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The Sermon on the Mount is very likely the most read section of the New Testament.  Beginning in chapter five, it spans three chapters.  The first few words of the chapter describe Jesus speaking to a large crowd gathered up on a mountain.  Even though it is called a sermon, his sitting posture speaks of the position of a teacher.  The beginning section is called the Beatitudes and is the most quoted portion of the Sermon.  The remaining chapters include teachings on a wide range of subjects, but  overriding them is that love, not duty, should motivate those who seek the Kingdom of God and that love always carries us beyond the boundaries of what is required by religion.   What Jesus taught in this section of the gospel is not that religious law should be abolished, but that we should live knowing that love will always take us into a realm of life that goes beyond duty.  

For example, it is not enough to love only those who love us: we are to love our enemies as well.  (Matthew 5:43ff)  He goes on to say that there is no place for being judgmental, (Matthew 7:1ff), our prayers are for God's ears and not for the ears of those who might applaud us for our words, (Matthew 6:7), and those who follow Him are to be like light and salt to those around them. (Matthew 5:13-16).   It is no wonder we are drawn to the Sermon on the Mount.  

It calls us to a life that is greater than the one we could live alone and separate from the power of God.  It is a word which calls us to embrace a way of life that is shaped by the very heart of Christ.  At the end of the fifth chapter, we hear Jesus saying to us, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:48)  This call of Jesus to spiritual maturity has always beckoned us and it always will.