Book Review: Sermon on the Mount

Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkin

Bible Study. 192 Pages. 5 Stars

Synopsis:

In His sweeping depiction of kingdom citizenship, Jesus utters some of the most familiar passages in all of Scripture. Most of us have only encountered the Sermon on the Mount in fragments, considering its subdivisions as complete teachings in their own right—a study on blessedness; a reflection on the Lord’s Prayer; a discussion of religious devotion, money, ambition, and relationships.   What if we navigated these three chapters in Matthew as they were originally heard? What if we read them as one cohesive, well-ordered message, intended to challenge us to think differently about what it means to be a follower of Jesus?   This 9-session study will give you the opportunity to do just that. Come and learn from Jesus, just as His disciples did. First released in 2014, this study is now updated with new teaching videos from Jen Wilkin.   

My Review:

I’m not quite sure how I skipped posting this one last year, but let’s start the year off with another incredible bible study by Jen Wilkin!

This is my second Jen Wilkin study, and I gotta say, it’s as good as I’d hoped! My favorite Bible study up to this point has been Wilkin’s study on Hebrews, Better. My women’s bible study group went through it about four years ago and it revolutionized the way I read Hebrews and connected so many dots for me between the Old and New Testaments. When I heard they were picking up another Wilken study–and on a passage I’ve never really connected with, much as I hadn’t to Hebrews prior to the Better study–you better believe I signed up quickly!

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of the most well-known and quoted passages, but again, it’s never been my favorite. I’ve always been more fascinated with the stories of Genesis, the wisdom of Proverbs, and so many other parts of the Bible (all of which are indeed incredible). I had hoped by walking through this study, Wilken would help me to dig deeper into this passage, to understand it better, and to find a new kind of joy for it. And she did just that.

She’s a fabulous teacher and I personally connect with her teaching style, so that helps. I love how she provides cultural and historical context that we simply miss in our modern understanding. She challenges us to annotate, to wrestle with questions that make us think and seek to understand. She’s fun and relatable. And she always points us back to the Word.

One of my favorite parts of this study in particular has been to see the entire passage as a single, whole piece. Previously, I’d only ever thought of it as smaller chunks of passages with instructions that feel impossible and sometimes irrelevant. I believed this was God’s word, it was true, and it applied to my life. But I struggled to understand it and to see how. I by no means have it all figured out, but this study has given me new eyes and a new appreciation for this section of the Bible.

But even more than that (another reason I love Wilkin’s work and, of course, at the core of my faith in God’s word), my deeper understanding of this passage drives me to a deeper understanding and relationship with my God. And it lights a fire in my heart to seek Him more zealously, to not merely hear and understand the word, but to do what it says. With a deeper understanding comes a deeper responsibility to adhere to what the Word says.

I cannot more heartily recommend this one. It’s well-organized, beautifully designed, and the homework is manageable as well as enlightening. The teaching brings it all together. Even if you aren’t able to engage in the group discussion, this one is worth doing (though, of course, the group provides excellent opportunity to deepen your fellowship with others, learn from and grow alongside them, and for accountability too!). I’ll certainly be going back through the teaching portion and reviewing my notes. And I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next Jen Wilken study to go through!