Kenny Wells

Dr. Dave

SEL 255 01

14 April 2018

Exegetical Paper

Matthew 5-7 serves as the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. In this speech from

Jesus to his disciples, different aspects of life were addressed and taught. This scene was a lot

like God’s speech on top of Mount Sinai in the Old Testament. Many of the same topics are both

addressed in Exodus (OT) and in Matthew (NT). The Ten Commandments, along with other

similar examples are shared between both books.  The Sermon on the Mount played a huge role

on the social and historical impact on people all over the earth because the disciples and the

crowds were taught upon these topics, and then they spread their knowledge to other people.

There isn’t much detail to the passage itself, as the scene took place in one place with the same

people during the entire passage. The passage includes Jesus, his disciples and the crowds of

people below. Jesus explained many topics such as The Beatitudes, murder, adultery, divorce,

prayer, fasting, worrying, judging, truth and wisdom. The purpose of the passage during this time

was for Jesus to prove his authority in God as a Christian. Jesus had previously been born again

and baptized by John and was put in the highest position to lead God’s new followers. Matthew

is the first gospel of the four, along with Mark, Luke and John. The passage of the Sermon on the

Mount relates to the first gospel as a whole because the book of Matthew serves as a huge

transition for Jesus from leading the Jews to becoming a Christian leader, and that is what this

speech signifies. As for life on the Hill, this speech can relate to all of the major transitions we,

as college students will make during our journey here.

 The story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind is just one of the many accounts

that proved Jesus’s truth that are shared in the book of John. Nothing in chapter 9 necessarily is

noted in the Old and New testament, but the book of John does relate much to the Old Testament

in the sense that it accounts for information from the very beginning of time and the beginning of

Jesus’s life on earth. This story had an impact on the social aspect of this time period because

this was during Jesus’s triumph to prove his legitimacy of authority. It took many of his

miraculous healings in order for people to believe that he was really the son of God. Historically,

the ideas of blindness and judgment that were mentioned in this story were so important to the

shaping of the Christian faith. The passage begins with the disciples questioning why this man

was born blind, specifically, who sinned in order for this to happen. Jesus explained to him that

no one sinned for this to happen, but this happened so that the power of God could be shown

through the healing of the man. Then, Jesus heals the man by spitting into the dirt and telling the

man to wash his eyes with it. After the man was healed and the news was spread, everyone (the

Pharisees) began to question and accuse the man of how he was healed and by whom. The man

had no answers because Jesus had disappeared by this time. Once he was found, Jesus declared

spiritual blindness in saying that, “the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (John

9:39). The purpose of this passage served mainly to prove that the healings from Jesus were truly

miracles from God. The book of John also fits in the gospel genre along with Matthew, Mark and

Luke. The book of John serves as “the persuasive gospel,” (www.overviewbible.com) and the

story of Jesus healing the blind man strengthened the belief in all people that Jesus was the son

of God and was sent to earth to live among us and die for our sins. This story relates to life on

the Hill in a social sense relating to how people are perceived by others. Often times people are

misconceived by their peers and colleagues and are seen as someone they aren’t. In college it is
really important to get to know people very well so their true self can be revealed, just as Jesus’s

identity in Christ was revealed.

Romans 8 covers many topics about life with Christ. Paul cites Psalm 44:22 from the Old

Testament while he speaks in this story. For the people of this age, the story was meant to show

the benefits of a life worth living for God. Historically, the passage ties into the concept of

salvation. In Romans 8, Paul speaks to the Romans about the difference between life with Christ

and without Christ, then what it is like to live according to the flesh verses according to the

Spirit. He also touches on how having hope in something that is unseen is more meaningful than

having hope in something seen. He closes this chapter by explaining Christs love for us, how he

leads us in life and finally, how nothing can ever separate us from Christ’s love. The purpose of

explaining these topics was to successfully paint a picture of Christianity to the Roman people.

The book of Romans is actually an Epistle which means it was a letter, in this case written by

Paul to the Roman people. This section of the Epistle relates to the letter as a whole because it

builds upon all of the teachings that are explained in the whole letter. These aspects are good to

remember as a student at Seton Hill because as a Catholic University, faith and life with Christ

are of high importance.