A Franciscan priest once said that “the secret to understanding the Sermon on the Mount is to understand what Jesus was about when he preached it.” Jesus’ message is both inspirational and challenging as he calls for his followers to become the kind of people who reflect God and live in a radically different way than the world around them.
It’s clear that Following Jesus requires a disciple or apprentice of Jesus to take his words seriously and change every aspect of our lives that need changing so that we become more than who we were and more of who God calls us to be.
Simply, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ manifesto on how we are to be human. Jesus did not teach to inform people, he taught in order to transform them. The main way are meant to hear/read his teaching is for people to do what he has taught.