So what do we have in the Sermon on the Mount? The first theme we find is a description of the character of those who belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Before we come to hear his standards, we stand before this portrait of his subjects. This passage, in which Jesus describes his followers as ‘Blessed’, is known as the ‘Beatitudes’ (from the Latin word for blessing). It is important to note that the Sermon on the Mount is descriptive before it is prescriptive.