The Sermon on the Mount begins with beatitudes, and the Olivet Discourse begins with Woes. As N. T. Wright and others have shown, the two series are similar in a number of particulars. The connections between the two discourses continue after the beatitudes/woes section, evident in significant verbal repetition. To wit:
“Kill”: Jesus uses the verb in 5:21 After that it comes up only in Matthew in 19:18, until we get to 23, where it describes what scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites do (23:31, 35).
“Hell” ( geenna ): Used 7x in the book, 3x in ch. 5. It’s found in 10:28; 18:9, and then as the destination of the disciples of the Pharisees and of the Pharisees themselves (23:15, 33).
“Altar”: Found in 5:23-24; 23:18-20, 35.
“Gift”: In 5:23-24, then 3x in ch 23:18-19.
Swearing by God’s throne comes up in both 5:23 and 23:22.
The sermon lays out a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes. In fact, it is a righteousness that in many particulars directly opposes the “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees.
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