Mt 5:4 The third beatitude follows: Blessed are those who mourn, mourning over their own sins or those of their neighbors, weeping, and sighing for their heavenly homeland, with heartfelt union to Christ suffering and crucified. Thus did he mourn who said: Streams of waters have flowed from my eyes, because they have not kept your law. Thus Samuel mourned for Saul, Jeremiah for Jerusalem, Daniel for the captivity of his people. Thus, out of desire for the homeland, the Apostle mourned, saying: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? And the Psalmist: My tears have been my bread day and night, while it is said to me daily: Where is your God? Again: Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged. This mourning cuts off all delight of taste and touch, all vain boasting in words, deeds, and games, as it is written: My soul refused to be comforted. And Ecclesiastes says: I considered laughter an error, and said to joy: Why are you vainly deceived?
This mourning also appears to be an act of penance or of fraternal or divine charity, according as the causes and species of mourning differ. Some, however, mourn unhappily over temporal losses. The reward of this mourning is that they shall be comforted, through the interior sweetness of divine visitation, as the Prophet testifies: According to the multitude of sorrows in my heart, your consolations have gladdened my soul. They are comforted in the present life in an initial and partial way, but in the heavenly homeland fully and totally; for if we suffer together, we shall also be glorified together. Indeed, with pious mourning there is often, and almost always, mingled the consolation of the Holy Spirit, according to the saying: Lord, after the storm you bring calm, and after weeping you pour in rejoicing. Truly and abundantly does one who embraces this holy mourning deserve to taste how sweet the Lord is, so that he exclaims with wonder: How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord. Whoever takes up this holy mourning despises all vain pleasures, saying with Solomon: It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.
This beatitude of mourning is fittingly ordered in the third place, because after the renunciation of external things and the attainment of meekness of soul, a person is prepared for the consideration of those realities that induce such mourning.
Mt 5:6 The fourth beatitude follows: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, that is, who with burning desire long in all things for justice to be observed, so that God may be honored by all, just as the hungry desire bodily food and drink. Thus, to hunger and thirst for justice—which here is understood as a general virtue—is vehemently to desire that all obey God, that both oneself and others may progress in good living, and that to each be rendered what is his due. Of such thirst Isaiah speaks: All you who thirst, come to the waters; and Christ in John: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me. With this hunger and thirst labor religious persons, who strive with all their effort to grow daily in grace, to advance from virtue to virtue, and always to serve God with greater reverence, according to the Apostle: Not that I have already attained or am already perfect; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and stretching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal. Yet no one ever advances as much as he desires, insofar as he regards what he has done as nothing, humbles himself, and never ceases to hunger for justice. For when we have done all that is commanded us, we ought to say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do. This hunger is a great perfection, consuming sins as fire devours stubble.
The reward is then added: for they shall be filled. Now they are filled in some measure with sacramental bread, of which the Savior says: My flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink, and with the bread of obedience, of which John says: My food is to do the will of my Father. For the grace of God increases in them daily, because the more one prepares himself for grace, the more abundantly he receives it. In the future, however, they shall be filled most fully in intellect and affection, because they shall see God so clearly and, by possessing him, shall obtain whatever they desire. Hence the Psalmist says: You will fill me with joy with your countenance, and I shall be satisfied when your glory appears.
Moreover, this hunger and thirst follows upon the mourning previously described, because when a person perceives his own imperfection, considers that of others, and sighs for future happiness, he seeks nothing else than to be cleansed from guilt—both himself and others—to grow in grace and to draw ever nearer to the heavenly homeland.
Mt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, who show compassion to others by helping and forgiving, indeed by regarding their misery as their own and relieving it through corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Their reward is that they shall obtain mercy, that is, the remission of sins, the infusion of the desired grace, and the help of divine mercy in all things. This is what the Psalmist says: Blessed is the one who understands the needy and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the evil day. Therefore Solomon says: By mercy and truth sins are purged, and He who is inclined to mercy shall be blessed. Tobias also instructs his son thus: As you are able, so be merciful, and do not turn your face away from any poor person; thus it will happen that the face of the Lord will not be turned away from you. Truly merciful are those who fulfill the Apostle’s word: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn? And again: Bear one another’s burdens. Hence to the Ephesians: Be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. By this virtue we are made like God, to whom it is proper to show mercy and to spare.
Mt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, that is, those who are pure in intellect and sincere in will, who have no consciousness of sin and are not defiled by a crooked intention, but are free for the contemplation and love of the most high God and of heavenly goods, without error and without the intrusion of passions that darken the soul. Toward this purity of heart dispose the moral virtues, which purify the sensitive appetite from passions, and the other natural intellectual virtues, as well as justice, which is a special moral virtue. For all are ordered to this end: that the intellect may be supernaturally illuminated by the gift of wisdom, as well as by the gifts of understanding, knowledge, and counsel, and that the will may burn with charity and be perfected by the three gifts, namely fortitude, fear, and piety. When these are accomplished, a person is able stably, sincerely, and affectively to devote himself to God through contemplation and love. Purity of heart is essentially the ardent contemplation of God, or contemplative love.
To this purity of heart a person is led by a threefold way or threefold hierarchical action: the purgative way, by which he is cleansed from guilt; the illuminative way, by which he is divinely enlightened and made a seat of wisdom; and the unitive or perfective way, by which, enkindled, he is united to God. Since, therefore, purity of heart is the end of all our exercises and the perfection of the present life, we must incessantly intend it, sigh for it, direct our intellect to its consideration, and as often as we perceive that we have fallen away, departed, or incurred some distance from it, grieve and repent.
For this reason Solomon admonishes: With all vigilance guard your heart, for from it life proceeds; and Moses: Keep yourself and your soul carefully, lest you forget the words of the Lord, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. With God’s help we can do this if we ponder the presence and judgment of the divine countenance, saying with the holy Elijah: The Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, and with the Psalmist: May the meditation of my heart be always in your sight. Such was Job, saying: Does not God consider my ways and number all my steps? Nor do only passions and great vices take away or diminish purity of heart; even superfluous and vain thoughts do so, for Scripture truly says: He who despises small things will fall little by little. Therefore one must avoid every wandering of the mind and useless thought, and labor tirelessly, vigilantly, and prayerfully to obtain purity of heart. For they shall see God face to face, that is, clearly, through that species which beatifies, corresponding to purity of heart.
Mt 5:9 The seventh beatitude then follows: Blessed are the peacemakers, lovers, seekers, and workers of concord and common unity. They strive to have peace within themselves, so that the lower appetite may obey the higher, sensuality reason, the flesh the spirit, and the whole person God; then they endeavor to have peace with others, to reconcile those at variance, and to lead all toward a certain unanimity, just as in the Church of the multitude of believers there was one heart and one soul. For thus God causes those of one manner to dwell in a house. Concerning concordant and fraternal dwelling we sing: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. Peace proceeds from charity, according to the Psalmist: Great peace have those who love your law, and it is preserved by justice, as Isaiah testifies: The work of justice shall be peace. Of this peace the Savior says: My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. And the Apostle: The peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts. That this peace is especially to be sought by every Christian is evident from the fact that Christ was accustomed to greet his disciples with the words Peace be with you, and commanded them: Into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. Therefore the Apostle exhorts us to this beatitude when he says to the Ephesians: Be eager to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and elsewhere: If it be possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with all.
The reward of the peacemakers is then added: for they shall be called sons of God, that is, they shall be adopted and worthy to be called sons in the present age and especially in the future. For people are called sons of God because of a certain likeness to him. This likeness belongs most properly to God, who makes peace, according to the Apostle: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. And of Christ it is said: For he himself is our peace, who has made both one. Therefore they are like God who can say: With those who hated peace, I was peaceable. Yet Chrysostom says: “There are many who gladly reconcile others, yet they themselves are never reconciled from the heart with their enemies; such people are deceivers of peace, not lovers of it.”
Mt 5:10 Finally, the eighth beatitude is added: Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, that is, for the sake of doctrine, for the truth of life, or for the truth of justice—namely, for the faith, for upright conduct, or for the defense of equity and right—and this from God and for his honor and glory. For truth and equity beget hatred. He who, because of no adversity or persecution, abandons the way of justice is blessed, saying with holy Job: Until I fail, I will not depart from my innocence, and I will not abandon the justification I have begun.
Many, however, are punished because of their own excesses, who, wishing to excuse themselves and almost to declare themselves blessed, inappropriately invoke this Scripture, saying: Blessed are those who suffer for justice, though they pay a deserved penalty for their own malice. Nevertheless, one who has committed an excess and bears the penalty imposed because of his fault with equanimity seems in a certain way to be blessed. For although he does not suffer for justice as for the cause that moves others to persecute him, he does suffer justice as for a final cause—namely, that his fault may be ordered by punishment, the injury done to God may be vindicated, and lost grace may be restored. Whatever adversity or penalty befalls us, we ought patiently to endure it on account of our sins, considering these punishments to be less than our crimes; but this is far less than to suffer for justice. Hence Peter says: For this is grace, if because of conscience toward God one endures sorrows, suffering unjustly… But if when doing good you suffer and endure, this is grace before God; for to this you were called.
Moreover, the reward of those who suffer in this way is added: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, that is, they shall obtain eternal victory. For to the oppressed and afflicted the glory of the heavenly kingdom is especially fitting as consolation. This reward of the eighth and final beatitude is also promised to the first, when it is said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. For considering the sublimity of the heavenly kingdom, it is placed as the reward of poverty; considering the fullness of its joys, it is placed as the reward of those who suffer for justice.
The rewards of the aforementioned beatitudes are one and the same, either essentially or reductively. For what is the kingdom of heaven except possession? And what is the consolation of the homeland except possession, or something conjoined with it? Likewise, to be filled and to see God are the same. Of this last beatitude, which pertains most especially to martyrs, all the elect are sharers, as the Apostle testifies: All who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution.
Mt 5:11 Next, the Savior, as it were, explains the final beatitude: Blessed are you when they revile you, that is, when people speak evil of you in the manner that follows—namely, for Christ’s sake—and persecute you, inflicting evils or driving you from place to place, and say every evil against you, imputing various crimes to you, not truthfully but falsely, that is, accusing you mendaciously, for my sake, that is, inflicting all these evils upon you because you adhere to me and serve me, namely, on account of your justice.
Mt 5:12 Rejoice interiorly, delighting in heart amid these adversities, as the Apostle says: We glory in tribulations; and exult, that is, from the fullness of interior joy show outward signs of gladness, according to the saying: My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God. This is what James teaches: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials. For these are great benefits of God, as the Apostle affirms: To you it has been granted for Christ’s sake not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. And Peter says: If you are reproached in the name of Christ, you are blessed. Hence the Savior says: In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
For your reward is great in heaven. This is one reason for rejoicing in adversities—the greatness of the reward—because, as the Apostle testifies: The momentary and light affliction of this present time works for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. Hence the Savior says to his disciples: Now you indeed have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. Since the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with future glory, we ought in every tribulation to rejoice from the heart.
There is also cause for rejoicing in these adversities for other reasons, namely, because through them we are made like Christ who suffered, we honor God, and we are conformed to the holy ones. Therefore it is added: For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you, that is, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the others. For this reason Stephen says: Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? From this it is clear that these words are said especially to the Apostles and the other disciples.
Concerning the foregoing, a great question arises: whether the present sermon, which Matthew describes here, is the same as the sermon described by Luke. To this some have said yes, because both sermons have the same beginning and the same end and coincide in many intermediate points. Others hold the opposite: first, because according to Matthew Christ preached on a mountain, whereas according to Luke he descended from the mountain and preached in a level place; second, because according to Matthew he taught sitting, but according to Luke standing; third, because according to Matthew he taught eight beatitudes, according to Luke four; fourth, because Luke omits many things that Matthew includes.
Which of these opinions is truer is uncertain. Yet the reasons for either opinion can be resolved fairly easily. For holding the first opinion, one would say that Christ first ascended the mountain with his disciples, and there, after the election of the Apostles and the beginning of preaching, descended to the foot of the mountain and there, standing, taught the disciples and the people together; and if that place was a plain, then indeed he stood in a level place near the ascent of the mountain. Nor does it hinder that Luke omits many things which Matthew includes, just as in the Lord’s Prayer Matthew includes seven petitions and Luke only five, yet both describe the same prayer. For when one Evangelist knows that something has been fully set forth by another, he pursues it less fully.
But one who holds the second opinion can say that it is not unusual for different sermons to begin and end in the same way and to share many elements in common. This second opinion is judged truer by some, namely, that there were distinct sermons, as becomes evident to one who carefully examines the description of each sermon.
CONTINUE
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