The Genesis and Narrative Thrust of the Paraenesis in the Sermon On the Mount

Abstract

This paper explores the narrative 'gap' in Jesus' delivery of the Sermon on the Mount as an authoritative block of teaching to his disciples, namely that only four disciples have been called and named up to this point in the narrative: Peter, Andrew, James and John. The Twelve are named only in Mt. 10.1-4. The narrative privileging of these four over the Twelve creates a tension within the world of the text. The crowd functions narratively as the recipients of the teaching through the four and is specifically designated as including a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles. This narrative is reflected in the formal concentric structure of the Sermon arranged around the central text, 'Seek righteousness and his kingdom first'. This reflects the tension over the role of Torah in the initiation of Gentiles to Matthew's community.