Why, then, is it important that we understand Matthew 5–7 as one talk or sermon? It is important because, unless we understand it as one discourse, purposively organized by its highly competent speaker, its parts—the particular statements made—will be left at the mercy of whatever whims may strike readers as they contemplate each pearl of wisdom. Their meaning cannot then be governed by the unity of the discourse as a whole. And this is, for the most part, exactly what happens today.
