Matthew 5:1

MATT. 5

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

THE BEATITUDES (MATT. 5:1-12)

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him. (Matthew 5:1)

The traditional site of this mountain is seven miles southwest of Capernaum; the place is known as The Horns of Hattin. Note the custom of sitting down to teach, a procedure that was long followed in the early church. Sitting to teach was an indication of authority. Dummelow noted that in the "early church, the preacher sat, and the congregation, including the emperor, stood."[1] Most of the cathedrals of Europe are still without pews or other seating facilities for the congregation. The reformer, Martin Luther, alluded to this custom when he said, objecting to the Pope's remaining seated to observe the Lord's Supper, "Let him stand up when he takes the communion, like any other stinking sinner."[2]

[1] J. R. Dummelow, One Volume Commentary (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931), p. 638.

[2] John Bainton, Here I Stand (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1950).