Chapter XIX.—Of the Lengthened Sermon Which, According to Matthew, He Delivered
on the Mount.
43. Now, regarding that lengthened sermon which, according to Matthew, the Lord
delivered on the mount, let us at present see whether it appears that the rest of the evangelists
stand in no manner of antagonism to it. Mark, it is true, has not recorded it at all, neither
has he preserved any utterances of Christ’s in any way resembling it, with the exception of
certain sentences which are not given connectedly, but occur here and there, and which the
Lord repeated in other places. Nevertheless, he has left a space in the text of his narrative
indicating the point at which we may understand this sermon to have been spoken, although
it has been left unrecited. That is the place where he says: “And He was preaching in their
synagogues, and in all Galilee, and was casting out devils.”848 Under the head of this
preaching, in which he says Jesus engaged in all Galilee, we may also understand that dis-
course to be comprehended which was delivered on the mount, and which is detailed by
Matthew. For the same Mark continues his account thus: “And there came a leper to Him,
beseeching Him; and kneeling down to Him, said, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me
clean.”849 And he goes on with the rest of the story of the cleansing of this leper, in such a
manner as to make it intelligible to us that the person in question is the very man who is
mentioned by Matthew as having been healed at the time when the Lord came down from
the mount after the delivery of His discourse. For this is how Matthew gives the history
there: “Now, when He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him;
and, behold, there came a leper, and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst
make me clean;”850 and so on.
44. This leper is also referred to by Luke,851 not indeed in this order, but after the
manner in which the writers are accustomed to act, recording at a subsequent point things
which have been omitted at a previous stage, or bringing in at an earlier point occurrences
which took place at a later period, according as they had incidents suggested to their minds
by the heavenly influence, with which indeed they had become acquainted before, but which
they were afterwards prompted to commit to writing as they came up to their recollection.
This same Luke, however, has also left us a version of his own of that copious discourse of
the Lord, in a passage which he commences just as the section in Matthew begins. For in
the latter the words run thus: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven;”852 while in the former they are put thus: “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the
848 Mark i. 39.
849 Mark i. 40.
850 Matt. viii. 1, 2.
851 Luke v. 12, 13. [It seems altogether more probable that the healing of the leper occurred, before the Sermon
on the Mount, at the time indicated by Luke.—R.]
852 Matt. v. 3.
Of the Lengthened Sermon Which, According to Matthew, He Delivered on the Mount.
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Of the Lengthened Sermon Which, According to Matthew, He Delivered on the…