The Sermon on the Mount is often considered the core of Jesus’s teachings. But if you just read the sermon beginning to end, it comes across like it has no structure, like it’s just a random walk through unconnected topics. I propose that it does have a structure, and a very informative one.

In the sermon, we often see things divided into four sections, and the third of the four doesn’t quite fit with the other three. For a clear example, consider what I’d say is the second section of the sermon, which contains four lessons:

6:1 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. 6:3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 6:4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. 6:6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

6:7 When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 6:9 So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, 6:10 may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 6:11 Give us today our daily bread, 6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 6:14 “For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 6:15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

6:16 “When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. 6:17 When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

  1. Give in secret
  2. Pray in secret
  3. The Lord’s Prayer
  4. Fast in secret

Or consider the fourth section, also with four lessons:

7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 7:14 But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

7:15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 7:16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? 7:17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 7:18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 7:20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

7:24 “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!”

  1. Narrow gate vs. wide gate
  2. Bad fruit vs. good fruit
  3. Fruit matters more than words
  4. House on sand vs. rock

Those two sections are kind of obvious, and help us identify the first and third section. The first section is all of chapter 5, which also has four distinct lessons.

  1. Beatitudes
  2. Salt of the earth/light of the world
  3. Righteousness through keeping Torah properly
  4. Antitheses

What’s left is the third section, and it’s not nearly so obvious as the other three, but it does have a pattern. The catch here is that each of the four lessons in this section is actually two lessons, and each pair (except the third) is on the same two subjects. The first half of each is about God providing for our needs, and the second half is about generosity in our treatment of others.

  1. Treasure in heaven vs. earth / good eye vs. bad eye
  2. Do not worry / do not judge
  3. Speck vs. plank / pearls before pigs
  4. Ask, seek, knock / do unto others

We can now put these four sections in order, with some proposed section headings.

Being God’s children:

  1. Beatitudes
  2. Salt of the earth/light of the world
  3. Righteousness through keeping Torah properly
  4. Antitheses

How God’s kingdom looks:

  1. Give in secret
  2. Pray in secret
  3. The Lord’s Prayer
  4. Fast in secret

God providing/treating others well:

  1. Treasure in heaven vs. earth / good eye vs. bad eye
  2. Do not worry / do not judge
  3. Speck vs. plank / pearls before pigs
  4. Ask, seek, knock / Do unto others

The way of life vs. the way of death:

  1. Narrow gate vs. wide gate
  2. Bad fruit vs. good fruit
  3. Fruit matters more than words
  4. House on sand vs. rock

Now, for our final trick, let’s take those section headings and see where else we find those same ideas. Oh, wait! It’s the Lord’s Prayer! Consider that prayer as a set of four couplets, which in Hebrew fashion repeat the same idea twice.

  • Our Father in heaven / hallowed be your name. God is our father, and we are those who make God’s name be seen as holy throughout the world. Two ways of saying the same thing, because that’s simply what it means to be God’s children. The Beatitudes, salt and light, and the antitheses are all how we should be as people, so people see God through us.

  • Your kingdom come / your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Two ways of saying the same thing, because God’s kingdom on earth looks like God’s will being done, and what God wants is people being right internally rather than doing good things for show.

  • Give us this day our daily bread / forgive our sins as we forgive others. Just like in the third section of the sermon, each lesson is a pair of lessons about God providing and about our treatment of others. This doesn’t look like two way of saying the same thing, but it is. God gives us what we need, and that is identical to God forgiving us as we forgive others.

  • Lead us not into temptation / deliver us from evil. Two ways of saying the same thing; we have a choice to make, and we must choose well.

In summary, the Sermon on the Mount has four sections, each section has four lessons on the same topic, and both the third section and the third lesson in each section stand out from the others. The sections are all topics from the Lord’s Prayer, which is itself one of the mismatched third lessons. It’s structure that appears at multiple levels and the lowest level references the top levels all over again. The Sermon on the Mount is a fractal.