THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
The Sermon on the Mount is the first discourse by Jesus narrated by Matthew, and is the longest connected discourse to be found in the four Gospels. The place of its delivery is not fixed other than that "He went up into a mountain," but it was probably some elevation of land in Galilee, near Capernaum (Matt. IV:13). The time of its delivery is also not fixed, although it must have been shortly after the baptism by John. Jesus had already done some preaching in Galilee and performed some miracles (Matt. IV:23, 24), but the delivery of the sermon ante-dates all the specific miracles which Matthew relates. The discourse covers three chapters (109 verses) of Matthew's text.
There is, in the four Gospels, no other connected discourse corresponding to the Sermon on the Mount, except in Luke. In Chapter VI he gives a discourse covering twenty-nine verses of his text, which are substantially the same as corresponding verses of the Sermon on the Mount. The place of the delivery of this discourse is not fixed, except that it was on a "plain" (Luke VI:17), probably near Capernaum (Luke VII:1). The time is not fixed, except that Luke's sermon on the plain occurs after a number of miracles and other events (Luke IV:33-44; VI:1-19), while in Matthew's narrative the Sermon on the Mount occurs before these events (Matt. VIII and following).
Some of the verses of this discourse will be found scattered through Mark and John, but a considerable portion of it is entirely lacking. For instance, the "beatitudes" do not appear in either Mark or John.[20]