The Rudolf Steiner Archive

30. The Sermon on the Mount

[ 1 ] The Sermon on the Mount is generally not appreciated in all its depth because many regard it as a sermon that the Lord is said to have delivered to the entire people. In truth, however, it is not addressed to the people, but was “spoken on the mountain. This means: in the intimate sanctuary where the mysteries of religion are revealed.

[ 2 ] Jesus speaks to the people in parables, but when he is alone with his disciples, he explains all sorts of things to them in greater detail. “On the mountain signifies in the mystery.” The most significant teaching “on the mountain” is the one called the “Transfiguration.” There, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the existence of reincarnation. He tells them: John the Baptist is Elijah; they simply did not recognize him. - There on the Mount of Transfiguration, time and space were transcended for the disciples James, Peter, and John; they beheld beings who were no longer incarnate: Moses and Elijah. “Here, the goal is also the path.” “Moses represents the truth; in the center stands Christ—the life.” Thus the disciples saw before them: the way, the truth, and the life.

[ 3 ] When reading this scene, one finds that the disciples speak a significant word. Three stages are distinguished on the path of discipleship. The first stage is that of the homeless person; the second stage is the one in which a person “builds huts” in the spiritual world. The disciples were at this stage at that time, which is why they said: “Let us build huts here.”

[ 4 ] Jesus had taken the three disciples, who were at the second stage of discipleship, with him into the Mystery. Everything that is spoken “on the mountain” indicates that we are dealing with an intimate revelation to the disciples. It says:

When Jesus saw the crowd, he went up the mountain, and his disciples sat down with him. [Mt 5:1]

[ 5 ] Even if one takes this sentence only at face value, it is clear that this is not a sermon delivered to the people. He went away with his disciples. We are therefore dealing with an intimate teaching intended only for his trusted disciples. They, in turn, are to teach the others who are outside.

[ 6 ] The Sermon on the Mount speaks of two worlds. From this we can learn how the physical and the spiritual relate to one another. Human beings must first slowly and cautiously accustom themselves to judging things as they enter other worlds. In the astral world, everything appears as a mirror image—even numbers are like this. For example, 364 is 463 in the astral world. Whatever moves in a certain direction here in this world appears as a mirror image in the astral world. People who become clairvoyant due to pathological conditions speak of terrifying animals that pounce on them. These are the lower passions of human beings; they appear as mirror images in the astral world. What emanates from a person comes back to them in the astral realm. The passions come toward them as figures from outside. This is an example of how the inner world appears as a mirror image when we perceive it in the higher world. Every thing, everything here in the sensory world, has a real reflection in the supersensory world. Even the very first sentence of the Sermon on the Mount points to this. One must bear in mind that language is more spiritual than one might think.

[ 7 ] “Blessed” is related to the word “soul.” This is also the case in Greek. “To be blessed” means to allow the soul to flourish. Just as “holy” is related to the words “to be whole,” “to be healthy,” and “to be pure.” The Holy Spirit is the healthy spirit, which is completely pure. Blessed is the one who has developed the soul, who has ascended to the supernatural. Step by step, the Lord explains to the disciples how they will become blessed, how they will ascend.

[ 8 ] The first Beatitude reads:

Blessed are those who beg for the Spirit, for they will find the kingdom of heaven through themselves. [Mt 5:3]

[ 9 ] This means that the kingdom of heaven lies within oneself. This is the profound connection between the sensory and the supersensory worlds. Whoever longs for the Spirit finds within themselves the reflection of their striving: the kingdoms of heaven. This is the natural connection between our striving and its reflection—the kingdoms of heaven. Nothing can happen in the sensory world that does not have its counterpart in the supersensory world. If we despise the Spirit, the Spirit flees. If we strive for the Spirit, the reflection flows toward us. This is how Christ always explains these connections to his disciples.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. [Mt 5:4]

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the kingdom of the earth. [Mt 5:5]

[ 10 ] Those who have not developed within themselves what is called meekness, those who are quick to anger, cannot possess the necessary counterpart—namely, the earthly kingdom—for themselves. One should not attempt to enter the Kingdom of Heaven without first redeeming the earthly realm and then bringing it with one into the Kingdom of Heaven. We are here on Earth to redeem and deify everything that exists on Earth. Just as the bee flies over the fields, gathers honey from the blossoms, and carries it into the hive, so does the soul fly over the world to gather experiences and bring them into the Kingdom of Heaven. We must learn to let the world come to us and allow it to work within us. If we take everything into ourselves, if we meet the earth with gentleness and full productivity, then it will also bring us something.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. [Mt 5:6]

[Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. [Mt 5:7]]

[ 11 ] Just as the North and South Poles are necessarily connected, so too are the one aspect of the sensory world and the other in the supersensory world necessarily connected.

Blessed are those whose hearts remain pure, for God will reveal Himself to them through themselves. [Mt 5:8]

[ 12 ] God reveals Himself only in a pure heart. A person who is unable to purify his heart of everything that flows into it from the sensory world cannot experience the counter-image in his heart. If the heart is pure of sensory matter and memory, then it can behold God. But that which is full of sensory and memory-based matter excludes the Divine. It is the image and its counterpart: the pure heart—the Divine.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [Mt 5:9]

[ 13 ] When Jesus wanted to explain this to his disciples, he said: There are children of God and children of men. The children of God wish to remain children of God; the children of men wish to become children of God. The children of God are also called the descendants of Abel, and the children of men the descendants of Cain. The descendants of Abel have not descended to the greatest human toil and hardship; they accept what comes from God—even blood—and offer it to God as a sacrifice.

[ 14 ] The children of humankind have descended even further. They must offer sacrifices from what they themselves have earned through their labor. Herein lies a profound contrast in the spiritual life of humankind. The children of Abel were generally priests who sought to draw upon trance-like inspiration, taking what God gives and offering it back to Him. God has kindled within us this trance-like, unconscious inspiration. In contrast, there is a fully conscious wisdom that human beings acquire through their efforts on this earthly journey. The children of Cain are the people who master this knowledge. Had human beings remained the children of Abel, they would have been guided by the hand of divine naturalness; but God wanted to set them free—they must become the children of Cain. This initially led to a lack of peacefulness. This resulted in Cain slaying his brother. The children of Cain must once again develop peacefulness within themselves; then they will once again become children of God through their own efforts. This is a statement that, above all, refutes the fundamental view of those who believed that the old Abel principle must be revived. They say: Human beings are not capable of becoming children of Abel again once they have been children of Cain. — That is why the Jesuit Order seeks to preserve humanity in its dullness within the divine. It seeks to combat evil by denying people the very possibility of becoming free. The Jesuit Order directly contradicts this statement—that people can once again become children of God through their own efforts—and yet believes it is acting in the spirit of Jesus. Ignatius of Loyola said: “We do not want to let people descend so deeply.”—Goodness should be preserved at the expense of light.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for they will find the kingdom of heaven within themselves. [Mt 5:10]

[ 15 ] Here we see the contrast with what is said in the first sentence. The plea for the Spirit comes from the person himself. Here we find what acts from the outside; there, the inner reflection forms, which counteracts it. It becomes increasingly clear to us that this fundamental tendency lies at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount. Through this, we gain a deeper understanding of what Christ gives his disciples, “on the mountain, in the mystery.

[ 16 ] If one views these seemingly radical statements from this perspective, one comes to understand them. In the sensory world, we are separated from one another. The moment we feel ourselves in the supersensory world, we are one. Only in the sensory world are we many. We believe that our physical skin is a boundary. But we are not separated from one another by it. That is an illusion. We transcend it and are connected to one another. In truth, we are intertwined. If we grasp this intuitively and emotionally, we will arrive at a different understanding of our fellow human beings. We will feel that when a fellow human directs their anger at us, in truth it is we ourselves who are directing that anger at ourselves. If we imagine a bond woven from soul to soul, then we feel how the separation ceases, and we feel that we have no right at all to perceive another’s intention as if it did not belong to us.

[ 17 ] Jesus wanted to make it clear to his disciples that what matters is not outward righteousness, but empathizing with the soul of another. He says:

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to resist an evil person. [Mt 5:38–39]

But I say to you: Love your enemies, so that you may understand that you are one. [Mt 5:44–45]

[ 18 ] So it is not a matter of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”; rather, I must feel responsible for what the other person does. This is where thinking in the supernatural realm should come into play.

[ 19 ] If someone asks for my cloak and I feel at one with him, I will not hesitate to give him everything. If my cloak is his cloak, then my coat is also his coat. I will not walk a mile with him, but two. Christ is expressing here that it is I who live entirely within the other. We must think in a transcendent way, completely detaching ourselves from sensuality.

But if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. [Mt 5:29]

[ 20 ] Human beings have desires; they can satisfy them only through their physical organs. The ability to satisfy these desires depends on the physical organs. Kamaloka arises because, when a person dies, they still have desires for what only the physical organs can offer them. They must first accustom themselves to no longer using the sensory organs. We should already here, in this world, use the senses in such a way that we extract the spiritual essence from things with the help of the senses. By contemplating the sensory realm, we should continually elevate ourselves toward the spirit. To that same extent, we prepare ourselves for Devachan. This is what Christ expresses when he says:

But if your right eye causes you to sin, [pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you that one of your members perish than that your whole body be thrown into the fire of hell]. [Mt 5:29-30]

[ 21 ] If your right eye tempts you to remain attached to the sensual, then free yourself from whatever your eye is fixated on. Of course, this does not mean physically gouging it out.

[ 22 ] Every sentence of the Sermon on the Mount hints at a profound mystical wisdom regarding how the physical and the supernatural are connected. Here, Jesus explains the nature of Kamaloka to his disciples; furthermore, he teaches them: Human beings must never abuse the supernatural for physical purposes. The Deity must never be compelled to do anything that is not in accordance with the cosmic laws themselves. We should not bring the supernatural sphere down to our level, but rather elevate ourselves to the supernatural world. There is a great temptation, for example in spiritualism, to want to see the manifestations of the spiritual world. In this case, human beings seek to bring the spiritual world down to their level instead of developing themselves upward. The truth of spiritualism cannot be denied, but the method is open to criticism. We do not wish to interfere with the supernatural sphere through our sensory sphere.

[ 23 ] Christ emphasizes the perishable nature of oaths, because one should not interfere with the supernatural; one should not call upon heaven to validate earthly matters.

Not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet. [Mt 5:34-35]

[ 24 ] If you want the supernatural, you must rise to the level of the supernatural. No one should tamper with the supernatural laws. Not my will, but yours be done.

[ 25 ] We are not to have the rights that the tax collectors have. We are to know that a great unity reigns between “mine” and “yours.”

For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same [...]? [Mt 5:46]

You must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. [Mt 5:48]

[ 26 ] You should act consciously, drawing from the supersensory world.

[ 27 ] The conclusion of the speech also contains profound occult insights. Many believe they have arrived at the truth through various arts. However, it is not merely a matter of attaining the higher powers, but also of putting them in the service of humanity. It is not so easy to absolutely preserve what must be preserved when a person ascends to higher powers. One can make very specific observations regarding people who develop their higher powers without simultaneously elevating their character to higher levels. They then easily become more imperfect than before.

[ 28 ] Suppose you have a solution consisting of two substances—for example, a mixture of a red and a blue liquid; it would be a mixed color. In the same way, in everyday life, human beings are a mixture of their lower and higher natures. As human beings usually are, the higher nature prevents the lower nature from committing grave, radical excesses. Through the interweaving of the higher and lower souls, we are protected from such radical excesses in ordinary life.

[ 29 ] Higher development involves the withdrawal of the higher soul from the lower one. In this way, the higher soul becomes manifest; but the lower soul is then left standing there on its own. Thus, in occult higher development, we have both the higher and the lower nature—each on its own. Consequently, in people who are undergoing occult development, the lower nature comes fully to the fore. Therefore, alongside occult development, it is necessary to cultivate character, morality, and complete self-control. The morality that prevails on Earth is the solid bedrock upon which we must rest. If we do not build upon it, we are building on sand. Jesus says:

Many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not acquire the higher ability to prophesy?” [Mt 7:22]

[ 30 ] It would be strange if Christ intended to call all those who have acquired this ability “evildoers.” Here, he is speaking of those who, despite having acquired higher abilities, have not also attained a higher level of morality.

Whoever hears my words...

[ 31 ] — by this he means the teachings he gave them; one should receive them with the supersensible consciousness — at the end it says:

The people were appalled by his teaching. [Mt 7:28]

[ 32 ] When Jesus had finished his teachings, word reached the innermost part, the Holy of Holies, that a riot had broken out among the people outside. This took place outside the “mountain.” The people had not heard the Sermon on the Mount; the last sentence bears no relation whatsoever to the rest. Christ Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount solely to his disciples in order to reveal to them the entire nature of the supersensible world. They were to become his apostles through his sharing his most intimate intentions with them in the Holy of Holies. This knowledge inspired the words they spoke to the world.