Getting to read it again, and again, and again, is not what those who originally heard it had the opportunity to do. Remember, the gospels were not recorded until years later. They heard Jesus speak His message, and then went home with only what they had heard. They had to make decisions based on what they had heard that day, not on what they got to read again, and again. They would have either accepted or rejected what they had heard.
We actually have a very good example of this in the gospel of John. In John 6:53 when Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." After this, many disciples left him saying,"This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" but Peter said with the eleven present, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." The disciples heard Jesus' teachings and then made decisions based on what they had heard at that time. They either accepted His teaching or rejected it.
So the question I have is this. If you were present when Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount, what conclusions would you come to about how He wants you to live based on what He said, having heard it only one time? After all, at the end of the sermon He said, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."
If the Sermon on the Mount is not as sharp to you as the first day you read it, it may be that you have let the years wear away its edge so that it's simply a collection of nice words, and not the revolutionary sayings of our Great God and King.
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