A Commentary On The Gospel of Matthew,
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Chapter Five

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In Matthew 5:1-2, when Jesus saw the crowd, he immediately recognized an opportunity to teach. The Greek word "didasko" indicates that He taught as one that lectures, not as one who converses back and forth with his students. His style was exhortation, not casual conversation. Use of the Greek word "autos" does not clearly identify His audience. The crowd was around Him, but so were His disciples. He could have been teaching the masses, but He also could have been teaching His disciples while the others listened. Either way, everyone that was there likely heard His message. The fact that He sought a higher location suggests that He probably wanted to be heard by everyone. If He had only been instructing His disciples, then He could have done that without seeking higher ground.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit. His first admonition, which is found in Matthew 5:3, pertained to the blessed condition of the poor in spirit. Blessed comes from the Greek word "makarios", and it can mean either blessed or happy. Forty-four times in the New Testament, "makarios" is translated "blessed" and five times, it is translated "happy". This word is most often associated with someone being blessed rather than with their being made happy. A blessing usually comes from someone else, while happiness usually comes from within. Matthew 16:17 says, "Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.’" Romans 4:8 says, "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." Based on these few verses, one could probably say that the blessings of God lead to tangible returns as well as to the potential happiness of the individual.

The Greek words "ptochos" and "pneuma" were translated "poor in spirit" in Matthew 5:3. Use of the word "ptochos" suggests that Jesus was singling out a particular crowd and that that crowd was the poor. But he was not merely talking about the economically poor. He was talking about the poor in spirit. In this particular case, the word "ptochos" most likely referred to those that were willing to give themselves over to Christ’s teachings. Such individuals would have been humble and willing to listen. They would have been more likely to apply the truth of His teachings. As a result, they would have also profited most from what He had to say. Matthew Henry wrote, "But this poverty of spirit is a gracious disposition of soul, by which we are emptied of self, in order to our being filled with Jesus Christ" [2]. James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." Proverbs 16:19 says, "Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud."

When a person demonstrates the capacity to be poor in spirit, he or she is demonstrating the very nature of Christ. Philippians 2:8-11 says, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." The Greek word for humble in this passage is "tapeinoo", and it means to make low, to bring low, to bring into a humble condition, to reduce to meaner circumstances, or to be ranked below others who are honored or rewarded. Jesus made Himself low and of no reputation with the result being that God exalted Him. Though not in the identical way, God also exalts each person that is made low or poor in spirit on His behalf, and part of their tangible blessing is to be included in the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 6:20 says, "Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’" Luke used the same Greek words for poor and kingdom as the Apostle Matthew. He also included some statements that are not found in Matthew’s account. For example, Luke 6:24 says, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort." In the first of these two verses, Jesus seemed to be addressing the down and out person and trying to offer them hope. In Luke 6:24, He seemed to be addressing the one who was well off, and He was clearly trying to take away some of their confidence. Psalm 18:25-27 says, "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty." God is not against the rich or the intelligent, but all too often, these are the people that will not humble themselves towards Him and receive His instructions.

What were some of Jesus’ instructions that only the poor in spirit are likely to receive? John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’" First, Jesus said that He was the only way to the Father. John 12:30-33 says, "Jesus said, ‘This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.’ He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die." Second, Jesus said that His crucifixion was meant to draw all people unto Himself. By His sacrificial death on the cross at Calvary, He was to become the pathway to God for all that would accept and believe on Him. John 3:16-17 says, ""For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

The literary technique that Jesus used in this part of His sermon is parallelism, and one can find similar type writings in the Books of Psalms and Proverbs. The characteristics of a proverb (such as, "early to bed, early to rise") are that they are (1) brief, (2) easy to remember, and (3) timeless. Being easy to remember is accomplished by the literary devices of rhyme, such as the "healthy-wealthy" type rhyme that flows from one line to the next, and also by alliteration, such as by the use the letter "w" for wealthy and wise. The objective of a proverb is to make it permanently insightful. Proverbs transcend time, class, age, gender, occupation, geography, and culture. They are general principles, but they are not absolute guarantees. Not everyone that is poor in spirit will absolutely, guaranteed inherit the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone that is rich will be absolutely, guaranteed deprived of future comfort. God treats each person as an individual, and He lets each individual choose to accept or reject Him.

Blessed are Those who Mourn. The Greek word "parakaleo" was used in the New Testament in a variety of ways. Most often, it meant to beseech. Often, it was used to mean to desire, to exhort, or to call to one’s side. In Verse Four, the word was used to express the idea of being comforted. Jesus told the crowd that people should consider themselves blessed if they mourned, because they would, then, someday be comforted. How peculiar it was for Him to make such a statement. Luke 6:21 says, "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." But Luke 6:25 says, "Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." This latter verse was not included in Matthew’s account, but Jesus was once again presenting a contrast between the well off and the not so well off.

One could argue in these verses that He was similar to a politician even though politics was not His primary purpose for being born into this existence. When a politician of modern times speaks, he or she usually tries to offer hope to those who feel like they have no hope. When Jesus spoke, He did so with authority. He offered hope to the hopeless, and He tried to reduce the confidence of those that had been running the show up to that time.

The word "comfort" in Matthew 5:4 comes from the Greek word "parakaleo" and is similar to another type of comfort that Jesus spoke about in the New Testament. John 14:16 says, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever." John 14:26 says, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 15:26 says, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." John 16:7 says, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

Jesus knew that His followers would never stand much chance against the fiery, satanic forces of this age, so He promised to give them the help of a Comforter. "Comforter" in the above verses comes from the Greek word "parakletos", and this word is a variant of the same word that Jesus used for comforted in Matthew 5:4. Parakletos means summoned, called to one's side, or one who pleads another's cause with someone else, much as in the case of an intercessor. Jesus used this word to refer to the coming Holy Spirit, and His purpose was to explain that the Holy Spirit would soon take His place with the apostles and with all future believers.

When Jesus spoke to the common people and especially to His disciples during this particular sermon in Matthew, Chapter Five, His admonition to be poor in spirit was teaching them to be emptied of themselves and to be open to God’s instruction. When He spoke about the comforting of those that mourned, He was quite possibly making His first reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit, Who is the great Comforter to all of those that follow Christ. The Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, would abide with His followers forever. He would teach them all things about God, and He would give testimony of Jesus as the Son of God and as the true Messiah of the world.

If Jesus were addressing a crowd during this sermon that grieved because they were not right with God, then His words would have been very much reassuring. He would have been, in effect, telling them that He had been incarnated into this life so that He could take away their spiritual sadness and bring them back to God, but not so that He could specifically take away their earthly sadness. If the crowd were sad because they did not feel that they had peace with God, then this would have explained Jesus' use of the phrase "poor in spirit" in Matthew 5:3 and His use of the word "mourn" in Matthew 5:4. The people would not have been mourning because their life was difficult. They would have been mourning because they were unhappy with their relationship to their God and Creator.

Jesus came to make a way for people to get back to God, not just to improve the quality of their lives in this existence. In Verse Four, He was probably trying to focus His listeners' attention to their spiritual mourning rather than to their earthly mourning. If those in the crowd were mourning because of their Roman captivity, then they would have been wrong and even disappointed to believe that Jesus had come to take that physical burden away.

Blessed are the Meek. Psalm 149:1-4 says, "Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation." The Hebrew word for humble in this passage from Psalm 149 is "anav", and it means poor, weak, humble, afflicted, meek, or lowly. This Hebrew word is very similar to the corresponding Greek word "praus" in Matthew 5:5, and it was even translated as "meek" in the King James Version of the Bible. Praus means that disposition of spirit by which we accept God's dealings with us as being good and, therefore, accept them without dispute or resistance.

If Jesus had been trying to address those that were mourning their desperate spiritual condition, then Matthew 5:5 would have fit right into His message. According to Matthew Henry, "The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God, to his word and to his rod, who follow his directions, and comply with his designs, and are gentle towards all men" [3]. Jesus told these people that the poor in spirit would inherit the kingdom of heaven and that those that mourned would be comforted. In this verse, He made a direct reference to Psalm 37 about the promise of salvation that was made to those that are humble or meek.

Psalm 37:7-11 says, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." In this life, people who practice mischief, deceit, and outright wrongdoing often seem to come out on top, but Jesus wanted the people to know that what might seem to be true was not. The evil, as was stated in Psalm 37, will not prosper, and though they may seem to do well, they will not gain favor with God. In the end, the evil will be cut off, and those that follow and trust the Lord will prevail. By saying that the meek will inherit the earth, Jesus was promising some blessings in this life in addition to those blessings that would come in the after life. But as in Matthew 5:3, these promises were given as general principles rather than as absolutes.

Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness. In Verse Six, Jesus continued to address the spiritual desires of those that wanted to follow God and live by His principles, and He did so by using the common feelings of being hungry and of being thirsty. His listeners would have been able to easily relate to being hungry or thirsty because, at some time or other, everyone has felt those pangs. He used the Greek word "peinao" for hunger, and this word means to hunger or to be hungry. Metaphorically, it means to crave ardently or to seek with eager desire. He used the Greek word "dipsao" for thirst, and figuratively, it means to painfully recognize one’s need for things that are refreshing to the soul. For righteousness, He used the Greek word "dikaiosune", and it means to behave in a way that is pleasing to God or to think, feel, and act correctly. Jesus was directing His remarks to those that ardently craved or eagerly desired behavior in themselves and others that would be pleasing to God. His promise was that they would be filled or satisfied, and this was clear by His use of the Greek word "chortazo", which means to fulfil or satisfy the desire of someone.

Jesus often spoke to others about being filled or being satisfied, and He was usually talking about their spiritual satisfaction. John 4:13-14 says, "Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’" To the woman at the well, He was saying that her thirst for righteousness could only be satisfied through Him. Experience Him, He was saying, and she would live a life that was pleasing to God and also live a life that would lead to eternal life with her heavenly Father. Was He telling her that she could go to heaven only if she lived a life of good works that were pleasing to God? Based on John 14:6, which was quoted above and will also be used again below, the answer is no.

John 6:32-36 says, "Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.’" Jesus did more than tell those that hunger and thirst after righteousness that they could be satisfied. He told them that they could be filled or satisfied, but only if they received Him as their Savior. In this passage, He said that He was the Bread of Life. He said that He had come down from heaven, and He said that He had come to give life to the world. These were pretty strong claims for a person to make, unless He really was the incarnated, eternal Son of God.

The above passage from the Gospel of John, Chapter Six, used the phrase "I am", and this expression comes from the Greek word "eimi". Eimi means to be, to exist, to happen, or to be present, and the Apostle John recorded six other passages that used similar wording. John 8:12 says, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’" John 10:9 says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture." John 10:11 says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 11:25 says, "Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.’" John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’" John 15:5 says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

When Jesus made all of these "I am" statements, He was doing much more than just describing some of His attributes and characteristics. He was telling these Jewish people that He was the same Old Testament Jehovah that had spoken to Moses in the desert from the burning bush. Exodus 3:13-14 says, "Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’" The Hebrew word "hayah" was used for "I AM", and this word means to exist or to be in existence. This Hebrew word has a meaning that is very similar to the Greek word "eimi", and these two words from different time periods and different languages back up Jesus’ claim to be God. The Pharisees did not like His claims of deity, so they had Him crucified. But three days after His death on the cross, He resurrected Himself from the grave and proved that He was the One that He had claimed to be.

As with other parts of this sermon, the Gospel of Luke contains both sides of this part of Jesus’ message, too. Luke 6:21 says, "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Luke 6:25 says, "Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep." The curse in Verse Twenty-five spoke to the self-righteous people in the crowd, and in that verse, Jesus was telling them that they would not reach the point of true spiritual satisfaction because they did not possess a genuine zeal for righteousness.

Blessed are the Merciful. Jesus’ next statement, which was in Matthew 5:7, pertained to showing mercy to others. People often demand justice, but what they and all of us really need is mercy. Romans 5:6-8 says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." If God gave us what we deserve, then each of us would be in very much trouble. Instead of what we deserve, He has given us mercy. Psalm 40:11 says, "Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me." Psalm 116:1 says, "I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy."

God could easily withhold mercy from anyone or even everyone if He so chose, but fortunately for us, He does not. Micah 7:18 says, "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy." Jesus told His disciples and the other people that they should show mercy to others just as God has shown them mercy. This admonition, like the rest of Jesus’ sermon, was transcultural and applied to everyone of all ages.

In the parable about the debtor that could not pay his debts, Jesus promised grim results to the forgiven debtor who would not forgive his own debtors. In Matthew 18:32-36, the Bible says, "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.' This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." According to Matthew 5:8, the merciful will be shown mercy, but those that withhold mercy will not be shown any mercy.

Blessed are the Pure in Heart. In the above discussion of Matthew 5:3, the Greek word "makarios" was indicated to mean either blessed or happy. While certain physical blessings may apply to the life of anyone that lives according to Jesus' teachings, the blessing of happiness is also a clear, possible result. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus was saying that the pure in heart would be blessed and that their blessing would be that of seeing God, which was an obvious reference to their eternity in heaven. But He was probably also saying that a measure of happiness would come just from being pure in heart. People that live apart from God in this life will not have eternal happiness because they will be eternally separated from Him. They also will not be very happy or blessed in this existence because sinful living does not create happiness. According to Jesus, living life with a pure heart does create happiness.

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Proverbs 14:8-9 says, "The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright." The Hebrew word for mock is "luwts", and this word means to scorn, to make mouths at, or to talk arrogantly about. The Hebrew word for amends is "asham", and this word means offering compensation for an offense, offering a trespass offering, or offering a guilt offering. The author of this part of the Book of Proverbs was Solomon, and he was saying that fools mock or talk arrogantly about offering compensation for an offense. They think it is foolish to try to make right the things that they have done wrong, and in His sermon, Jesus agreed with Solomon when he described those that make light of sin as foolish. Such people, whose heart has not been made pure by receiving Christ as their Savior, will not see God, and they will not have their place in the kingdom of heaven.

In Matthew 5:3, the poor in spirit were said to be possessors of the kingdom of heaven, and those individuals were described as people that had emptied themselves of self and had been open to receive the instructions and teachings of God. Those people could lay claim to the kingdom of heaven because they had opened themselves up to receive the Lord and to act on His teachings. In this verse, the peacemakers could be called the sons of God and look forward to an eternity with Him because their desire for peace, based on James 3:17, was an evidence of their having obtained the wisdom that is from above.

When James wrote the passage in his epistle, he said that that kind of wisdom came down from heaven, rather than saying that the people demonstrated such wisdom, became worthy of heaven, and then went up. John 14:6 also shows that a person cannot go to heaven by demonstrating a certain behavior because Jesus said in that verse that no one could go to the Father unless they went through Him. In Ephesians 2:8-9, the Apostle Paul also agreed that salvation was found only in Jesus when he wrote, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." The Scripture is very clear when it teaches that Jesus is the only way to God and that no saved person can boast in anything but the cross.

Blessed are those who are Persecuted Because of Righteousness. Verse Ten is an extension of the previous verse and the idea of being a peacemaker. Persecuted comes from the Greek word "dioko" and means to be mistreated in any way.

Jesus started in Verse Three talking about the kingdom of heaven, and He ended Verse Ten by also talking about the kingdom of heaven. This literary technique is called a bookend or an inclusion, and the speaker's intent or the author's intent was to focus special attention to the verses in between. In this case, Jesus' words in these eight verses had to confuse His listeners just a little. He had said that the poor in spirit would have claim to the kingdom of heaven and that the mourners would be comforted. He spoke about the meek, about those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, about the merciful, about the pure in heart, and about the peacemakers. In each instance, He announced blessings where most of His listeners would have probably been expecting curses. Few individuals in that crowd would have thought that being poor in spirit, mourning, or being a peacemaker would have been good things. But Jesus spoke highly of individuals with these character traits, and in Luke 6:24-26, He even spoke negatively about many of those that would have been of the reverse persuasion.

Final Remarks About the Beatitudes. Before concluding this discussion about the Beatitudes, a few thoughts about the identification of the people, upon whom the above blessings would be bestowed, will be useful. Who exactly are the poor in spirit, those that mourn, the meek, those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted? Was Jesus simply saying that these character traits were all that mattered in one's pursuit of a right life before God, or was He saying more? The answer is that He was saying more.

Many people might read the above verses and the remainder of this sermon and think that Jesus was outlining a particular lifestyle, but such a belief would only be partially correct. He was describing godly attributes that everyone would do well to practice, but He was not mapping a way for someone to find God or to find peace with Him. A person could not listen to or read Matthew 5:3, decide to become poor in spirit, and then expect to be pleasing to God. A person could not listen to or read Matthew 5:5, decide to become meek, and then expect God to tell him or her well done. A person could not listen to or read Matthew 5:9, decide to become a peacemaker, and then be magically exalted in God's eyes. Each of these decisions is good to make and live by, but according to Scripture, finding God and making peace with Him do not happen that way.

Like the above passage, the Bible always teaches that people are sinners, that they cannot please God by their own good works, and that they need to believe on and trust in Christ Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah wrote to the people of his time and told them that all of their best works were still as filthy rags before God. Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." Jeremiah wrote that man's heart is desperately wicked and cannot be known. Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" What these prophets said to the people of their times was true for them, and these truths have always applied to all generations.

While some people might criticize or question the reliability of the Old Testament, Jesus recognized and endorsed the Law and the Prophets in this very sermon, as will be seen below in the discussion of Matthew 5:17-19. Furthermore, He recognized Isaiah as a prophet in Matthew 13:14. He called Daniel a prophet in Matthew 24:15, and Daniel called Jeremiah a prophet in Daniel 9:2. If one is going to reject the individuals that Jesus received and declared to be trustworthy, then one may as well reject Jesus, Himself, and what He said, too, including what He said in this message.

From beginning to end, the Bible teaches that no one can keep all of the Law. For that reason, everyone is guilty before God and in need of a Savior. Throughout Scripture, Jesus is identified as the Savior of humanity, and the Bible constantly teaches that man can only find peace with God through Him. Jesus preached this sermon in the same context as Moses gave the Law to his people. Their spoken and written words, respectively, were intended to lead people to Christ. Acts 4:12 says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Can people trust the authenticity of Scripture? The answer is yes, based on the elaborate preservation methods of the saints, on the meticulous copying procedures of the copiers of Scripture, and on the diligence with which godly people guarded the Bible against false documents and forgeries. These attempts to ensure the integrity of the Bible have been well documented by many biblical scholars.

In Verse Eleven, insult came from the Greek word "oneidizo", and this word means to reproach, upbraid, or revile. Jesus told these people to rejoice when they were mistreated on His behalf because their reward in heaven would be great. Notice, however, that Jesus' immediate audience had changed. In the Beatitudes, He had been speaking to all of the people. But in these two verses, His use of the word "you" indicates that He was beginning to speak primarily to His disciples. The others that had assembled were probably still listening, but they were no longer the main recipients of His words.

In Verse Twelve, Jesus associated persecution with the prophets and for good reason. David had been hunted by Saul until Saul finally died and David became king. Jezebel had hunted Elijah, and if possible, she would have had him killed. Nehemiah had been forced to endure intense opposition during the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem. Jeremiah had been thrown in prison for preaching against Judah. Daniel had been thrown in the lion's den for praying to God. Many of God's people had suffered in the days before Christ just for having taken their stand for God. In the days following Christ, many more would suffer persecution and even death for again taking up the Lord's cause.

Persecution has always been a part of serving the Lord. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised that He would build His church. But during the middle First Century, the Roman Empire declared Christianity an illegal religion and tried to destroy the church. The Romans would let an individual worship Caesar, one of the Roman mythological gods, or even the gods of other nations, but they would not let Christians worship Christ because their faith did not qualify under any of the acceptable Roman conditions. Emperor after emperor, for a period of about two hundred and fifty years, persecuted Christians by the thousands in order to shut down the church. However, despite the determined efforts of so many Romans, the church continued to stand. Approximately three million Christians were killed during that time period because they had professed their faith in Christ, but the church did not fall or fail. Their numbers grew, and the power and might of the Roman Empire deteriorated. Today, the Roman Empire is nowhere to be found, but the church continues to stand.

Serving the Lord has never been popular, and Jesus knew that it would not be very popular during His days or during the days that would follow. Despite that, though, He still required His true followers, those that had been born again by His Spirit, to be poor in spirit, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, peacemakers, and pure in heart. Christians are humans just like everyone else, and they can only live a life that pleases God through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

You are the Salt of the Earth. In Verse Thirteen, the Greek word used for salt was "halas", and this word suggested wisdom and grace exhibited in speech. Salt was used to preserve food and add taste, and Jesus spoke to His disciples about salt that had lost its ability to do what salt was supposed to do. He said that salt without its saltiness was good for nothing and should be thrown out and trampled by men. To lose one's saltiness, as can be seen from the Greek word "moraino", meant to become flat and tasteless.

Before talking to them about salt that had lost its saltiness, Jesus told them that they were the salt of the earth. He did not say that they were the salt of heaven but that they were the salt of the earth. The Greek word "ge" means the earth as opposed to the heavens, the inhabited earth, or the abode of men and animals. Jesus was teaching them that they would have an earthly ministry. Their job would be to serve Him in this earth and to spread the Gospel message that He had come to create. By telling others about Him, His followers would be adding a preserving quality to the earth and also adding flavor to a flat, tasteless existence.

You are the Light of the World. The disciples were salt, and they were also light. They were salt because they were supposed to add flavor to a flat, tasteless existence. They were light because they represented the truth of God. Their job was to serve the Lord, to show people how to be saved, to do good works, and to bring people back to God. Light chases away darkness just as godliness chases away evil. A bright light in a high place can be seen by all, even from many miles away. The disciples were to stand out as ambassadors of Christ so that the peoples of the world could see them and glorify God.

Matthew 28:18-20 says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" The Great Commission was given specifically to the disciples, but it was a transcultural command that applies to Christians of all time periods. The disciples were to go, to baptize, and to teach, and every Christians since then has been commanded to do the same.

These verses, in addition to presenting the philosophy by which Christians should live their life before others, also help show God's existence to a doubting world. The "Argument from Religious Experience" proclaims that people who know God know that they know Him, and these verses support that proof by showing an individual's relational knowledge of Him. One of the first things that an infant Christian can do is let their "spiritual" light shine so that those around them will be able to see the work of God that has taken place in their heart and life. When a person receives Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells the new believer. If the person will allow it, the Holy Spirit will, then, work through them and minister to those around them. It is not so much that the individual must have great theological skill or an ability to minister. As much as anything, he or she simply surrenders their life to the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit and lets Him have His way in their life.

The Infallibility of the Old Testament. In Verses Seventeen and Eighteen, Jesus appeared to be speaking to the crowd once again and was no longer speaking primarily to His disciples. In so doing, He acknowledged His belief in the infallibility of the Old Testament Law and the writings of the prophets. He said that everything foretold by the Old Testament prophets would come to pass and that all parts of the Mosaic Law would be satisfied. According to Dr. Edward E. Hindson, Jesus was telling the people that His ministry, hence the New Testament Gospel, would not be contrary to anything in the Old Testament Law [4].

In The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Dr. D. A. Carson wrote that Jesus' reference to the "smallest letter" in Verse Eighteen indicated His very high view of the Old Testament [5]. In mentioning the "least stroke of a pen," He was also acknowledging the value of each tiny part of each letter. II Timothy 3:16 says that "all" Scripture is given by inspiration from God, and Jesus carried that idea even further by saying that all parts of all letters of every word had come from Him. On the day that He preached this sermon, He was, among other things, trying to communicate the trust that one can have in the Old Testament. Dr. Carson also suggested that the Law and the Prophets could have been referring to the entire Old Testament and that the use of the word "or" in Verse Seventeen could have meant that neither the Law nor the Prophets would be abolished [6].

From the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus communicated His intent to do everything according to Scripture, and He told the people that nothing, that should be done, would be left undone. He would not have been able to make those remarks if He had doubted the authenticity of either the Old Testament writers or the legitimacy of their writings, unless He had been either a liar or a lunatic. But because Jesus was and is the Lord, a person can have complete confidence in everything that He said and did, including those things that pertained to His high view of Scripture.

Keeping the Commandments. Verses Nineteen and Twenty are difficult to understand, and they begin a part of Jesus’ sermon that challenges the very idea of salvation by Grace alone. Nevertheless, when comparing Scripture with Scripture and when rightly dividing the Word of God, each of these complicated teachings have a solution that is consistent with the rest of the Bible. In Verse Nineteen, Jesus talked about someone breaking the commandments, about their leading others to do the same, and about their being the least person in the kingdom of heaven. In Verse Twenty, He talked about a person not entering into the kingdom of heaven unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These seemingly contradictory statements must have been very hard for His listeners to comprehend.

Everyone in that crowd knew that the Pharisees were extremely fanatical about obeying the Old Testament Mosaic Law. The Pharisees even verbally attacked Jesus on several occasions because of what they viewed as His low regard for the Law. Matthew 9:10-11 says, "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?’" The Pharisees saw sinners as unclean and to be avoided, but Jesus ate meals with them. In Matthew 12:1-2, the Bible says, "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, ‘Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.’" The Pharisees had made themselves the self-appointed protectors of the Sabbath, but Jesus went about doing good and meeting the needs of others, regardless of the day of the week.

One can examine how Jesus viewed the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law and understand why He would have said that a person’s righteousness must surpass theirs to get into the kingdom of heaven. According to Him, they were not at all righteous. Matthew 23:1-7 says, "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ‘The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’" Jesus disapproved of the Pharisees because they were hypocritical. They loved to be seen by others as lovers of God and the Law, but He knew that they did not really love either. Beginning in Matthew 23:12, He said six times that the Pharisees were hypocrites.

Matthew 5:20 is easy to understand when one takes a closer look at the lives of the Pharisees. But Matthew 5:19 is much more important to understand when one looks at what Jesus was really saying. The Greek words "basileia" and "ouranos" show that He was talking about the same kingdom of heaven as in Verses Three and Ten. The Greek word for breaks is "luo", and it means to loosen, to undo or to dissolve anything bound, tied, or compacted together. Twenty-seven times in the New Testament, this word was used to mean "loose", and only five times did it mean "break". The Greek word for least is "elachistos", and it means smallest or least. The Greek word for commandment is "entole", and it means an order, command, charge, precept, or injunction. The Greek word for teach is "didasko", and it means to teach, to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, or to deliver didactic discourses.

So what was Jesus saying to these people? Actually, His message was very simple and quite clear. He had indicated the obvious importance of the Old Testament Law and Prophets in the two preceding verses, and everyone in the crowd would have agreed with His remarks. Then, in Verse Nineteen, He said that a person could actually break one of the commandments, even teach others to break that same commandment, and still be in the kingdom of heaven. Clearly, breaking God’s commandments is not a good thing. He had even said in Verse Nineteen that His followers, those that had been born again, would be exalted in heaven if they kept the commandments. But the important point that Jesus was trying to make was that breaking the commandments would not keep someone out of heaven and that obeying every commandment to the letter, as was the case of the Pharisees, would not get someone into heaven. Heaven is not gained or lost based on keeping the commandments. A person will only go to heaven if he or she has received Jesus as their Savior, and this same simple plan for salvation is taught throughout the Bible.

In this message, Jesus has said that a person could be in the kingdom of heaven if they were poor in spirit, if they were pure in heart, if they were persecuted for his name’s sake, and even if they broke some of the commandments. The Pharisees had always held the Mosaic Law in their highest esteem. So, in this passage, Jesus was obviously telling them in front of everyone that they did not have a clue.

Being Angry With a Brother. In this passage, Jesus might have been again directing his remarks primarily to His disciples although, as before, everyone around would have still been able to hear what He was saying. The Greek word used for fool in Verse Twenty-two is "moros", and it means foolish, impious, or godless. In this verse, Jesus was speaking in a progressive fashion about one's inappropriate attitude towards a brother. First, He said that judgment awaited the person who was angry at his brother without a cause. Next, He indicated that saying "Raca" to a brother, which was a type of derogatory expression, would have been grounds for bringing that person before the Sanhedrin Council. Lastly, He said that calling a brother a fool would put the speaker at risk of hell fire.

According to Matthew Henry, during this time in Jewish culture, there were three degrees of capital punishment for an offender of the law, and each form was a little more brutal than the others [7]. The first was beheading, and the lowest court pronounced this punishment. The second form was stoning, and the Sanhedrin carried out this one. The third was to be burned in the valley of the son of Hinnon, and this form of capital punishment was considered to be the most severe. Most likely, Jesus was not actually pronouncing literal capital doom on the person who called his brother foolish. He was much more likely speaking in these poetic terms because His Jewish listeners would have been familiar with their own progressive judicial system. They would have understood the significance of each of these progressive forms of wrongdoing against a brother.

In Matthew 5:22, Jesus had warned against wrongfully speaking negative things to a brother or about a brother. He warned against being angry at a brother without a cause, and His mentioning of being angry without a cause suggests that the other two offenses stated in that verse were probably also done without a cause. Matthew 5:23-24 advised a person to be reconciled to his or her brother, and this would have been especially appropriate if the brother had not been the one at fault. A person cannot always appease those that are upset with them, but as Christians, they should always at least try. In comparing this passage to Matthew 23:17-19 where Jesus called the Pharisees foolish, there is not a conflict or contradiction between these two passages because Jesus was not wrongfully calling the Pharisees foolish. He was and is omniscient, and He knew that they really were fools and hypocrites, whereas mortal humans can be and often are mistaken.

An additional aspect to be considered when looking at Matthew 5:22 and Matthew 23:17-19 is that Jesus has already been declared the Judge of the world and of humanity. II Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." People do not have the authority to call others fools, but Jesus does. Even if Jesus was not literally declaring eternal doom in this passage on those that call a brother foolish, followers of Christ should never practice this kind of behavior.

When Jesus preached this sermon, He said many things that probably confused His listeners. With the discourse that He was about to begin, He would say even more things that would be hard for them to hear. The Old Testament Jew was obsessed by the outward manifestation of wrongdoing, but Jesus was about to talk to them about the condition of their heart. According to Him, sin does not become sin when the act is committed. It becomes a sin when the heart initiates the thought and the individual begins to let that thought take control. Under the Old Testament Mosaic Law, it was wrong to kill someone. Under New Testament Grace, it would be wrong to even say bad things to or about someone. As His listeners were about to learn, many actions of the heart are sins even if the resulting activity is never performed. No wonder the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Commandment Against Physical Adultery. In His previous discourse, Jesus spoke about being angry at a brother without a cause and about quickly settling disputes with any adversary in court. In this passage, He talked about the sin of adultery, and like with some of the other parts of His message, He made this sin a matter of the heart, too, as well as a matter of actual physical behavior. The Greek word that He used for adultery was "moicheuo", and it means to be an adulterer, to commit adultery with another man's wife, or to have unlawful intercourse with another man's wife. The Greek word for woman in Verse Twenty-eight was "gune", and it means a woman of any age, whether she was a virgin, married, or a widow. Interestingly, in talking about committing adultery with another man's wife, Jesus seemed to be speaking specifically to men, rather than generically to men.

However, while addressing men in this passage, He was not saying that only men commit adultery. In Matthew 5:32, which will be discussed below, Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." The Seventh Commandment spoke against committing adultery, but this sin was never described in the Old Testament as being strictly gender-specific.

Verses Twenty-nine and Thirty of this passage are difficult to understand because they suggest that a person’s salvation might depend on their behavior. Was Jesus trying to warn that a person's sins, and specifically adultery, would condemn that individual to eternal doom? The answer is no. He was more accurately saying that nothing on earth is worth turning one's heart from God over and that a person would be better off going through this life without an eye or without a hand than to die lost. Based on Matthew 5:19-20, which was discussed above, people are not eternally condemned because of their sins. They are eternally condemned if they do not accept the finished work of Jesus, the Christ, on the cross at Calvary, but they are not condemned if they do receive Him. John 3:18 says, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

The Greek word for hell in Verses Twenty-nine and Thirty is "geenna", and it referred to "Gehenna" or "Gehenna of fire". Gehenna was originally the valley of Hinnom, located in the southern part of Jerusalem, and it was where the filth and the dead animals of the city were cast out and burned. It was also where the Old Testament Jews had once offered their own children to the false god named Molech. Because of Molech, the symbolism of Gehenna would have been very clear to the people concerning the wicked and their eternal fate. These people would have fully known about the fire of Molech, and they would have understood what Jesus was saying. Jeremiah 32:35 says, "They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin." God hated this sin of sacrificing one’s own children to a false god, and He spoke against it through Moses in Leviticus 18:21 and in Leviticus 20:2-4.

Commandment Against Spiritual Adultery. In this passage about adultery, one needs to understand that Jesus was not just talking about physical adultery. He was also talking about spiritual adultery. The First Commandment, recorded in Exodus 20:2-3, says, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."

Despite the efforts of men like Gideon and some special spiritual kings, the nation Israel continued in their sin of idolatry or spiritual adultery. By the time of Jeremiah the Prophet, the Bible makes it clear that God had had enough of His people’s unfaithfulness. Jeremiah 3:1 says, "'If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, should he return to her again? Would not the land be completely defiled? But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers-- would you now return to me?' declares the LORD." Through Jeremiah, God told His people that they had behaved as a prostitute with many other lovers. But despite His complete disgust with them, He ended that verse by inviting them to return to Him.

When one reads these two passages from the Book of Jeremiah, the words sound like a man that has been deeply hurt and betrayed by an unfaithful woman. They do not sound like a God that is simply angry over the sins of humanity. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the issue has always been about that of loving God from a pure, unwavering heart. It has never been about merely doing good and refraining from doing evil. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:4-5 says, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

In the New Testament, Matthew 22:35-40 says, "One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’" In God’s economy, people love God first, others second, and themselves last. In the world’s system, people many times love themselves first, others second, and God last, if they even love Him at all.

From a spiritual perspective, Matthew 5:29-30 says that a person would be better off surrendering body parts, such as an eye or a hand, if those parts could somehow come between him or her and serving the Lord and going to heaven. Jesus was not saying that a person dies lost if they commit adultery or any other sin. Throughout His sermon, He said that people make choices about whom they will serve. Those choices are often driven by what a person can see or touch, and those choices will often lead the individual away from a genuine love for God.

In speaking about divorce, Jesus was reminding the people of a writing by Moses. Deuteronomy 24:1-4 says, "If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance."

In the Old Testament Law, as the above verses show, Moses gave provision for a man to divorce his wife if he found something unfavorable about her. When Jesus spoke to this crowd during His sermon, however, He said that marital unfaithfulness is the only biblically legitimate grounds for divorce. The Greek word for marital unfaithfulness is "porneia", and this word means illicit sexual intercourse, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, sexual intercourse with close relatives, or sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman. As with the discourses on calling a brother a fool and on looking lustfully at a woman, Jesus was expanding the definition of sin, which is one more evidence that He was telling the people that He was God-incarnated. Only God can legitimately define and redefine sin.

According to Dr. Millard Erickson, the Ebionites, as a group, were strongly monotheistic, and they believed only in a one-person God [8]. Like present-day Unitarians, they opposed the deity of Jesus and also the deity of the Holy Spirit. They believed that the Christ, or the godlike attribute that had been so apparent in Jesus during His time on earth, had descended upon Him during His baptism and that He had possessed that very special power for the entire period of His earthly ministry. That same power, also according to them, withdrew itself from Him just prior to His death. By rationalizing Jesus in this way and by trying to make Him seem like a normal man, these people were able to relieve some of the tension that they had felt concerning His deity. But while on earth, Jesus consistently taught everyone that He was the Christ and that He had actually been born the Christ. According to many theologians, He was either a Liar, a Lunatic, or the Lord.

This passage cautions a person about carelessly making oaths to other people, both positive and negative oaths, and it especially cautions them concerning foolishly making oaths to God. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, "When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it." According to these verses from the Book of Ecclesiastes, people should always honor their oaths, if they make them, and they should be especially diligent to honor those oaths that are made to the Lord. The problems with making oaths, however, are that not all oaths are positive and that people cannot always control what they will or will not do.

Jesus taught that people should not swear and that they should be very careful about the oaths that they make in the first place. Swear, in Verses Thirty-four and Thirty-six, comes from the Greek word "omnuo", and it can mean to promise with an oath or even to threaten with an oath. Those people that will follow the Lord should not make promises of any nature that they cannot keep or that they do not intend to honor. They also should not maliciously cast threats against others by saying things such as, "I swear that I will get you for that." Christians need to guard their words and actions carefully because they are representatives of Christ. They need to realize that God is in control of everything so that no one can possibly say what he or she will ever do. Proverbs 27:1 says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth."

In those instances where the Christian feels that he or she has been wronged and wants revenge, Jesus was teaching His followers to show diligence, patience, and a secure trust in Him. Romans 12:19 tells the believer that vengeance is of the Lord. In those instances where a follower of Christ feels led to issue a threat about what he or she will do, Jesus was urging His followers to be even more careful. The future is not for humans to know, and it certainly is not for humans to control. When oaths are made, a person's integrity is put on the line. When oaths are made foolishly, a Christian's spiritual immaturity is put on display.

No one likes to be hurt or injured, but Jesus told those that would follow Him that they might be subjected to some personal injury and self-sacrifice. He quoted from the Old Testament passage in Exodus 21:22-24, which says, "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." The Old Testament Mosaic Law made provision for serious injury to either a pregnant woman or to her newborn child if the injury was caused by two men that had been fighting.

In this part of His sermon, however, Jesus presented a higher teaching on suffering, and it did not focus so much on recovering damages for oneself or on the protection of one’s possessions. He said that His followers should not resist the evil person and that they should even allow themselves to be struck in the face without retaliating against their attacker. He said that His followers should be willing to part with their possessions and to not offer resistance in legal matters. He said that they should be willing to walk two miles for the Roman citizen and that they should also be willing to give freely to those that were in need. By Roman law, any Roman citizen could require any Jewish person to carry his or her physical burden for one mile, and Jesus said that he or she should carry it for two.

Why would Jesus tell His followers to do these things? Are Christians supposed to be the world’s doormat? In a sense, the answer is yes. But in a different sense, the answer is no. Colossians 3:1-2 says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Christians are not to be controlled or owned by the things of this world. Instead, they are to be Christ-centered and heavenly-minded. They are to be servants of the Lord, and as such, they are to do His bidding. In II Corinthians 4:3-4, the Apostle Paul wrote, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

Jesus taught in this passage to not resist evil, to avoid judicial matters, to accommodate the Romans concerning the carrying of their burden, and to lend to those in need. But He did not tell His followers that they should seek suffering or that they should try to bring on themselves any additional situations that might require sacrificing. He would have told them to be ready for difficulties if and when they come, but He would not have encouraged His followers to go looking for trouble.

Jesus taught these difficult instructions to His listeners and followers for at least four reasons. The first, which was given above, was because His people are not supposed to be earthly-minded. They are supposed to focus their hearts and minds on things above, not on things of the earth.

The final reason for having a high attitude towards one's enemies is because true followers of Jesus must always have a sense for His work on earth. Jesus was incarnated into this life so that He could offer Himself on the cross at Calvary and die for the sins of every human being. His desire was and is to reach those that are lost. He even prayed for and openly desired that his enemies be reached with the truth of the Gospel. Should one of His followers want or desire any less? The answer is no. Christians must always remember that their work on earth is His work on earth. While visiting Zacchaeus in Luke, Chapter Nineteen, He said in Verse Ten, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

In summary, what was Jesus saying to these people in Matthew, Chapter Five? First, He was telling them to be poor in spirit, which meant that they should have a heart and mind that would be open to His instructions. Second, He made some specific promises to those that were poor in spirit, mourning over their spiritual condition, meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and makers of peace. He spoke to those that would be persecuted for His name's sake, and He spoke to those that had a responsibility to be salt and light. Third, Jesus shared His high view of Scripture and showed that His life and ministry would not contradict anything that the Jews had been taught in the Old Testament. Fourth, He showed His deity by presenting a higher lifestyle for His followers on such matters as anger, adultery, divorce, making oaths, self-sacrifice, and dealing with one's enemies.

From the beginning to the end, Jesus' message was consistent. He taught that a person should not merely live for himself or herself, but that he or she should live for God first and then for others. His whole sermon could have been summed up by a statement that He made on a later occasion. Matthew 22:37-39 says, "Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.’" In Matthew 5:48, the Greek word "teleios" was used for perfect, and this word means wanting nothing necessary for completeness. Christians are not supposed to be wanting for anything in their spiritual lifestyle and manner. They should be mature in their faith and willing to do their best to live by the principles that Jesus presented in this message.

1. Henry C. Thiessen, Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), page 138.

2. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry's Commentary - Matthew to John (McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company), page 48.

3. Ibid, page 50.

4. D. A. Carson, "Matthew," The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 8, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), page 145.

5. Ibid, page 142.

6. Edward E. Hindson, "Matthew," Liberty Bible Commentary (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983), pages 1886-1887.

7. Henry, page 59.

8. Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1993), page 694.