Don't-miss insights on the Sermon on the Mount

Scot McKnight has some don't-miss insights into Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (SoM). Here's a sample from "A Summons called the Sermon on the Mount":

The SoM has to be understood as Matthew’s presentation of who Jesus is, what he teaches, and what he calls people to be and to do. This is not secondary teaching for the fully committed after they have chosen to “accept” Jesus, but it is what must be understood as the very summons of Jesus itself. In other words, this is Jesus’ evangelistic summons.

Scot followed that post with more insights on the Beatitudes in which he address the two views on what they're really about:

In the first view, what we have is a list of virtues; in the second, a list of people groups whom Jesus is now declaring approved by God. Do you realize the difference between these two options? It is nothing short of remarkable.

I recommend reading both posts in their entirety. They, along with most of what Scot writes, are valuable stuff. And with the wonders of the Net, you don't have to take one of Dr. McKnight's classes to find them.