Matthew 5

Matthew 5

“THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW”

Chapter Five Beginning in this chapter, Matthew records the “Sermon On The Mount”. The theme of the sermon is “The kingdom of heaven” (cf. Matthew 4:17; 5:3,10,19-20; 6:10,33; 7:21). Jesus began with “The Beatitudes,” describing the character and blessedness of those who would be citizens of the kingdom (Matthew 5:1-12) and illustrating their relation to world as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). Clarifying His own relationship with the Law, Jesus stressed how our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:17-20) following with a series of contrasts between the oral interpretations of the Law and conduct expected of His disciples (Matthew 5:21-48).

POINTS TO PONDER

• The meaning of the phrase: “the kingdom of heaven”

• The blessedness of those in the kingdom, and their relationship to the world

• How our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees

REVIEW

1. What are the main points of this chapter?

• The beatitudes - Matthew 5:1-12- Salt and light - Matthew 5:13-16- Jesus and the Law - Matthew 5:17-20- Interpretations of the Law versus kingdom righteousness - Matthew 5:21-48

2. What do the beatitudes describe? (Matthew 5:3-12)

• The character and blessedness of the citizens of the kingdom

3. How are citizens of the kingdom to relate to the world? (Matthew 5:13-16)

• As the salt of the earth and the light of the world

4. What was Jesus’ relation to the Law of Moses? (Matthew 5:17-18)

• He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it

5. What does Jesus expect of those who would be citizens of the kingdom? (Matthew 5:20)

• Righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees

6. List the five subjects whose interpretations are contrasted in this chapter (Matthew 5:21-48)

• Murder, adultery, oaths, retaliation, love

7. What phrases illustrate the contrast? (Matthew 5:21-22; Matthew 5:27-28; Matthew 5:31-34; Matthew 5:38-39, 43-44)

• “You have heard that it was said…” (not “It is written…”)
• “But I say to you…”

8. Then what contrast is being made with these five subjects?

• The oral interpretation and application of the Law versus the teaching of Jesus

Matthew 5:1-48 Verse 1 Matthew 5 THE SERMON ON THE (Matthew 5:1-12)And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him. (Matthew 5:1)The traditional site of this mountain is seven miles southwest of Capernaum; the place is known as The Horns of Hattin. Note the custom of sitting down to teach, a procedure that was long followed in the early church. Sitting to teach was an indication of authority. Dummelow noted that in the “early church, the preacher sat, and the congregation, including the emperor, stood."[1] Most of the cathedrals of Europe are still without pews or other seating facilities for the congregation. The reformer, Martin Luther, alluded to this custom when he said, objecting to the Pope’s remaining seated to observe the Lord’s Supper, “Let him stand up when he takes the communion, like any other stinking sinner."[2] [1] J. R. Dummelow, One Volume Commentary (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1931), p. 638. [2] John Bainton, Here I Stand (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon-Cokesbury, 1950).

Verse 2 And be opened his mouth and taught them saying …This indicates more than merely opening one’s mouth in order to pronounce words. It denotes formal preparation and declaration of the cardinal principles set forth in the ensuing discourse, called the Sermon on the Mount.

Verse 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.The word “blessed” means “happy” and is so translated by some. The “poor in spirit” is understood in two ways, both of which harmonize with the Holy Scriptures: (1) It is that quality of recognizing one’s spiritual destitution in such a degree as to enable the sinner to approach God, not as the Pharisee, but as the publican, supplicating the Father for all necessary and desirable blessing. The poor in spirit are the opposite of the proud, conceited, arrogant and disdainful. Only the poor in spirit can enter God’s kingdom. Others will never feel their need nor know their poverty until too late. (2) Another conception of the poor in spirit is seen in the account of this beatitude by Luke (Luke 6:20), “Blessed are ye poor.” Dummelow expressed it thus, “A Christian, whether rich or poor, must have the spirit of poverty, he must possess his wealth as if he possessed it not, and be able to resign it at any moment without regret, and to say with Job, `The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’."[3] Theirs is the kingdom of heaven means that persons with the attitude of the poor in spirit shall have the privilege of becoming members of the kingdom, namely by entering it by means of the new birth. ENDNOTE:[3] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 639.

Verse 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.It is, of course, a paradox to say, “Happy are they that grieve!” but that is exactly what this beatitude means. The ministry of grief, mourning, and sorrow as affecting the development of Christian character is set forth in detail in the New Testament. Tribulation results in patience (Romans 5:3-4). It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11). Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). What a generous and merciful arrangement of Almighty God that even life’s sorrows shall bless and reward his servants! “Sweet,” indeed, “are the uses of adversity.” Why should Christians mourn?

They mourn for the world which lies in the darkness of sin. They mourn for the sins that mar their own lives. They mourn for loved ones and members of their families out of Christ. They mourn for the slain who have fallen in the encounter with the evil one. They mourn from those sorrows and bereavements which are the common lot of all men. How unspeakably blessed, therefore, is the promise of our Saviour, “THEY SHALL BE !”

Verse 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.This beatitude is mentioned in the Old Testament, although not in exactly the same words (Psalms 37:11). Meekness and lows are related terms (Matthew 11:29-30). Both Jesus Christ and the patriarch Moses are set forth in Scripture as being meek. Inherit the earth … does not refer exclusively to the “new heaven and the new earth” (2 Peter 3:13), but to this present earth as well. This is not a mere prophecy that the Christians shall be the landed gentry; but it is a statement that their relationship to the earth and its possessions shall be such as to bring them the greatest possible benefit and enjoyment of it.

Verse 6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.Alas, how many there are who manifest no hunger or thirst after the things of God; and what shall be said of this innumerable multitude? Why do they feel no hunger, no thirst? Like the absence of ordinary hunger, this spiritual lack of hunger is due to the awful cancer of sin gnawing out the heart of the victim. Others, already in the final throes of spiritual starvation, are past hunger and thirst. Some have perverted their desires and have no true hunger and thirst for spiritual things remaining. The ravages of disease, perversion, and starvation are thus able to destroy that eagerness of the soul that men should have with reference to the things of God. Particular attention should be given to the scriptural meaning of the term “righteousness.” “Righteousness,” in the Scriptural view, means keeping God’s commandments (Luke 1:6); is revealed in the gospel (Romans 1:17); and may be obtained in only one way, namely, by obedience to God’s commandments, all of which “are” righteousness (Psalms 119:172). They shall be filled … The desire for righteousness is the only desire of man that can be truly and finally satisfied. Appetites of the flesh, all of them, can be satisfied only for the moment. The drunkard, for example, never satisfies his thirst, but must die, at last, still unsatisfied! Physical hunger, also, cannot be finally satisfied, except for the moment. Death always results, whatever the cause, when the hunger of body cells can no longer be met. It is literally true that “Solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know!"[4] ENDNOTE:[4] John Newton, Hymn, “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” (Chicago: Great Songs Press, 1960), Hymn No. 545.

Verse 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.All types of unmerciful conduct are condemned by this verse. Cruel amusements, punishments, speeches, newspaper articles, letters - in short, ALL kinds of unmerciful and inhumane behavior are proscribed by the Son of God in this beatitude. Such things are forever excluded from the kingdom of heaven. Specific mention should also be made of cruel judgments of other people (Matthew 7:1) and cruel refusal to forgive those who sin against us (Matthew 6:15). The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice bless’d: It blesses him that gives and him that takes. ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes The throned monarch better than his crown.[5] They shall obtain mercy … This is to say that those who are merciful toward others shall receive for themselves mercy from Almighty God. ENDNOTE:[5] William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1.

Verse 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.This refers not merely to those whose hearts are free from evil purpose and desire but particularly alludes to those whose hearts have been purified by faith (Acts 15:9) and obedience to the gospel (1 Peter 1:22). The “heart” in this passage is, of course, THE MIND. According to the Scriptures, it is “THE HEART” that imagines (Genesis 6:5), understands (Matthew 15:13), reasons (Mark 2:8), thinks (Luke 9:47), believes (Romans 10:9), and loves (1 Peter 1:22). These passages are more than enough to identify the Scriptural “heart” as the mind or seat of the intelligence. They shall see God … This is true in two ways: (1) The pure in heart shall see God by faith, just as Moses endured, “as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). (2) They shall see God and Christ Jesus in the eternal world (Revelation 22:4; 1 John 3:2).

Verse 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.Christ is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). How proper it is, therefore, that the citizens of his kingdom shall be peacemakers. Indeed, persons without this attitude need not apply. There are several ways in which God’s children can serve as peacemakers: (1) Through spiritual instruction, they can bring peace to hearts that are troubled. (2) They can bring peace to their fellow men who are at strife between or among themselves. (3) They can bring men, through preaching God’s word, or teaching it, to become reconciled to God, which is the greatest of all the achievements of the peacemaker. Definite procedures for the peacemakers are laid down in the Bible. A peacemaker conceals the transgression of others (see Proverbs 11:13); seeks a personal interview (Galatians 6:1); and tries to save “the face” of the wrongdoer (2 Timothy 2:22-26). Such shall be called the sons of God because they are most like God in his efforts to reconcile man unto himself.[6] ENDNOTE:[6] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on Matthew (Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company), p. 51.

Verse 10 Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Those whose righteousness is of such a quality that Satan will vent his wrath upon them are indeed blessed. Persecuted persons whose troubles arise from other causes, such as their own misconduct, are not included in this beatitude.

Verse 11 Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.In Christ’s teachings, there is often the pattern of proceeding from the general to the specific. The general class of the persecuted in the preceding verse gives way to the personal and individual cases envisioned in this verse. There is a similar progression from the general to the particular in the case of Christ’s questions regarding his identity (Matthew 16:13-15). These verses give a glimpse of the hatred that must ever rest upon God’s true people in whatever age they live. The faithful will be reproached for Christ’s name. They will be persecuted for refusal to walk in ungods (1 Peter 4:16; 1 Peter 4:4).

Verse 12 Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.The apostles took to heart this admonition of the Saviour to rejoice in persecutions. James (James 1:2-4), Paul (1 Timothy 3:12; Colossians 1:24), and the Twelve (Acts 5:41) were happy in persecutions. In this passage, Christ firmly underscored the principle motive undergirding human submissiveness to God. There were, in fact, three of these: love, fear, and hope of reward. There is nothing dishonorable about any of these motives. If there had been, Christ would not have appealed to all three. His emphasis in this place is on the hope of heaven (see under Matthew 6:9). So persecuted they the prophets that were before you … Christ in this place puts the same dignity upon the apostles as pertained to the prophets of the Old Testament, ranking them, in fact, higher, and showing that they also are to be heeded as inspired men. Dummelow said, “It is this possession of prophetic gifts by the first disciples which justifies the church in regarding the New Testament as the inspired word of God”[7] (Acts 11:27; Acts 13:1; Acts 15:32). (Also 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5; Ephesians 4:11, etc.). There are also many other New Testament passages which indicate most emphatically that the New Testament is God’s true word. Some of these are Jude 1:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:17; 2 Peter 3:2; John 12:48; 1 Corinthians 14:37; Hebrews 2:1-3; Galatians 1:6-9; Revelation 22:18-19, etc. THE OF THE TO THE WORLD (Matthew 5:13-16)In the Beatitudes, Christ emphasized the inner character of Christians and gave the beatitudes as identification marks of his true followers. The importance of the inner life is seen in that this was the first thing outlined. Next, Christ turned his attention to the disciples’ relation to the world. ENDNOTE:[7] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 640.

Verse 13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.Regarding the question of salt’s losing its savor, Elmer W. Maurer, research chemist with the United States Department of Agriculture and a brilliant contemporary scientist, made this interesting reference to this portion of the Saviour’s teachings: Salt was accepted and collected as taxes by the Romans from the people of the Holy Land. One of the main sources of salt for Palestinians, of course, was the Dead Sea, or Salt Sea. So oppressive were these taxes that the people adulterated the salt with sand or other earthy material (the salt to begin with was not our nice pure table salt). The government purified the salt by spreading it in big vats or tanks, filling them with water and drawing off the concentrated salt solution or brine. All that remained was the earthy, insoluble material. Indeed, the salt had lost its savor because it was no longer salt. It was fit to be trodden underfoot. And this was not the only way that salt could lose its savor. The surface waters of the Dead Sea, on evaporation, have a chemical salts content of about 31 percent sodium chloride, 13 percent calcium chloride, and 48 percent magnesium chloride, together with other impurities. The calcium and magnesium chlorides are hygroscopic (take water out of the air) and will thus literally dissolve the sodium chloride. A bitter tasting composition results. It was the custom to store vast amounts of this salt in houses that had earthen floors. In time, the salt next to the ground spoiled because of the dampness.

Since it would be harmful to fertile land because of its salt content, no man would allow it to be thrown on his field. The only place left was the street, where it was trodden under foot of man. Thus the Bible was proved scientifically accurate, even in its many small details - for this was just a lone example.[8] We might observe that accurate, scientific investigation of any of the so-called scientific errors in the teachings of Christ will always have the same result as that discovered by Maurer. Salt keeps food from being insipid and preserves it from corruption. Both these functions are performed by Christians for society as a whole. A little more salt (true followers of God) would have preserved Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction (Genesis 18:32). The world at large little realizes the debt of gratitude that is owed by the whole race to that relatively small percentage who truly walk in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Good for nothing … What a truly worthless state is that of the apostate Christian! The Saviour’s estimate of him is that he is “good for nothing”! Another pertinent observation regarding salt is that it must come in contact with that which is to be benefited by it. So must Christians come in contact with the rest of mankind. Christ did not encourage monasticism or asceticism. It is also proper to observe that SALT IS . So are Christians. Some people “pity believers; some have a patronizing air in their attitude; a few would abolish”[9] Christians; but, in this passage, Christ shows that Christians are truly indispensable to this world. THEY ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH! [8] Elmer W. Maurer, article in The Evidence of God in an Expanding Universe (New York: G. P. Putnam and Sons, 1955), p. 205. [9] Doran’s Minister’s Manual (1947), p. 105.

Verse 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.This is further testimony to the indispensable nature of God’s children. The world would be in total darkness without them. Furthermore, there is no reason to suppose that God would allow a wicked world to stand if it were not for the faithful remnant remaining in it and remaining faithful to God. Christ also said, “I am the light of the world.” That passage before us is not contradictory. It means that the light Christians give forth to others is truly derived from Christ (2 Peter 1:19). Just as all light, energy, and power on earth are derived from the sun, center of our solar system, just so, all moral and spiritual light are derived from the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ (Malachi 4:2). A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Boles said of this, “The comparison (is) between a city on a hill and a group, or church, of his disciples. Their influence cannot be ignored in the world. There is no greater light for God than the church that is filling its mission in the community."[10] ENDNOTE:[10] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew (Nashville, Tennessee: The Gospel Advocate Company), p. 128.

Verse 15 Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but on the stand; and it shineth unto all that are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.This passage sets forth instructions regarding the Christian’s light, or influence, in the world: (1) Christ forbade hiding it under a bushel (Matthew 5:14), that is, permitting business and commerce to obscure one’s influence for the truth. (2) He warned against hiding it under a vessel (Luke 8:16), that is, permitting cares, duties, and obligations of life to take precedence over faith. (3) He prohibited hiding it under the bed of licentiousness, laziness, or idleness (Luke 8:16). What then should be done with the light or influence of the Christian’s life? It should be placed upon “THE STAND.” And, pray tell, what can this be? It is nothing less than the church of Jesus Christ, namely, the local congregation. Revelation 1:20 identifies the lampstands as the churches. Let your light shine … The command is to glorify God through an abundance of good works. As the noted Negro minister, Marshall Keeble, was often heard to say, “The Bible does not say to MAKE your light shine, but it says to LET it shine!” This, to be sure, forbids ostentation and boasting. Origen against Celsus quoted this place and referred to the light of Christians as a “brilliant and unfading wisdom, … the very reflection of everlasting light,"[11] and argued from this premise that Christians should not bow down before the sun, moon, or stars, seeing they themselves are light, and from the very same source! Good works … It is noteworthy that Jesus never gave the slightest encouragement to the delusion that people are saved by faith “only”! Good works, from the very beginning, were considered to be a most necessary and primary requirement on the part of all who would truly follow Christ and would through him hope to have the abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom. See under Matthew 19:17. Thus, Jesus concluded his analysis of the disciples’ relationship to the world, making them to be both salt and light. THE OF THE TO THE LAW AND THE (Matthew 5:17-48)In this subdivision of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ spelled out his own authority as being superior in every way to the edicts of the Decalogue, noting at the same time that he was not destroying but fulfilling them. ENDNOTE:[11] Origen, from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 547.

Verse 17 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy but to fulfill.Of course, this touched on the great difficulty. The Jewish nation had long held the Law of Moses in the utmost respect and honor. Any change in the status of their law was sure to be received unfavorably by them. Therefore, Christ quite early in his ministry took pains to spell out for them his true and proper relationship to the Law of Moses. Nevertheless, the difference in “fulfilling” and “destroying” the Law of Moses was about the same as the difference between “paying off” a promissory note and “repudiating” it. In either case, it is effectively removed. Christ took the law out of the way ( Colossians 2:14-16); and yet he did so, not by violating it, but by fulfilling it! Christ fulfilled the law (1) by his own unswerving obedience to it, (2) by his exact manifestation as its promised Messiah, and (3) by enlarging and expanding its teachings, lifting them to a higher and purer level, and by bringing all the Old Testament teachings to perfection in the perfect Law of Liberty.

Verse 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. Jots … tittles … were the minutest markings and characters, forming parts of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Christ here expressed full confidence in the Old Testament with the strong warning that it should never be disparaged or set at naught. The New Testament teaches that all of the prophecies of the Old Testament shall indeed be fulfilled (Luke 24:44), that its narratives are “written for our example” (1 Corinthians 10:11), and for our admonition and learning (Romans 15:4). Here is the principle that the New Testament is essentially an extension of the Old, minus its types and shadows, plus an elevation and perfection of all its latent spirituality. However, the changes in Christ are so radically beyond anything ever dreamed of by the Old Testament prophets that the true connection tends to be obscured. The law of sacrifice was fulfilled in Jesus’ death. The law of circumcision was replaced by that “circumcision not made with hands” (Colossians 2:11). The Passover gave place to the Lord’s Supper and the sabbath day to the Lord’s Day.

Verse 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.In this verse, Christ plainly refers to his own commandments with the strong warning that men are under obligations to heed and observe the laws he gives. Today, there are some who speak of certain Scriptures as “mere command”! But Christ made his commandments to be of overwhelming importance and set forth the principle that “the least” of his commandments was to be received and honored with infinite respect and obedience.

Verse 20 For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.The religion of the Pharisees, hence their righteousness, consisted of externals, ceremonials, rituals, liturgies, and formalities of many kinds, with little or no attention being paid to the condition of the heart. Christ flatly denounced such a concept and indicated that no one could be saved in such a state as that of the typical Pharisee of his day.

Verse 21 Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, THOU SHALT NOT KILL; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.THE OF THE FIFTH IN THE (Matthew 5:21-26)This is a clear reference to the Decalogue (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). What Christ did at this point in his teachings is bold, daring, and sensational beyond anything one could imagine today. Here was the case of a prophet, yet relatively unknown, placing himself squarely on record as superior to the Law of Moses, even the Decalogue. Christ in this chapter mentioned several of the commandments, exposed their weakness, and specifically elevated his own will and teachings ABOVE them. He also laid bare, in the most painful manner for the ceremonialists, the awful weakness of the Decalogue, in that a person might indeed keep the letter of it without being in any sense at all truly righteous in the eyes of God! Of course, the Pharisees were the obvious and notorious examples of that very condition; they kept the commandments, but were children of the devil. Jesus opposed the Pharisees and their way of life as essentially sinful in spite of all punctilious observances of tithes, ceremonies, and formalities of the Mosaic religion, embellished, of course, with countless traditions of their own. Thou shalt not kill … did not, however, prohibit HATE, the cause of killing. The Pharisee might indeed keep the command while at the same time hating his enemy, hoping that a wild beast would slay him, that lightning would strike him, or that a poisonous serpent would bite him! Christ exposed the weakness and sinfulness of such views. He made anger with a brother a sin equal to murder; and also, such derogatory statements as “Raca” and “thou fool,” he made subject to the penalties of murder. It may well be doubted if the church as a whole, even today, has any adequate conception of Jesus’ true meaning on this subject. When it is considered that a derogatory or uncomplimentary remark about a Christian brother is subject to punishment in the “hell of fire,” and when it is considered that much of the journalism so widely received by “churches of Christ” is filled with cruel, uncomplimentary, and even false and vicious statements about brethren, the true follower of Christ must stand in awe of the penalties which divine justice shall certainly execute against evil doers. O God, be merciful to thy people!

Verse 22 But I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,' shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool,’ shall be in danger of the hell of fire. Raca … is an Aramaic expression, according to Dummelow, and means “empty head”![12] There are numerous epithets of similar import in constant use by many who fancy themselves to be Christians. Although there are definite gradations in the crimes and penalties here enumerated by Jesus, it would be a mistake to suppose greater or lesser blame for insults answering to “Raca” or “Thou fool.” The expressions are essentially the same, and the plain teaching of our Lord in this context is that ALL insults of every kind are sinful and that all our derogatory and deprecatory expressions against one’s fellow human beings are murderous. Those who resort to the use of such expressions are guilty in the eyes of the Lord. This is true because such expressions find their origin in a heart full of hatred and enmity. In the light of this, who could use such a term as “nigger” to set at naught a fellow creature, made like ourselves in the image of God? The penalties arranged in precise order to correspond with the insults mentioned above are not to be understood as graduated penalties or punishments against crimes of more and more serious import; rather, they are to be understood as a three-fold reiteration of one overwhelming truth. They constitute three equivalent statements for the sake of emphasis, all of them dealing with a principle men find it very convenient to ignore. It is at this very juncture, relations with fellow humans, that the Christian is different from others. He is even denied by his Lord the right of worship, if his brother has anything against him! ENDNOTE:[12] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 642.

Verse 23 If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee.This means that if one’s conscience is aware of sins committed against a brother, the first duty is to make it right with the brother, a duty more imperative, even, than that of worship, and which takes precedence over it.

Verse 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.It is useless to offer worship to God when some brother has been wronged and insulted, until the would-be worshiper shall seek out the one wronged and make amends. Christ’s plan of maintaining harmony and fellowship in his church is really quite simple. It is “Go!” Three definite situations are outlined in which it is imperative that the true follower of Christ “go” to his brother. These are: (1) when a brother has aught against such a one (this passage), (2) when such a one has been wronged by a brother (Matthew 18:15-17), and (3) when one shall observe that a brother has been overtaken in any fault (Galatians 6:1). Need it be said that this is the only procedure laid down in God’s word for dealing with the sins of a brother? Furthermore, these divinely imposed procedures are applicable to all types of sins and errors brethren may commit.

The artificial and unscriptural distinction as to “public” and “private” sins with an implied waiver of God’s commanded procedure if the sins are said to be “public,” is a gross and sinful perversion of our Lord’s teaching. To distinguish sins as “private” or “public” and make the application of God’s word depend on man’s classification is every whit as sinful as the unwarranted division of faith into “historical” and “saving” varieties, or as the Roman classifications of “mortal” and “venial” sin! Where is the Scripture that says Matthew 5:34; Matthew 18:15 and Galatians 6:1 do not apply to “public” sins? Christ commands his servants to “go” to the brother who is sinned against or who has himself sinned against us, or when the brother has been overtaken in any “fault”! If obeyed, the Scriptures here outlined would prevent the sinful and destructive practice of venting animosities, pronouncing anathemas, shouting corrections, and launching vicious criticisms against one’s brothers in Christ through such media as gospel papers, radio programs, and circulatory letters. See more on this under Matthew 18:15.

Verse 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.Settling disagreements and healing possible sources of friction should be the pressing business of every day. In that manner, hatreds and enmities would not be left to build up strength. An attitude of conciliation and fairness can pull the sting from many thorny human problems, provided it is manifested spontaneously and early enough at the first sign of disagreement or conflict.

Verse 26 Verify I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou have paid the last farthing.As a matter of practical, everyday living, the teaching of Christ in this place is indeed light and wisdom. There are countless examples of human conflict ending in the most tragic results which could have been avoided altogether by the application of Christ’s teaching. Illustration: In a certain city of the Southwest, two men owned adjoining houses in an attractive subdivision, and the driveways were adjacent with a small strip of turf, about a foot wide, between the driveways. They quarreled over this trifling strip. One planted onions in it; the other pulled them up and set out tomatoes! After many words, each stepped to the back door of his residence, took a shotgun, stepped out on the back steps, and shot the other dead while their respective families were at church! To “pay the last farthing” refers to reaping the last and bitterest fruit of a failure to handle problems in the manner here laid down by Christ.

Verse 27 Ye have heard that it was said,; THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ,THE OF THE SEVENTH IN THE (Matthew 5:27-32)Once more, Christ selected as his target one of the great and highly respected words of the Decalogue, blasting it with his “BUT I SAY UNTO YOU!” No wonder Christ’s teachings on this occasion resulted in astonishment and amazement among the people (Matthew 7:28-29).

Verse 28 But I say unto you, that everyone that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.Thus, Christ made the lustful thought as sinful as the overt act. In the light of this, who is innocent? In this commandment, just as in the case of the Fifth Commandment, Jesus was more concerned with antecedents than with overt sins. Adultery proceeds from impure thinking; and in this passage Christ’s law appears far higher and more discerning than the Decalogue.

Verse 29 And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not thy whole body be cast into hell.The location of this verse in the midst of Jesus’ teaching on adultery makes the meaning clear. Christ expects his followers to avoid gross sin by keeping the fountain of the heart sweet and clean. That this requires exertion, self-denial, and determination of heroic proportions is seen in the implied comparison of plucking out the right eye. The comparison is valid and is so recognized in medicine which often amputates an offending member to save the entire physical body. The giving up of cherished sin is far more difficult but just as necessary for those who would truly enter into life. See under Matthew 18:8-9.

Verse 30 And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell.This is the same thought as that in Matthew 5:29, repeated in a different figure for the sake of emphasis. Remember that Christ is still speaking of adultery; and the only proper meaning that can attach to these two verses (Matthew 5:29-30) must relate to that subject. It seems plain enough that Christians should strive, at whatever cost, to avoid lustful thoughts. See under Matthew 18:8-9.

Verse 31 It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you that everyone that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery.Thus Christ, improving on the Decalogue, attached guilt to lustful thoughts, and in this place makes marriages to divorced persons sinful, except in the case of the innocent party of a divorce for adultery (Matthew 19:9). Interestingly enough, Jesus abolished the death penalty for adultery. At least, this can be deduced from his words addressed to the woman who was taken in the very act by the Pharisees, “Neither do I condemn thee, etc.” (John 8:11).

Verse 33 Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.THE NINTH ; REVISED (Matthew 5:33-37)In this passage, Christ does not quote verbatim from the Ninth Commandment, but rather deals with Pharisaical deductions, extensions, and exceptions on the Great Word which said, “THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,” It was far more offensive to the priestly mentality for one to violate his oath, especially with reference to some gift to the temple, than to bear slanderous witness against an accused on trial in a court of law, which is one of the primary meanings in the Decalogue. As he frequently did, Christ referred the whole question to higher ground, making it a sin, under all circumstances, to utter an untruth, thus bypassing altogether the question of violating an oath! Under the interpretation of the Pharisees, the divine prohibition was against "” a lie. This, in practice, meant that as long as one had not been properly “sworn in,” or as long as one refused to deliver a formal oath, the offender could tell as many lies as he would without incurring guilt under the Law! It goes without saying that THAT interpretation was not of God, but it was only of sinful men. The glory of Jesus Christ is that he stripped off those superficial and shallow devices for circumventing God’s Law and made the truth to shine before all people. See under Matthew 23:22.

Verse 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your speech be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.The obvious meaning is that a Christian’s word is his bond. He does not need to reinforce his words with any oath or any appeal for heaven to witness, or by any other device to underscore the truth of his remarks. A Christian’s speech is limited to “Yes” and “No” with regard to oath. The only possible exception, and there is no unanimity of opinion even on this, is that of a Christian’s taking a judicial oath to assure proper and legal testimony in a court of law.

Many courts allow the conscientious adherent to our Saviour’s words in this place the privilege of “affirming under the penalties of perjury” instead of taking the customary oath. Those who insist that a Christian may take such oaths point out that Christ, in this place, was clearly not talking about judicial oaths and that Almighty God himself is represented as taking an oath in these words, “Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath” (Hebrews 6:17). Speaking the truth in love is a badge of true discipleship. Falsehood, evil-speakings, slander, backbiting, gossip, and idle talk of all kinds - these are surely prohibited to the child of God. One cannot help observing that Christ’s way is almost as novel, untried, and astonishing as it was to the generation that first heard these words! Various references to heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and one’s head, are only examples of oaths which people of that day commonly employed.

Verse 38 Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.THE OTHER WITH JEWISH LAW (Matthew 5:38-48)Passages which contain this injunction are Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; and Deuteronomy 19:21. Harsh and demanding as such a principle appears to enlightened people of our day, it should be remembered that it was a tremendously significant advance above and beyond the primitive thinking of the untrained people who first heard it. The law of the jungle was far different: (1) If you kill my child, I will kill all your children, your wife, your brothers, your whole generation! (2) If you knock out my tooth (or eye), I will knock out ALL of yours and kill you also! Thus, the ancient Law of the Hebrews was a vast improvement in that it strictly limited punitive action to the extent of the original injury or loss that precipitated it.

Verse 39 But I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.The type of submissive meekness enjoined by Christ in these verses must appear very difficult to the people who have never tried it; but actually, this presents the most exciting and thrilling approach to life and its problems that can possibly be imagined. Those who have tried it unanimously affirm that it works. Illustration: Colin Byrne Smith of Australia told of a missionary who called on a tribe of cannibals. Taking his life in his hands, he crossed the inlet in a small boat, and when confronted by the tribe, meekly endured every insult. Long afterwards, when he had succeeded in converting many and establishing a church among them, he asked, “Why did you not eat ME when I came to preach to you?” The old chief, then a Christian, said, “You see, none of us wanted to eat you, because the reason we eat people is to acquire their skills and bravery; but nobody wanted to be like YOU, taking all those insults, and patiently bearing every blow against you!” When one strives honestly and faithfully to live up to Jesus’ teaching in this matter, or any other, forces far beyond the knowledge of any man are working for the success of the obedient follower of the Lord. Turning the other cheek … has taken the sport out of many an evil attack against the defenseless.

Verse 40 And if any man would go to law with thee and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.This is exactly the same principle in another setting and is repeated for the sake of emphasis. Nor should too much be made of the fact that most of the losses in these verses seem rather trivial, a flick on the cheek, the loss of a coat, and going a mile. They do suggest, however, that there may be larger areas where the child of God may not use the “submissive response” enjoined in these passages. God does not say, “If one shall strike thy child, present the child’s other cheek!”

Verse 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.Does anyone live up to this? Certainly, one must agree that the Sermon on the Mount is still the Mount Everest of the Christian religion, namely, the highest peak of all and only rarely scaled. Did Christ mean that a Christian by lending to all comers should suffer the plundering of all his goods? Certainly, the apostolic church did not operate on any such premise. We can only conclude that Christ was teaching a basic truth in this place, namely, that it is better to invest in people by helping and befriending them, than it is to invest in hoarding treasures for one’s self. Of that there can be no doubt.

Verse 43 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.Leviticus 19:18 is the Old Testament passage which says, “Love thy neighbor.” It does not, however, say, “Hate thine enemy.” THAT was an addition to God’s word by the scribes and Pharisees. Thus, the people of Jesus’ day had fallen into the old and vicious habit of linking a sublime truth with a ridiculous error, thus “yoking the ox with the ass,” to use an Old Testament figure of speech. The principle of loving one’s enemies is valid and binding upon all who would follow Christ. There is no room in the Christian heart, purged from sin and forgiven of all transgressions, to entertain such a stifling and chilling a thing as hatred for anyone. Love in this place does not necessarily refer to sentimental and affectionate love such as one has for members of his own family. The kind of love meant is the love manifested by God himself in that he sends rain on the just and unjust, etc. The implication is that the Christian shall treat his enemies with fairness and equity, doing unto them as he would desire people should do unto himself.

Verse 46 For if ye love them that love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same?Underlying these verses is the challenge that men shall be “like their Father who is in heaven.” That is what it is really all about, that men should be like the pure and holy God whom they are taught to worship through Christ. God loves sinners, even dying for them while they were yet in sin; so Christians should love all men, sinners included, even their own personal enemies! To live the other way is to be no better than a publican (the gatherer of the Roman taxes); and, in the Jewish lexicon, that was about as low as a man could get! Christ here enunciated a new and thrilling principle to take the place of the old proverb that “One rotten apple will spoil a barrel of good apples!” That is, “One good apple can heal a barrel of rotten apples!” Only Christ could have revealed such an exciting new and effective doctrine as this.

Verse 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?This is one of the most interesting statements Jesus ever made, “What do ye more than others?” The implications of this are positively profound. Implicit in these words is the proclamation that Christians are different; they love more than others, will do more than others, and are in fact better in every way than others. Their righteousness is a matter of going beyond, giving the cloak also, going the second mile, turning the other cheek, loving enemies, praying for those who persecute them, and, in short, being “sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:45).

Verse 48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.No one can say that Christ did not set a high standard for man to follow! To be perfect as God is perfect, what a challenge this is! At the outset, every candid student of the Holy Scriptures should admit and understand that there is not the slightest possibility of his ever graduating from this school, “Magna cum Laude”! Nobody, but nobody is ever going to be perfect; and yet, it is the genius of the Christian religion that perfection is required of its adherents. A contradiction? No, only a paradox. The goal or ideal is necessary that man may continually know that he is unworthy of salvation, that he can never in a million years merit it, and that any real perfection he might eventually attain must be the free gift of Christ. Illustration: In a measure of music, in ordinary 4/4 or quadruple time, a single half-note fills the measure half-full; a dot after that note brings it to 3/4 full, another dot 7/8 full, another to 15/16 full, another to 31/32 full, and so on and on. If one added a million dots, the measure would never be full, for each dot would add only half the value of the preceding dot. In a manner of speaking, this is the way it is with perfection. One may fill the measure half-full by obeying the gospel and by giving up all forms of vicious conduct; but there will always be some improvement to make; and a Christian can keep on and on improving until the end of a long life without ever attaining absolute perfection. An apostle is our authority for saying that no man is above sin, actually. John said, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Nevertheless, how boldly Christ flung down the challenge! , Sir, that’s what is required. Even if one were found so foolish as to believe he had attained it, his blindness to any sin would constitute the biggest sin of all. This verse, as much as any other in the Bible, throws man upon his knees and bids him trust in Christ alone for eternal life.

J.W. McGarvey Commentary For Matthew Chapter FiveChrist’s Disciples and His Moral Law, Matthew 5:1-48 Sermon on the MountThe Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-121. when he was set.—Throughout the ministry of Jesus we find a remarkable absence of action and attitude in the delivery of his public addresses. The apostles were not regardless of these aids to oratory, but Jesus usually delivered his addresses, as on the present occasion, in a sitting posture. (Comp. Luke 4:20 Luke 5:3.) 2. the poor in spirit.—By the poor in spirit are meant those who are sensible of spiritual destitution, and who long for a better spiritual state. The kingdom of heaven is theirs because they are the class who seek it, and who, when once admitted, abide in it. 5. the meek.—Meekness is opposed to arrogance. The arrogant grasp after dominion and power; but the meek will inherit the earth. They will inherit it in two ways: First, they shall enjoy it more fully while in it; Second, they shall finally, in the membership of a triumphant church, have possession and control of it. Possibly, the Savior also alludes to the final possession by the saints of the new earth. 4. they that mourn.—Not all that mourn— for “the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10)— but those who mourn in reference to sin. “They shall be comforted” because now there is at ample provision made for pardon. Perhaps we should also include in the reference those righteous persons who mourn over the follies and perversities of men, and who sigh under the bereavements of life; they shall be comforted as Lazarus was when received into Abraham’s bosom. 6. hunger and thirst.—Hunger and thirst being our most imperious appetites, to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” is to feel the most intense desire to obtain it Under a heathen religion, and even under Judaism, such a desire could not be fully satisfied; but under the rich provisions of the kingdom of Christ it may be; and the promise is that it shall be. (Comp. Romans 8:3-4; Hebrews 7:11 Hebrews 7:19 Hebrews 7:25.) The promise is realized in part by the actual attainment of a higher degree of righteous living, and in part by the perfect forgiveness of our sins. 7. the merciful.—Mercy, strictly defined, has reference to the forgiveness of offenses; and in this it is distinguished from pity. The merciful are blessed because they shall obtain mercy; that is, as they are merciful to others, God will be merciful to them. (Comp. 6:14, 15.) 8. the pure in heart.—Purity of heart is freedom from evil desires and purposes. All human purity is only comparative, but it may exist in a very eminent degree. The pure in heart shall see God by faith, as a source of enjoyment on earth, and shall see him face to face in heaven. (Comp. 1 John 3:2.) 9. the peacemakers.—No particular class of peacemakers is designated. The term includes all who make peace between men, whether as individuals or as communities. It includes even those who worthily endeavor to make peace though they fail of success. They shall be “called the children of God,” because they are like God, whose supreme purpose it is to secure “peace on earth and goodwill among men.” (Luke 2:14.) 10. persecuted for righteousness.—To be persecuted for righteousness’ sake is to be persecuted, not merely because you are righteous, but because of righteous acts which are offensive to the persecutors. In the lips of the persecutor himself his severe dealing is always because of some wrong with which he charges you. It is when the thing charged as wrong is actually right that the persecution is for righteousness’ sake. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those thus persecuted, because it is the righteousness required by the laws of that kingdom which causes the persecution, and because, on the other hand, the persecution binds the persecuted still more closely to the kingdom for which they suffer. 11, 12. revile you.—This beatitude is chiefly an amplification of the preceding. Here we have persecution mentioned again, which refers to suffering in property and person, and, in addition to it, the reviling and evil speaking by which one suffers in reputation. We are to “rejoice and be exceeding glad” under this annoyance for the two reasons, that our reward is great in heaven, and that such suffering puts us into companionship with the heroic prophets of the olden time. To be of that goodly company is a great reward on earth; while the promised reward in heaven exceeds all conception. In requiring us to rejoice and be glad under such circumstances, Jesus makes a heavy draft on our capability; but it is a draft in the direction of our own happiness, and one to which some men have been able to respond. (See Acts 5:41.) General Remarks on the BeatitudesThe reader should observe that the first seven of these beatitudes have reference to traits of character or states of mind, viz: poverty of spirit, meekness, mourning for sin, desire for righteousness, mercifulness, purity of heart, peacemaking; while the last two have reference to external circumstances. It should also be observed that most of them are paradoxical. The world’s conception of the man who is superlatively blessed has always been the reverse of what is here taught. The doctrine was new and strange, not only to the heathen world, but even to the most cultivated students of the Mosaic law; yet those who have received the fullness of grace that is in Christ, have learned to realize the unquestionable truth of all these maxims. We are not to understand that a man who possesses any one of the enumerated traits of character, and is void of the others, will enjoy the corresponding blessing; that, for example, the peacemaker shall be called a child of God, though neither merciful nor pure in heart; but, rather, that the seven specifications are to be found in a single person— thus making up the perfect character who shall receive in their fullness all of the specified blessings. It is impossible to imagine a character more admirable. On the other hand, if we imagine a man the opposite of all this— proud in spirit, arrogant in demeanor, taking pleasure in sin, despising righteousness, unmerciful foul at heart, and a disturber of the peace— we have the utmost extreme of the cursedness to which sin can bring down a human being Relation of the Disciples to the World, Matthew 5:13-1613. salt of the earth.—Salt being chiefly used to preserve animal flesh, the metaphor here employed means that the disciples sustain a similar relation to human society— the physical earth being put by metonymy for its inhabitants. They keep back the world from that complete moral corruption which would require its destruction. There was not salt enough in the antediluvian world, nor in the city of Sodom, nor in the tribes of Canaan, to save them. if the salt have lost.—In the expression, “if the salt have lost its savor,” the reference is to the persons represented by salt. If they have lost the qualities which make them the salt of the earth, wherewith, it is demanded, shall the earth be salted? They are then good for nothing, as salt would be if it had no saltness. 14. the light of the world.—As light dispels darkness from the world, and enables men to see how to journey and labor, so the disciples, by their good works, their teaching, and their example, dispel ignorance and prejudice, and enable men to see the way of eternal life. In this way they are the light of the world. city set on a hill.—There is here a tacit comparison of the disciples as a body to a city situated on a hill— the point of comparison being the fact that it can not be hid. The Church has ever occupied such a position. Neither her beauties nor her blemishes can be concealed. Her constant aim should be to present as few as possible of the one, and as many as possible of the other. 15. a candle.—Properly, a lamp. Candles were not known till after the time of Christ. Having indicated by the symbol of a city on a hill the prominent position of the Church, Jesus now gives the reason why it was to be placed in such a position. Being intended as the light of the world, it is placed, like a lamp on the lampstand, in a position whence its light may shine abroad. under a bushel.—The original word here rendered bushel (μόδιος) is the name of a measure which held about a peck. Instead of the incorrect rendering, bushel, it would have been better to use the generic term measure. 16. Let your light so shine.—No ostentatious display of piety or righteousness is here enjoined, but the natural and unavoidable force of a good example, and the intended influence of our actions on the world. We are to studiously pursue such a line of conduct in the presence of the world as will induce them to glorify God. General Statement about the Law, Matthew 5:17-2017. Think not.—The remark, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.” is prefatory to what follows in this section of the sermon, and it was intended to prevent a misconstruction of some things about to be said in apparent opposition to the law. destroy the law.—The term destroy is here used in antithesis, not with perpetuate, but with fulfill. To destroy the law would be more than to abrogate it, for it was both a system of statutes designed for the ends of government, and a system of types foreshadowing the kingdom of Christ. To destroy it, therefore, would be both to abrogate its statutes and to prevent the fulfillment of its types. The former Jesus eventually did; the latter he did not. As regards the prophets, the only way to destroy them would be to prevent the fulfillment of the predictions contained in them. Instead of coming to destroy either the law or the prophets, Jesus came to fulfill all the types of the former and all the unfulfilled predictions of the latter.

He fulfilled them partly in his own person, and partly by his administration of the affairs of his kingdom. The latter part of the process is still going on, and will be until the end of the world. Jesus also fulfilled the law in the sense of maintaining sinless obedience to it; but this is not the fulfillment to which the text refers. 18. one jot or tittle.—The words jot and tittle, both of which mean something very small, represent, in the original, yod, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet; or iota, the smallest in the Greek alphabet; and keraia, a turn in the stroke of the pen, by which some letters were distinguished from others. That not a jot or tittle was to pass from the law until all was fulfilled, means that the law should remain in full force until the fulfillment above described. 19. least in the kingdom.—The man who would break what he considered the small commandments of God, under one dispensation, would be proportionately disobedient under a better dispensation; for habits of disobedience once formed are not easily laid aside. For this reason obedience or disobedience while under the law was an index to what a man would be under Christ. The text shows that the relative greatness of persons in the kingdom of heaven is measured by their conscientiousness in reference to the least commandments. To the great commandments, as men classify them, even very small Christians may be obedient; but it requires the most tender conscience to be always scrupulous about the least commandments. 20. righteousness of scribes and Pharisees.—The scribes, and Pharisees were models of righteousness, both in their own estimation and in that of the people. “When the disciples were told, therefore, that unless their own righteousness should excel that of the scribes and Pharisees, they would not be admitted into the kingdom, it gave them a lofty conception of the righteousness which would be required. The disciples here addressed were those who, when the kingdom was first set up, were its citizens. The righteousness in question was to be attained by them before entering the kingdom; but such would not necessarily be the case with candidates for admission subsequent to that time. Still, the text indicates that all within the kingdom shall attain to such righteousness as a condition of remaining in it. The Law against Murder, Matthew 5:21-2621. said by them of old time.—The reference is to the sixth commandment. It was said to them of old time, rather than by them. To them is a better rendering, both here and in verses 27 and 33 below. danger of the judgment.—Not the final judgment of the world, but the tribunal established by the law of Moses in each city for the trial of murderers and other criminals. (See Deuteronomy 16:18.) Every manslayer was tried before this tribunal, and either put to death or confined in the city of refuge. 22. whosoever is angry.—Jesus goes back of the murderous act, and forbids the anger and the reproachful words which always precede it and are likely to lead to it. The council mentioned is the supreme court provided for by the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 17:8-13), and represented in the days of Jesus by the Sanhedrim. The difference be-between it and “the judgment” was, not that it could inflict penalties which the judgment could not— for either could inflict the death penalty— but that the council was the more august tribunal, and the more dreaded. The thought is, that to call a brother raca (empty) was a more fearful sin than to be angry with him. The reader will observe that the words “without a cause” are omitted from the Greek text on very high authority. in danger of hell fire.—Here the climax is reached— the climax of sin in saying “Thou fool,” and the climax of punishment in hell fire. Jesus here passes entirely away from the reference to Jewish courts and punishments, and speaks of the final punishment of the wicked. The valley of Hinnom was a deep, narrow valley southeast of Jerusalem, and lying immediately to the south of Mount Zion. The Greek word gehenna is first found applied to it in the Septuagint translation of Jos 18:16. (For the history of the valley see the following passages of Scripture: Joshua 15:8; 2 Chronicles 28:3 2 Chronicles 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31 Jeremiah 19:1-5 Jeremiah 2:1-37 Ks. 23:10-14; 2 Chronicles 34:4-5.) The only fire certainly known to have been kindled there was the fire in which children were sacrificed to the god Moloch. This worship was entirely destroyed by King Josiah, who polluted the entire valley, so as to make it an unfit place for even heathen worship. There is not the slightest authentic evidence that in the days of Jesus any fire was kept burning there; nor is there any evidence at all that casting a criminal into fire there was ever employed by the Jews as a punishment.

It was the fire of idolatrous worship in the offering of human sacrifice which had given the valley its bad notoriety. This caused it to be associated in the mind of the Jews with sin and suffering, and led to the application of its name, in the Greek form of it, to the place of final and eternal punishment. When the conception of such a place was formed it was necessary to give it a name, and there was no word in the Jewish language more appropriate for the purpose than the name of this hideous valley. 23, 24. leave there thy gift.—Having forbidden anger and evil speech toward a brother, Jesus here teaches the proper course to be pursued when we have committed an offense, and a brother has something against us. The offender is commanded to go and be reconciled to his brother, by making, of course, the proper amends; and he is to allow no other duty, not even the offering of a gift to God, to take precedence of this duty. If remembrance of the offense is brought to the mind after the gift has been already brought to the altar, the duty of reparation must even then be attended to first. This places on very high ground a duty which is often totally neglected. It shows that no offering which we can make to God is acceptable while we are conscious of an uncompensated wrong to a fellow-man. 25. Agree with thine adversary.—In this brief allegory one is supposed to have an adversary at law who has a just cause against him, and who will certainly gain a verdict when the case comes into court. He is advised to agree with this adversary; that is, to make reparation to him in advance of the trial and to prevent a trial. Jesus still has in his mind the preceding case of one who has given offense to his brother. Every such one is going to the final judgment, and will there be condemned unless he now becomes reconciled to his brother. 26. till thou hast paid.—There is allusion here to imprisonment for debt. In such a case the debtor was held until the debt was paid, either by himself or some friend. If it were not paid at all, he remained in prison until he died. In the case which this is made to represent, the offender will have let pass all opportunity to make reparation, and no friend can make it for him; therefore the last farthing never will be paid, and he must remain a prisoner forever. The Law against Adultery, Matthew 5:27-3027, 28. whosoever looketh.—Here, as in the reference to murder, Jesus goes behind the act which alone is mentioned in the Mosaic law, and legislates against the look and the feeling which might lead to the act. That which is condemned is not a look of admiration or of affection, but a look of lust. He cuts off the enormous evil of adultery at its lowest root; for he who allows not himself to look upon a woman with a lustful feeling will never commit the act of adultery. 29, 30. right eye offend thee.—Knowing the intensity and universality of the passion against which he is here legislating, Jesus supports his precept by the most powerful incentive to obedience. The imagined pleasure of indulgence is confronted with the final and eternal consequences in hell, while the self-denial which refuses to indulge is stimulated by the promise of eternal life. As it is better to be deprived of all the pleasure and advantage of the right eye or the right hand during life and then enter into eternal life, rather than enjoy these and then be cast into hell, so in reference to the pleasures of lust. Better never to taste these pleasures at all than, having enjoyed them to the full, to be finally cast into hell. The Greek word (σκανδαλιζω) rendered offend is derived from another (σκανδαλον) which means the trigger of a snare or trap. Primarily, then, it means to ensnare; and this term well expresses the meaning in this and several other places, such as, 18:6-9; Mark 9:42-47; Luke 17:2; 1 Corinthians 8:13. But that which, like a trap catching a man’s foot, causes surprise and pain, always gives offense; hence the secondary meaning of the term, which is to offend. (See 11:6; 15:12; 17:27.) into hell.—The term gehenna, here rendered hell, as it always is, designates the place of punishment for those who allow themselves to be ensnared. There was no such punishment as being “cast into the valley of Hinnom;” therefore the reference must be, as above (verse 22), to the final place of torment. (Comp. Mark 9:43.) The Law of Divorce, Matthew 5:31-3232. saving for the cause.—It is perfectly clear that Jesus here prohibits divorce except for the single cause of fornication. For this cause it is implied that divorce may rightly take place. The fornication may be either that which takes place after marriage, or that which takes place before marriage— the husband being ignorant of it at the time of marriage. In no part of the New Testament is there any relaxation of the law here given. Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:10-15, contains no such relaxation, but merely furnishes directions for a Christian woman who, contrary to the law here given, is abandoned by her heathen husband. causes her.—A woman, when divorced by her husband, naturally seeks a second marriage, if for no other reason than to vindicate herself from the imputation cast on her by the divorce. The second husband, in accepting her hand, pronounces against the act of the first husband. But her second marriage is adultery, and her first husband, by divorcing her, indirectly causes her to commit this crime. whosoever shall marry her.—The second marriage of the divorced woman is pronounced adultery both on her part and on that of her new husband; that is, her marriage while her first husband still lives. (See Romans 7:2.) Whether the man who puts away his wife because of fornication, or the woman who leaves her husband for the same crime, is at liberty to marry again, is not made so clear. It is clearly implied, however, that the marriage bond is broken; and it is almost universally conceded by commentators and moralists that the innocent party to such a divorce can marry again. This subject is mentioned again in the following places 19:3-9; Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:10-16 1 Corinthians 7:39. It is much to be regretted that in many Protestant countries the civil authorities have practically set aside this law of Christ by allowing divorce and remarriage for a variety of causes. No man who respects the authority of Christ can take advantage of such legislation. The Law of Oaths, Matthew 5:33-3733-36. But I say unto you.—In this paragraph, as in the one next preceding on divorce, and in the one next following on retaliation, Jesus takes away liberties which had been granted by the law of Moses, and imposes on his disciples restrictions not known before. The precept of the law, “Thou shalt not forswear thyself” (commit perjury), “but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths, is unchangeably right and proper. It is not repealed by Jesus, but the unlimited privilege of making oaths, which it implies, is taken away. Swear not at all.—The only oath authorized by the law of Moses was one taken in the name of God. (Deuteronomy 6:13.) The oaths which Jesus here proceeds to prohibit— “by heaven,” “by the earth,” “by Jerusalem,” “by thy head”— were all unauthorized by the law. Moreover, it was taught by the scribes that these oaths, and all others which did not include the name of God, had not the binding force of an oath. The universal prohibition, “Swear not at all,” is distributed by the specification of these four forms of oaths, and is, therefore most strictly interpreted as including only such oaths. Jesus surely did not intend to abolish now, in advance of the general abrogation of the law, those statutes of Moses which allowed, and in some instances required, the administration of an oath. (See Exodus 22:11; Numbers 5:19.) What we style the judicial oaths of the law of Moses, then, were not included in the prohibition. This conclusion is also reached when we interpret the prohibition in the light of authoritative examples. God himself, “because he could swear by no greater, swore by himself” in confirming the promise to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13); and he did the same in declaring the priesthood of Christ. (Hebrews 7:21.) Jesus answered to an oath before the Sanhedrim— Caiaphas administering the oath in the form: “I adjure thee by the living God.” (Matthew 26:63.) Paul also made oath to the Corinthian Church, saying: “I call upon God as a witness on my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet to Corinth.” (2 Corinthians 1:23.

See, also, Romans 1:9; Galatians 1:20; Philippians 1:8; 1 Corinthians 15:31; Revelation 10:5-6.) We conclude, then, that judicial oaths, and oaths taken in the name of God on occasions of solemn religious importance, are not included in the prohibition; but as these are the only exceptions found in the Scriptures, we conclude that all other oaths are forbidden. All of these remarks apply with the same force to the parallel passage in James 5:12. For the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees on the subject see Matthew 23:16-22, and notes thereon. for it is God’s throne.— Swear-ing by any person or thing is either to invoke the power thereof, or to pledge our own power in reference to it. To swear by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem (verse 35), or by your own head, conveys the latter idea. The Savior shows in each case that the idea is an absurd one, and thus exposes the folly of such oaths. As heaven is God’s throne, the earth his footstool, and Jerusalem the city of the great King, the man who made oath had no control over these; and over his own head he had so little that he could not make one hair white or black. 37. your communication shall be.—Instead of an oath for confirmation on ordinary occasions, Jesus enjoins a simple affirmation or denial— “Yea, yea; Nay, nay.” The reason given is, that “whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” It comes of evil because it arises either from a want of veracity on the part of he person taking the oath, or from a suspicion of this on the part of him who exacts it. James gives another reason: “Lest ye fall into condemnation.” (James 5:12.) Frequent and unnecessary swearing naturally diminishes men’s respect for an oath, and increases to this extent their liability to fall into condemnation by swearing falsely. The Law against Retaliation, Matthew 5:38-4238. An eye for an eye.—It was never the law of God that he whose tooth or eye was knocked out should proceed, without judge or jury, to knock out the tooth or eye of his assailant; but in every case of maiming under the Mosaic law the guilty party was regularly tried in the courts, and the penalty was inflicted by the officers of the law. (See Deuteronomy 19:17-21; Exodus 21:22-25.) The injured party was not required to prosecute, but was at liberty, if he saw proper to show mercy by declining to do so (Comp. Leviticus 19:18.) 39. resist not evil.—This prohibition must be understood in the light of the context. Evil, in one sense, is to be resisted with all our might, and without cessation; but the reference here is to evil treatment at the hand of a neighbor, as when he knocks out your eye or your tooth. While the law of Moses allowed the injured party to seek revenge, Jesus prohibits his disciples from taking the advantage of this law. 39-42. whosoever shall smite thee.—Under the general precept, “Resist not evil,” we here have three specifications. The first, which requires that when smitten on one cheek we shall turn the other, is best illustrated by the Savior’s own conduct. When smitten in the presence of the high priest, he mildly remarked: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why do you smite me?” (John 18:22-23.) If we imitate his example we will meet the requirements of his precept. The second specification (verse 40) supposes a man sued at the law, and his coat (the inner garment of the Jew) unjustly taken from him. He is told to let the oppressor have also his mantle, which was the outer garment, and more valuable. Under the law it was forbidden to keep a poor man’s garment from him through the night, even when it was taken as a pledge (Exodus 22:26-27); therefore the case here supposed is one of extreme oppression.

The lesson taught can not be less than this: that even the most unjust and extreme exactions by forms of law are to be endured without seeking revenge. The third specification (41) supposes a man impressed by a government official to go a mile.

The custom alluded is said to have originated with Cyrus, king of Persia, and it empowered a government courier to impress both men and horses to help him forward. The exercise of this power by the Romans was exceedingly distasteful to the Jews, and this circumstance gave especial pertinency to the Savior’s mention of it. (See Herodotus viii. 98; Xen. Cyrop. viii. 6, 17; Josephus, Ant. xiii. 2, 3.) The command, “Go with him two,” requires a cheerful compliance with the demands of a tyrannical government. The specifications about giving and lending (42) do not strictly belong to the precept, “Resist not evil,” but they constitute a further extension of the benevolent disposition which this precept requires. No lending was provided for by the law of Moses except for benevolent purposes, for no interest was allowed, and all debts were canceled every seventh year The giving and lending referred to, then, are limited to cases of real want, and the amount given or loaned is to be regulated accordingly. Giving or lending to the encouragement of vice or indolence can not, of course, be here included. The Law of Love, Matthew 5:43-4843. hate thine enemy.—“Love your neighbor as yourself” was an express precept of the law of Moses (Leviticus 19:18), while the sentiment “Hate thine enemy” is not found in the law as a precept. But the Jews were forbidden by law to make peace with the Canaanites (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 23:6), and the bloody wars which by God’s own command they frequently waged against their enemies inevitably taught them to hate them. This was the feeling of their most pious men, and it found utterance even in their devotional hymns; e. g. Psalms 139:21-22. It is a true representation of the law, therefore, in its practical working, that it taught hatred of one’s enemies. This is one of the evils of the Jewish dispensation, which, like the privilege of divorce at will, was to endure but for a time. 44. love your enemies.—To love an enemy, has appeared to many persons impossible, because they understand the word love as here expressing the same feeling in all respects which we entertain toward a friend or a near kinsman. But love has many shades and degrees. The exact phase of it which is here enjoined is best understood in the light of examples. The parable of the good Samaritan is given by Jesus for the express purpose of exemplifying it (Luke 10:25-37); his own example in praying on the cross for those who crucified him serves the same purpose (Luke 23:34); and so does the conduct of David when he spared the life of Saul (1 Samuel 24:1-22 1 Samuel 26:1-25.) The feeling which enables us to deal with an enemy as the good Samaritan did, as Jesus did, and as David did, is the love for our enemies which is here enjoined. It is by no means an impossible feeling. 45-47. that ye may be.—Two reasons are here given why we should obey the preceding precept: First, that we may be children of our Father in heaven, which means that we may be like him; and second, that we may be unlike the publicans and the heathen. As even the publicans and the heathen love those who love them, and salute those who salute them, if we do no more than that we are no better in respect to the law of love than they. We are rather to be like God, who causes his sun to shine on the evil as on the good, and sends his rain on the just as on the unjust. publicans—A word of Latin origin, designating those who hired themselves to the Roman government as collectors of the Roman tax. The fact that the Jews were a conquered people paying tax to a foreign power, made the tax itself odious, and equally odious the men through whom it was extorted from them. These men were regarded in the double aspect of oppressors and traitors. The odium thus attached to the office prevented men who had any regard for the good opinion of their countrymen from accepting it, and left it in the hands of those who had no self-respect and no reputation. They generally deserved the contempt with which they were regarded. They were justly accused of extortion (Luke 3:13), and of false accusation for the sake of gain. (Luke 19:8.) In the other provinces of the empire they were held in no better repute than in Judea, for Cicero pronounces their business “the basest of all means of livelihood.” (De Officiis i. 42.) 48. Be perfect.—The command, Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, makes the moral perfection of God our model. It is, of course, impossible for man to attain to this perfection; yet anything short of it is short of what we ought to be. While man can not attain to so much, God can not require less; for to require less would imply satisfaction with that which is imperfect, and this would be inconsistent with the character of God. To require this is to keep man forever reminded of his inferiority, and, at the same time, to keep him forever struggling for a nearer approach to his model. The requirement is eminently wise and good.

Questions by E.M. Zerr For Matthew 51. On seeing the multitude where did Jesus go? 2. Who came to him? 3. Through what means did he teach them ? 4. State the blessing for the poor in spirit. 5. What were the mournful to receive? 6. Tell the inheritance for the meek ? 7. What appetites should be supplied? 8. To whom will mercy be shown ? 9. Who have the promise of seeing God ? 10. What blessing for the peacemakers? 11. And what for the persecuted? 12. Provided the persecution is for what cause? 13. If disciples are reviled, what will they receive? 14. And those against whom evil is spoken ? 15. State the stipulation as to kind of evil. 16. And for whose sake is it to be said? 17. What does Jesus bid such to do ? 18. At what place is their reward to be found? 19. To what example does Jesus refer? 20. What preservative is attributed to the disciples? 21. Tell what it is to preserve. 22. What loss might occur? 23. Then what use can be made of it ? 24. Tell what is said about light. 25. How may a city keep from being hid ? 26. State the lesson of the candle. 27. Of what does our light consist? 28. What must we let it do? 29. To what end is all this? 30. What erroneous thoughts does he deny? 31. Tell what law he meant. 32. What had he come to do? 33. When was this law to pass away ? 34. If not fulfilled, what would pass away before it? 35. Give his description here of the least. 36. Who is greatest in the kingdom? 37. What commandments are referred to? 38. Whose righteousness must theirs exceed? 39. If not what is the consequence? 40. What had been heard of old time? 41. If so what danger would be incurred ? 42. Did Jesus make it more, or less, severe? 43. What condition made anger as bad as killing? 44. State the danger for saying Raea. 45. What might endanger with hell fire? 46. To what place were gifts brought ? 47. Would this offering settle all wrongs? 48. What could be in the way of the gift? 49. Tell what must first be done. 50. State the advice as to the adversary. 51. What might the adversary do? 52. And what might the next officer do ? 53. State where one might finally be cast. 54. Then what would be the prospects? 55. What was the old saying about the moral question? 56. Was Jesus as strict in his teaching? 57. Where could the sin be committed besides the fiesh? 58. What is more valuable than right eye or hand ? 59. What sacrifice can we afford to make if necessary? 60. Is this lesson literal only? 61. In putting a wife away what was required? 62. To what law does this refer? 63. Would such writing satisfy teaching of Jesus ? 64. State the only cause he admits here. 65. If ignored of what are they guilty ? 66. What was formerly said about swearing? 67. But what did Jesus say? 68. Does his teaching admit any kind of oath ? 69. Why not swear by heaven? 70. And why not by the earth? 71. Instead of swearing what should we say? 72. From what source would anything else come ? 73. Who said “an eye for an eye” etc? 74. Instead what must they not do now? 75. How about cheek for cheek? 76. What about the coat and cloak? 77. When should a mile be stretched to two ? 78. If asked for a gift what should be done? 79. What about the borrower ? 80 .Does any scripture modify this? 81. What change was made as to love for enemies? 82. Whose children would this prove them to be ? 83. How does he bestow his blessings ? 82. How does all this differ from the publicans ? 83. Why should we strive towards perfection?

Matthew 5:1

5:1 This and the next two chapters constitute what is commonly called the “sermon on the mount,” so called because the verse says that the Lord went up into a mountain. The text does not specifically state why Jesus went up to this place further than to say he did it seeing the multitudes. However, since the distinction is made between the multitudes and the disciples, we may reasonably conclude that the purpose was to be less hindered in the teaching of the ones who were really interested in it, and not moved only by curiosity or desire for temporal favors. Disciples is from which Thayer defines, “A learner, pupil, disciple . . . the twelve apostles.” The word has a broader or narrower application according to the way it is used, and the connection must always be considered in determining its meaning in a given case. Thayer’s remarks included with the definition also show the word sometimes means those who favored Jesus and “became his adherents.” That is its most prevalent meaning and the one it has in the present verse.

Matthew 5:2

5:2 Opened his mouth and taught them is very significant. In all of God’s dealings with man He has never influenced him in his moral and spiritual conduct except by the use of words, either written or spoken, and hence Jesus followed that plan in talking to his disciples about things pertaining to the kingdom of God. In this great sermon Jesus lays down many principles of life that pertained to the time before the kingdom was set up, and others were to be applied afterward. Where a distinction is necessary to the understanding of any passage I shall so state it.

Matthew 5:3

5:3 Blessed is an adjective coming from the Greek word , and Thayer defines it simply by the words “blessed, happy.” In the Authorized Version it is rendered by. the first 43 times and by the second 6 times. These verses are usually called “beatitudes,” and Webster’s definition of that word is, “Consulate [complete] bliss; blessedness.” It will be well for us to think of the ward in the sense of being happy as that is the more familiar word. To be poor in spirit means to recognize one’s need of spiritual help. Such characters are the ones who will accept the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:4

5:4 There could be no happiness in the fact of mourning but it is by way of contrast. The new system that Jesus was about to set up would provide the only genuine relief from the sorrows of this world.

Matthew 5:5

5:5 The word for meek is PRAOS which Thayer defines, “gentle, mild, meek.” It is a contrast with the fierce and domineering spirit so often shown by the members of earthly kingdoms, especially the rulers. To inherit is generally defined in the lexicons “to receive by lot.” Thayer’s definition of this verse is, “to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom.” The earth is the same that is referred to in 2 Peter 3:13 which the apostle says was promised to the righteous.

Matthew 5:6

5:6 To hunger and thirst after righteousness means to be eager to learn what constitutes a righteous life. It does not stop there, for when a man is hungry he not only seeks to find some food, but also is ready to partake of it. This means that the ones whom Jesus was blessing would be eager to do that which is right.

Matthew 5:7

5:7 The single English word “mercy” is Thayer’s definition of the word here. It is defined in the English dictionary to mean to be sparing in inflicting even punishment that is due another. It does not call for endorsement of wrong or for overlooking it, but to be considerate of the other person.

Matthew 5:8

5:8 When disconnected from all qualifying terms the word pure simply means “unmixed”; something that is not combined with any other substance, and hence it could mean either good or bad. An object that has no good in it would be pure evil. When the connection shows it is used in a good sense (as in our verse) it means a heart not mixed up with the evils of a sinful world. The definition of the Biblical heart will be given in another place.

Matthew 5:9

5:9 Every statement of scripture must be understood in harmony with others on the same subject for the words of inspiration do not contradict each other. James 3:17 says the wisdom from above is first pure then peaceable, and Paul in Romans 12:18 commands us to live at peace with all men “if possible.” The verse here means that disciples are to make every scriptural effort to be at peace with each other, and also to bring about a peaceable settlement between others who are at variance. Such will be called the children of God because He deals with mankind on that principle.

Matthew 5:10

5:10 Thayer defines the original at this place, “to harass, trouble, molest,” and he says that it may be done “in any way whatsoever,” hence the persecution may be against one’s body or his mind. But this must be done because the victim is righteous, and has no reference to accidental affliction, or punishment for wrong doing. These persons have the qualities of the citizens in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:11

5:11 This verse is similar in thought to the preceding one except that it is considering only the persecution of the mind. The evil things said against a disciple must be done in falsehood to bring him under the application of this blessing.

Matthew 5:12

5:12 This verse continues the thought of the preceding one. It will be nothing new for the Lord’s disciples to be treated unjustly, for the righteous prophets were thus treated in forme years. The rejoicing is to be for having been classed with the righteous prophets. The reward will come after this life is over and the victims have been admitted into heaven.

Matthew 5:13

5:13 The teaching of Jesus contains many illustrations drawn from nature and the customs of mankind. Salt has two outstanding qualities; preservation of articles with which it comes in contact, and rendering food more agreeable to the taste. The lives of true disciples will shed the truth among men by example and teaching, and thus contribute to the salvation of their souls. And next, the trials or hardships of this life will be easier to bear, will “taste better” for having the salt of divine truth mixed with them. But if the salt losses its savour (“to make flat and tasteless”) it will not be of any use either as a preservative or palliative. The first it is a pronoun for the earth which cannot be salted if it (the salt) has lost strength.

Such salt is fit for nothing but to be trodden upon as the soil of the ground. Likewise. if the disciples of Christ cease to be an influence for good–cease to practice the principles taught by their Master, they will finally be rejected and trodden upon by the Judge.

Matthew 5:14

5:14 Disciples of Christ are the light of the world in much the same sense that they are the salt of the earth. The righteous lives they exhibit and the truth they spread among their fellowmen will reflect the light that comes from the Lord. The hill is the mountain or government of Christ and the light of divine truth shines forth from that exalted position like the glow of light from a city upon a hill.

Matthew 5:15

5:15 It is possible for a strong light to be rendered useless, which would be done if a man lighted a lamp and then put some vessel over it. But men do not do such things in temporal matters; only in spiritual things do they act thus foolishly.

Matthew 5:16

5:16 Jesus does not wish his disciples to act so unreasonably as the description in the preceding verse implies. Let your light shine does not call for any special effort to bring attention to the good light that has been made. If a host just makes a good light and leaves it uncovered, the guests will see it and give proper credit for the favor. Your light and good works are mentioned in direct connection which shows they mean the same. It is not necessary for one to boast of his good works in order to have men see them; all that is necessary is to perform the works. However, the doer of these good deeds for the benefit of others, must also live a good life otherwise or in addition to his benevolence, or his good deeds will be rendered ineffective in the mind of men. (“Let not then your good be evil spoken of.”) Glorify is from DOXAZO and Thayer’s definition at this place is, “to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate.” It is the Greek word for “glorify” in every place in the Authorized Version. The reason men will glorify God for these lives of the disciples is because they know that such conduct is not the natural result of the fleshly motives.

Matthew 5:17

5:17 Jesus lived and completed his work on earth while the law of Moses was in force. He taught that men should respect and obey that law, yet he gave many instructions that were not specifically set forth in that system. That was because he was getting ready to bring into the world another system of laws that were to be different from the old. This opened the way for the critics to charge him with being opposed to the law of Moses. In answer to such erroneous notions he used the difference between destroying and fulfilling. He was not in the world for the first but for the second.

The Old Testament writings had predicted that a son of David was to come into the world and give it a new religious law. Because of such predictions, the very things Jesus taught of a different character constituted a fulfilling of the law.

Matthew 5:18

5:18 Verily is from the Greek word AMEN which occurs 150 times in the New Testament. In the Authorized Version it is rendered “amen” 50 times and “verily” 100 times. Thayer defines the word as follows: “surely, of a truth, truly; most assuredly; so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled.” These various phrases define the word according to the connection in which it is used, whether at the beginning or ending of a passage, etc. Till heaven and earth pass is a phrase denoting the certainty of the fulfillment of the law of God. The material universe will pass away, but not until it has served the purpose of the Creator. Likewise, the law will not pass away until it has all been fulfilled.

Jot is from IOTA which is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet and was originally written as a subscript’ under the regular line. Tittle is one of the diacritical marks used by the Greeks in their writings. The two terms are used to illustrate the importance that Jesus attached to the law. Even such apparently small points of the law as these will not be dropped until they have been fulfilled.

Matthew 5:19

5:19 The commandments of the law will not be in force in the kingdom of heaven. The thought is that a man who would break the least of these commandments while they are in force shows the wrong attitude toward divine law. Such a person would not rank very high in the kingdom of heaven after it has been set up.

Matthew 5:20

5:20 Exceed is from the same Greek word that is used in 2 Corinthians 3:9, and we know that it is there used in the sense of quality and not quantity. Jesus means that his disciples must have a better kind of righteousness than the Pharisees practiced, ‘for theirs was done for appearance and came from the lips only. A full description of the Pharisees will be found in connection with the comments at chapter 16:12. The kingdom of heaven was to be entered into only by men who were converted in heart and whose actions were induced by a genuine acceptance of the Lord’s corn-mandments.

Matthew 5:21

5:21 In half a dozen places in this chapter Jesus quotes some things that were said in old time which means the time that was regulated by the law of Moses. He does not discredit the authority of the Sinaite lawgiver, but shows how some changes or additions will be made in the teaching for the kingdom of heaven. He being the Son of God and the one who will be the king on the throne of David when the church is set up, it was appropriate that he begin showing some of the contrasts between the two. Those contrasts will generally consist in making a more spiritual application of the ancient laws, and/or in tightening their requirements so as to make them more rigid. One of such items was the law of trial for murder, that such a crime would lay a man under charges to be heard by the judgment. This is from the Greek word KRISIS and I shall give the definition of two lexicons: “The college of judges (a tribunal of seven men in the several cities of Palestine; as distinguished from the Sanhedrin, which had its seat at Jerusalem . . . Matthew 5:21-22).” Thayer. “A judgment seat, tribunal, put for a court of justice, judges, i. e. the smaller tribunals established in the cities of Palestine, subordinate to the Sanhedrin; see Deuteronomy 16:18; 2 Chronicles 19:5. According to the Rabbins they consisted of 23 judges; but Josephus expressly says the number was seven.”–Robinson. Even as serious a crime as murder was considered as only being in danger of facing this secondary court of justice.

Matthew 5:22

5:22 Jesus is teaching that under the standards of right and wrong that he will establish, being angry with a brother without a cause will endanger one before the same judgment seat as murder did in old time. As a further indication of increased strictness, to give way to one’s temper to the extent of calling his brother Raca (a term of reproach meaning empty-headed or senseless), would endanger him before the greater court; the council which was the Sanhedrin. Still increasing the picture of responsibility, to accuse a brother of being a fool will put a man in danger of hell fire. According to Thayer, Robinson and Greenfield, the word for fool means “a wicked rebel against the Lord.” And it should be noted that all of the evil actions are on condition that they are without a cause. The word hell is from CEHENNA which refers to the lake of unquenchable fire into which the wicked will be cast after the Judgment. A fuller definition of the English word “hell” as it is used in the New Testament will be given in another part of the .

Matthew 5:23

5:23 Therefore is said because the last subject treated was the sin of showing the wrong attitude toward a brother. Under the law of Moses the Jews were encouraged to bring voluntary gifts to be consecrated to the Lord on the altar of sacrifices. These were in addition to the sacrifices specifically required on stated occasions or for specific purposes. Such an act was supposed to indicate that the giver was very much devoted to the Lord, and yet at the very time he might recall that his brother had a complaint against him. Such a complaint, for instance, could consist of calling him “a fool” according to the preceding verse.

Matthew 5:24

5:24 One command is no more important than another, neither may one duty be made to take the place of another. But the gifts presented at the altar were expected to proceed from the heart, which would not be the case if a man would refuse to make a matter right with his brother. In other words, a ritualistic service should not be treated as a substitute for one of humility and brotherliness. Hence the man was directed to postpone his altar service until he had made. it right with his brother.

Matthew 5:25-26

59. See the comments at Matthew 5:25-26.

Matthew 5:26

5:26 Had the man offered to settle privately he might have been let off upon the payment of a part of the debt. If he lets it go on through court he may have to lie in prison until the entire debt is paid to which will be added the “court costs.”

Matthew 5:27

5:27 This verse introduces another place where Jesus shows that his laws will be stricter than the old ones. The law against adultery pertained to the physical act only as it was pronounced “by them of old time.”

Matthew 5:28

5:28 This passage has been strained out of its true meaning. To say it means a man sins if he thinks of the subject of sex at all in connection with a woman would be to fly in the face of much scripture. In 1 Corinthians 7:2 Paul instructs a man to marry in order to “avoid fornication,” and yet he could not have been in any danger of that sin unless he had been mindful of the subject in connection with some woman. The apostle does not condemn him for the mere fact of that state of mind and hence we should not construe the teaching of Jesus to make it condemn him. The thought is of a man who has no intention of honorable marriage, but who indulges his mind with the subject and who cultivates an imagination on the subject in a case where he knows he could not carry out his inclinations without violating the moral law, either because he or the woman would not be free to consummate the union.

Matthew 5:29

5:29 A physical operation will not cure a moral evil of the mind. If a man were deprived of his natural eyes it would not prevent him from thinking of the woman towards whom he had been looking with evil intent. But the loss of so valuable an organ as the eye is used to illustrate the extent of sacrifice that one should make in order to rid himself of an evil action of body or mind. A friend or an occupation may seem to be as valuable as the eye, yet one should better go on through life without it rather than enjoy it a few years and then he be lost entirely.

Matthew 5:30

5:30 The lesson in this verse is exactly the same as that in the preceding one, using the hand instead of the eye for the illustration. A full definition of the word hell will be given here and may not be repeated in full again. The reader should mark the place for convenient reference when needed. The word comes from three different Greek words in the New Testament. I shall give Thayer’s definition, based upon his knowledge of history and of the language: “GEHENNA, the name of a valley on the S. and E. of Jerusalem . . . which was so called from the cries of the little children who were thrown into the fiery arms of Moloch, i. e. of an idol having the form of a bull. The Jews so abhorred the place after these horrible sacrifices had been abolished by King Josiah (2 Kings 23:10), that they cast into it not only all manner of refuse, but even the dead bodies of animals and of unburied criminals who had been executed.

And since fires were always needed to consume the dead bodies, that the air might not become tainted by their putrefaction, it came to pass that the place was called GEHENNA PUROS [Gehenna fire].” The following are all the places in the New Testament where the word hell comes from GEHENNA. Matthew 5:22; Matthew 5:29-30; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:9; Matthew 23:15; Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43; Mark 9:45; Mark 9:47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. HADES is defined by Thayer as fol-lows: “1, a proper name, Hades, Pluto, the god of the lower regions, the nether world, the realm of the dead . . . it denotes, therefore, in Biblical Greek, Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place . . . the common receptacle of disembodied spirits.” Following are all the places in the New Testament where the word hell comes from HADES: Matthew 11:23; Matthew 16:18, Luke 10:15; Luke 16:23; Acts 2:27; Acts 2:31; Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20; Revelation 13, 14. The word hell comes from in one place only which Isaiah 2 Peter 2:4, and the definition is not very different from that of hades. To sum up, HADES is the place where all disembodied spirits go at death regardless of whether they are good or bad. is that part of HADES where the spirits of the wicked go at death. GEHENNA is the lake of unquenchable fire into which the whole being of the wicked (body soul and spirit) will be cast after the judgment.

Matthew 5:31

5:31 The law referred to is in Deuteronomy 24:1 which required a man to give his wife a writing that showed she had not deserted him, but that he had compelled her to go away. We know that was the purpose of that law, for the next verse says she may become another man’s wife. If she did not have the writing no man would risk marrying her for fear she was a deserter. If the writing had been done the husband was considered as having done full justice to his wife. But Jesus is going to show this to be another instance where his law will be stricter than the old.

Matthew 5:32

5:32 Jesus never taught anything at one time that disagreed with what he taught at another. This verse should be considered in connection with chapter 19:9 which is a fuller statement. The mere putting away of a wife does not constitute adultery, for there may be cases where a man would have to put his wife from him in order that he might live a Christian life. A woman might be guiltless as far as the intimate subject is concerned, and yet develop such a character and conduct herself in such a manner as to prevent a man from doing his full duty as a disciple of Christ; this idea is taught in chapter 10:34-39. But unless his wife also is guilty of immorality the husband is not permitted to marry another. Neither would the wife who is put away for some cause other than immorality have the right to marry another under the regulations of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus was soon to set up.

Matthew 5:33

5:33 Forswear means to make a false oath, or to testify under oath that which one does not intend to fulfill. The reference is to Leviticus 19:12 where false oaths were expressly forbidden. Jesus cites the saying in contrast between his ruling and the old.

Matthew 5:34

5:34 As to whether an oath is true or false is not the question with Jesus, for he forbids his disciples to make any oath at all. When a man makes an oath he backs it up by the authority of some power supposed to be great enough to make the oath good. That is why Jesus mentions various things by which men might pronounce an oath. The Jewish people had come to think they should not swear by the name of God, but Jesus shows it is as bad to swear by heaven since that is God’s throne.

Matthew 5:35

5:35 On the same basis as the above, they should not swear by the earth since it, too, is a part of the seating place of God, being his footstool. Jerusalem was the city of the great King who was God in the old system and will be the city of the new king when the kingdom of heaven is set up.

Matthew 5:36

5:36 If a man cannot even cause one hair of his head to change its color at his will, it would be foolish to rely upon it for making his oath good.

Matthew 5:37

5:37 Yea, yea; Nay, nay means to let the statements be simply that of affirming what is in the positive class and denying the negative. The laws of the state do not require any man to make an oath if he declines to do so, but will accept his affirmation at the same value as an oath. Since that is true, there could be no good reason for wanting to add the oath, which is the reason Jesus said it cometh of evil.

Matthew 5:38

5:38 In a number of places the old law did require the kind of penalty that is described in this verse. That was to be done as a legal act and not a personal one. Jesus teaches that no personal retaliation was to be permitted under the pretense of that law. If a man is actually harmed he has the right to appeal to the law of the land as it is in authority for that purpose (1 Timothy 1:9-10), but he should not take the law into his own hands.

Matthew 5:39

5:39 The sermon on the mount is largely a document of principles and not specific rules, and the spirit of the teaching is to be followed instead of the letter. This very verse is an indication of the correctness of the aforesaid conclusion, for no one would be expected literally to turn a cheek toward a would-be smiter.

Matthew 5:40

5:40 Men wore inner and outer garments in old time. Using the circumstance as an illustration only, as was done with the cheek, Jesus teaches that if a man insists on having one’s outer garment, just let him have the other also.

Matthew 5:41

5:41 Under some peculiar customs of the old times there seems to have been one of providing an escort for a man making a journey. However, the lesson is the same as that contained in the preceding verses which is that the disciples of Christ should show a willingness to be imposed on rather than wanting to impose on others.

Matthew 5:42

5:42 In all of the teaching of the scripture regarding the granting of favors, we should consider what Jesus says in Matthew 7:6. We should always try to learn whether the person asking a favor is worthy before granting it. If we find that he is, then we may give him what he asks and lend him what he wishes to borrow.

Matthew 5:43

5:43 The passages that were cited for the saying in this verse are Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy 23:6. Jesus is still on the line of contrasts between his teaching and the old, and that introduces the subject of love which has caused some difficulty with students of the Bible. They think that Christians are required to have love in cases where it seems impossible. The difficulty lies in not understanding that the English word love comes from two words in the Greek New Testament which have different meanings. I shall give the information gleaned from the lexicons and the reader should make note of it for reference. One of the Greek words in verb form is AGAPAO, and it is defined in part as follows: “To love, to be full of goodwill and exhibit the same: Luke 7:47; 1 John 4:7; with accusative [objective] of a person, to have a preference for, wish well to, regard the welfare of: Matthew 5:43; Matthew 19:19; Luke 7:5; John 11:5; Romans 13:8; 2 Corinthians 11:11; 2 Corinthians 12:15; Galatians 5:14; Ephesians 5:25; Ephesians 5:28; 1 Peter 1:22, and elsewhere; often in the epistle of John of the love of Christians towards one another; of the benevolence which God, in providing salvation for men, has exhibited by sending his Son to them and giving him up to death, John 3:16; Romans 8:37; 2 Thessalonians 2:16; 1 John 4:11 . . . of the love which led Christ, in procuring human salvation to undergo sufferings and death, Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:2; of the love which God has for Christ, John 3:35; John 10:17; John 15:9; Ephe-sians 1:6. When used of love to a master, God or Christ, the word involves the idea of affectionate obedience, grateful recognition of benefits received: Matthew 6:24; Matthew 22:37; Romans 8:28; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 8:3; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:8; 1 John 4:10; 1 John 4:20, and elsewhere. With an accusative [objective] of a thing AGAPAO denotes to take pleasure in the thing, prize it above other things, be unwilling to abandon it or do without it; . . . to welcome with desire, long for; 2 Timothy 4:8.”–Thayer. “To love (in a social or moral sense).”–Strong. In the noun form it is from AGAPE and defined in part as follows: “a purely biblical word. . . . In signification it follows the verb AGAPAO; consequently it denotes 1. affection, good-will, love, be nevolence: John 15:13; Romans 13:10; 1 John 4:18. Of the love of men to men; especially of that love of Christians toward Christians which is enjoined and prompted by their religion, whether the love be viewed as in the soul or as expressed; Matthew 24:12, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 2 Corinthians 2:4; Galatians 5:6; Philemon 1:5; Philemon 1:7; 1 Timothy 1:5; Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 10:24; John 13:35; 1 John 4:7; Revelation 2:4; Revelation 2:19, etc.

Of the love of men towards God; . . . of the love of God towards Christ; John 15:10; John 17:26. Of the love of Christ towards men: John 15:9; 2 Corinthians 5:14; Romans 8:35;Ephesians 3:19. 2. Plural AGAPAI, agapae, love-feasts, feasts expressing and fostering mutual love which used to be held by the Christians before the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, at which the poorer Christians mingled with the wealthier and partook in common with the rest of food provided at the expense of the wealthy: Jude 1:12.” Thayer. “From AGAPAO; love, i. e. affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love-feast.”–Strong. The other word for love is PHILEO, a verb, and is defined in part as follows: “1. To love; be friendly to one, Matthew 10:37; John 5:20; John 11:3; John 11:36; John 15:19; John 16:27; John 20:2; John 21:15-17; 1 Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 3:19; . . . to love, i. e. delight in, long for, a thing . . . to love to do with pleasure:3. As to the distinction between AGAPAN and PHILEIN: the former by virtue of its connection with AGAMAI, properly denotes a love founded in admiration, veneration, esteem, like the Latin diligere, to be kindly disposed to one, wish one well: but PHILEIN denotes an inclination prompted by sense and emotion, . . . Hence men are said AGAPAN God, not PHILEIN; and God is said TON KOSMON (John 3:16), and PHILEIN the disciples of Christ (John 16:27); Christ bids us AGAPAN (not PHILEIN) TOUS (Matthew 5:44), because love as an emotion cannot be commanded, but only love as a choice . . .

As a further aid in judging of the difference between the two words compare the following passages: John 11:5; John 11:36; John 21:15-17 . . . From what has been said, it is evident that AGAPAN is not, and cannot be, used of sexual love.”–Thayer. “To be a friend to (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling: while AGAPAO is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety).”–Strong.

These definitions are somewhat detailed, and for the convenience of the reader, I shall condense the two and the information of the lexicons will be the authority for the statements. One word means that sentiment of feeling such as a man will have for his wife or other close friend. The other is that feeling of interest that a man can have in another’s welfare that would prompt him to try to save him if possible, regardless of his unpleasant disposition that might naturally provoke a feeling of dislike.

Matthew 5:44

5:44 Love your enemies is explained with the note on the preceding verse. Bless is from EULOGEO which Thayer defines, “2. to invoke blessings, Matthew 5:44,” or to wish something good of another. Curse is from KATA-RAOMAI and Thayer defines it in this place as follows: “To curse, doom, imprecate [ask or wish for] evil on.” The clause means that while an enemy is wishing for some evil to come on us, we should be wishing something good for him. Do good to them that hate us does not mean to do him a favor that he could use in the furtherance of his evil intentions, but do something that will actually benefit his soul. To pray for our persecutors denotes that we ask the Lord to help us overcome the evil one with right eous deeds in the hope of leading him into a reforming of his life.

Matthew 5:45

5:45 Children are supposed to be like their parents in disposition and actions. The disciples of Christ should be like their Father in heaven in that they are not selfish or partial in the bestowal of favors. God gives the blessings of nature on all classes alike, because these favors are not supposed to be rewards for righteous living, and hence their bestowal could not be regarded as an endorsement of their lives.

Matthew 5:46

5:46 Love here is from AGAPAO, and the word is defined in the long note at verse 43. From that it can be seen that Jesus disapproves of the selfishness that would lead us to benefit only those who are willing to benefit us. Even the publicans were willing to do that, although that class of citizens was not thought of very highly.

Matthew 5:47

5:47 To salute means to “pay one’s respects to” in the way of polite greeting. We should show that much courtesy even to those who are not in our class; not be “clannish.”

Matthew 5:48

5:48 Perfect is from TELEIOS and the simple meaning of the word is “completeness.” When anything or person is all that is expected of it, it can be said to be complete and hence perfect. It is taken for granted that human beings are not expected to possess all of the traits that God has, but the spirit of impartiality is one characteristic that man can possess in common with God. If he does then he is complete on that score and hence is like the Father in heaven.