The 5 Discourses of Jesus
By: Brian Phillips
Making comparisons and connections brings greater clarity to all of our reading and guides us in the cultivation of wisdom and virtue
In recent months, I have done some extensive study and teaching in the gospel of Matthew, a fascinating journey which produced a slew of articles, sermons, and posts (a couple of which are previously posted on the CiRCE blog here and here), mainly addressing the structure, types, and patterns in the gospel. Here I offer one more.
St. Matthew uses five of Christ’s discourses to structure and frame his gospel, completing what amounts to a retelling and fulfilling of the entire Old Testament.
The five discourses are large blocks of Jesus’ teaching found throughout Matthew’s gospel. Each one of them begins and ends in similar fashion. For example, the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7) begins, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying…” When the Sermon is over in 7:28-29, Jesus says, “And when he had finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
The second discourse, which is found in chapter 10, begins this way: “These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them…” (10:5) and ends in 11:1 where Matthew says, “When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.” We find the same pattern used in the third discourse in chapter 13. Matthew opens it officially in 13:1-3 and ends officially in 13:53. The fourth discourse has a similar “official” opening in 18:1-3 and an “official” ending in 19:1. The fifth and final discourse begins in 23:1 and ends in 26:1, all following the same pattern. This pattern makes the discourses easily identifiable and, perhaps, serves a mnemonic function similar to Homer’s “rosy-fingered dawn.”
But, what is of particular interest to me is how these discourses are used by Matthew to retell the entirety of the Old Testament, demonstrating that Christ is the fulfillment of all that was promised therein.
2.Commissioning of the Twelve (chapter 10) ....
3.Parables of the Kingdom (chapter 13) ....
4.Talking of the Church (chapter 18) ....
5.Olivet Discourse (chapters 23-25) ....
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