Mount of the Beatitudes #98

The Mount of the Beatitudes is the traditional name for a hill on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum, where Christians have long believed Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. The Gospels do not name the mountain, but Matthew places the sermon on “a mountain” in Galilee (Matthew 5:1), and the tradition has identified this gentle slope overlooking the lake as its setting.

Biblical Significance

Matthew introduces the Sermon on the Mount by saying that when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, sat down, and his disciples came to him (Matthew 5:1-2). The crowds had followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan after his early healings (Matthew 4:23-25). The sermon that follows, covering Matthew 5 to 7, opens with the Beatitudes: blessings pronounced on the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matthew 5:3-12). It goes on to teach about salt and light, anger, lust, oaths, love for enemies, giving, prayer, fasting, money, worry, judging others, and the two ways, and it closes with the parable of the wise and foolish builders. The crowds were astonished, because Jesus taught as one who had authority and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29).

Luke records a similar teaching, often called the Sermon on the Plain. He says Jesus went up on the mountain to pray, chose the twelve apostles, and then came down with them and stood “in the plain” with a great crowd (Luke 6:12-17). He gives four blessings and four matching woes (Luke 6:20-26). Some readers see two accounts of one occasion, with the level place being a plateau on the mountainside, while others think Jesus taught similar material on more than one occasion. Both explanations are widely held.

Today

The traditional site is a hillside beside the village of Tabgha, close to the ancient location of Capernaum, on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Christian pilgrims were visiting the area by the fourth century, when the pilgrim Egeria described a nearby mountain associated with the Beatitudes. An octagonal church, the Church of the Beatitudes, was built here in 1937 to 1938 by Franciscan Sisters, to the design of the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi. Its eight sides are usually said to represent the eight Beatitudes. Gardens around the church look out over the lake. Because the Gospels do not name the hill, the location is a matter of tradition, but the view, and the natural amphitheater of the slope, make it easy to imagine the scene.