Matthew, chapter 5
Making Disciples: Sermon on the Mount, part 1
The One who commands His disciples to ‘go and make disciples of all the nations’ will teach them how to BE His disciples and how to MAKE disciples—just as He is making them…
CONTEXT & MAKING THE CONNECTIONS
1 / We have chosen to begin our survey study of Matthew by starting from the ending…because we know that is Matthew’s purpose and writing plan. Matthew knows he will conclude his Gospel account in ch 28.16-20: [1] Jesus gathers His now-eleven disciples [remember: Matthew was one of them]; [2] He declares to them His Kingship over His Kingdom of Heaven with “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”; [3] then He commands them to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”; [4] and the way they will make their disciples is by “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” [5] In other words, they will go into all the world and make others disciples of Jesus the same way Jesus has made them His disciples.
2 / So now, having introduced us to who Jesus is in chs 1-4 [review lessons 1-3], Matthew’s plan is to lay out for us the “all things Jesus had commanded them to observe” as His disciples. That is why Matthew is careful to point out here in ch 5.1 that “His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying…” This ‘Sermon on the Mount’ was the beginning sermon of Jesus’ Kingdom teachings. Or, as Professor A. B. Bruce [1831-1899] titled his excellent account of Jesus’ teaching ministry, this was the beginning of ‘The Training of the Twelve’ [published in 1871]. So that is how we will approach the next three studies: it is Jesus’ beginning ministry of training His disciples to be His disciples and to make other disciples in the succeeding ages—and here we are…learning again!
3 / Maybe we need to take just a moment to remind ourselves what a ‘disciple’ is… The word ‘disciple’ means ‘learner.’ It is the Greek word mathetes and its verb form ‘make disciples’ is matheteuo which is the word Jesus uses in ch 28.19. The verb is another word for ‘teach,’ except that this teaching is not just purveying information from the teacher to the student. A disciple didn’t enlist him/-herself to the teacher/rabbi or ‘master’ to learn ‘stuff’ to know—it was not just ‘content for the mind.’ Rather, a disciple submitted to the teacher to learn how be like the master—to learn the content of his very spirit and character. That’s why Jesus will say later in His teaching: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master” [Matthew 10.24-25]. Or, as Luke 6.40 reads: “…but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” So keep this over-arching lesson in mind as we make our way through Matthew 5-7 and, indeed, through all the rest of Matthew: Jesus is training His disciples [and us] who He is and what He is like in spirit and character so we can be like Him! And, since Jesus is like His Father in every way, He will conclude ch 5.48 with His teaching purpose in mind: “You therefore must be perfect [complete, intact, fulfilled], as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
4 / Also, before we get into outlining chs 5-7, let me remind us also that Matthew frames Jesus’ disciple-training teachings around five major discourses:
- chs 5-7: How are disciple-citizens of the Kingdom to live?
- ch 10: How are traveling disciples to conduct themselves on their evangelistic journeys?
- ch 13: What parables did Jesus tell to announce His Kingdom of disciples?
- chs 18-20: What warnings did Jesus give concerning not hindering disciples from entrance into His Kingdom and concerning forgiveness among His disciples?
- chs 24-25: How will His Heavenly Kingdom come and our human history end?
5 / So, with that background and context in mind, let’s begin to open chs 5-7. …understanding that all we can do in the lesson time allotted us is to outline each chapter’s content as it pertains to ‘Making Disciples’ and follow the flow of Jesus’ training/teaching from one thought to the next…
I | vv 1-11 | Jesus prescribes the Kingdom disciple’s profile
1 / As we open chapter 5, Matthew gives us a dynamic re-creation of the physical context in which Jesus’ spiritual teaching was given:
- “Seeing the crowds…”: these are the crowds of ch 4.25. Jesus had been traveling around their regions, teaching in their synagogues and wherever else people gathered to see and hear Him—chiefly because of His miracles He was performing. This was so Messianic[Isaiah 35.3-6], and astounding to behold!
- “He went up on the mountain...”This was obviously an incline extending from a level plain [see Luke 6.17-19], but the elevation would give Jesus a little more space and access to teach.
- “…and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.” Here we get the real purpose and intention of Jesus’ sermon and His mission. He had not come merely to attract crowds of followers, especially followers who just wanted to be spectators, ‘groupies,’ and ‘fans.’ He had come to seek and save the lost and inaugurate the Kingdom of Heaven. He had come to make disciples. So this message was directed to His disciples—though the ‘crowd’ listened and heard His training messages [see ch 7.28].
2 / He begins with what we call the ‘beatitudes,’ or God’s blessing upon these prescribed spiritual virtues. These virtues are a portrait of Christ Himself. Jesus IS every one of these gracious virtues. And so, disciples are called and made by Christ to be like Him!
3 / Jesus trains His disciples, first, by prescribing what kind of person we must be in our innermost character: what we think of God, what we think ourselves, and what we think of others. There are nine pronouncements of ‘blessed are….’ The word means ‘happy / even ‘carefree.’’ But it is not a merely circumstantial happiness because ‘all is well with me and the world.’ It is a happiness that finds its root, cause, and spring in a right relationship with God. And that is what Jesus is describing here: the personal profile of one who is, first, in a right relationship with God by the new birth [John 3.1-8]. These virtues are impossible and unattainable apart from being born again. These virtues are all ‘not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast’ [Ephesians 2.8-10].
4 / The first three virtues are ‘beatitudes of need’: poor in spirit [total, absolute, abject dependence on God]; mourn [over sin]; meek [not self-assertive or seeking self-advancement or promotion]. These three ‘beatitudes of need’ create a ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness’ which means ‘doing the right things for the right reasons,’ at least in this context. The next three beatitudes are ‘beatitudes of action’ or how we relate to others: merciful [showing grace and compassion because we have received grace and compassion from God]; pure in heart [because we have only one aim and motivation in life—to be like Christ and to please God]; peacemakers [because we ministers, agents, and representatives of God’s reconciliation—peace with God through Christ]. Jesus knows that the world will not receive Him, and they will not receive us. To the contrary, our very presence in the world will elicit a hostile response from the anti-God culture in which we live and into which Jesus sends us to represent Him. So, we will be persecuted; but we will be ‘blessed’ by God: ‘for theirs IS the Kingdom of Heaven’…which means ‘the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them’ [the second time this expression is used, see also v 3].
5 / So then, Jesus also prescribes three responses we must give to the culture of ‘the kingdom of this world’ which is ruled by ‘the god of this age, Satan’ when they ‘persecute, revile, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account’ … we must first “rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in Heaven.” They persecuted Christ this same way, and the holy saints and prophets before Him [from Abel on…], and they treated Christ’s disciples with the same hatred, and they will do the same to us. That is the first response…the other two will be in the following section…
II | vv 13-14 | Jesus describes the Kingdom disciple’s influence
1 / When Jesus says “You are the salt of the earth / light of the world…,” He is not telling us we should ‘try to be’ salt and light—He says WE ARE when we live by His spirit and character, when, as Paul says, “Christ lives in me” [Galatians 2.20].
2 / SALT is one of life’s essential elements and was used for multiple purposes: antiseptic, cleansing, preservative to prevent corruption, to retard decay and decomposition. So, when we are like Christ in our character and live like Christ in our conduct, we retard the advancement of the corruption of sin in our communities and culture just by our very presence and being who we are.
3 / LIGHT shines into the darkness around us—into the personal lives of the people around us and radiates into our communities—by the witness of Christ that we ARE and give as we follow Christ and represent Him well and truly. Jesus purposes and promises that HE HIMSELF will shine His light of grace, righteousness, and eternal life into all of those who know us and relate to us! And He will receive all the glory! “…so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven!”
III | vv 17-20 | Jesus proclaims His Kingdom ministry as Law-Giver and Law-Fulfiller
1 / Since Jesus knows that He will incur the wrath of the then-present ruling ‘influencers’ and teachers of their religious community and incite their opposition against Him, He makes this ‘disclaimer’ to clearly establish His authority to teach as He does. He knows their religious leaders will accuse Him to the people of trying to ‘abolish’ their laws [see ch 15.1-9]. No! He hasn’t come “to abolish the Law or the Prophets…but to fulfill them.” There are several angles to view how Christ ‘fulfills’ the Law and the Prophets: [1] He brings to pass by His coming and in His living everything they promised and prophesied; [2] He perfectly obeys every ‘iota and dot / jot and tittle’ that was written before Him in the OT—every legal requirement and commandment God has given mankind to obey [Romans 10.4; 1 Corinthians 1.30; 2 Corinthians 5.20; et. al.]; [3] But here in this context He also emphasizes that as the True Law-Giver, the One to whom “all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given,” He is teaching the Law of God in purity and truth [see ch 22.16]. And so, what He is teaching them is the purest, truest meaning of the will of God as expressed in His Law [Jesus will illustrate this, case by case, illustration by illustration in the next section…]. And so, when He concludes this disciple-making sermon in ch 7.28-29, the people are going to recognize His Divine truthfulness and authority: “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
2 / Jesus puts them on notice that He has now come to speak the Truth for God, from God, as God.
3 / Therefore, since He Himself is the True authoritative Voice of Truth, anyone who “relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven…” This is an across-the-bow warning salvo against ‘the scribes and Pharisees’ who foisted and imposed themselves upon the people as their sole authorities for what they should believe and arbiters of how they should live.
4 / The ‘righteousness’ that Jesus is prescribing is true righteousness: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The ‘righteousness’ of the scribes [those who wrote and interpreted the Law] and the Pharisees [primary teachers and ‘disciplers’ of the Law] was woefully insufficient and errant—indeed it was damning to those who subscribed to it: [1] it was often self-made; [2] it was hypocritically imposed—they burdened everyone else to live by it, but didn’t require themselves to; [3] but especially, it was superficial—they required only external, minute, detail-oriented compliance, but excluded the heart’s love and joyful obedience to God.
5 / These next examples of ‘case law’ that Jesus teaches will illustrate the disconnect between outward compliance and the heart’s love and obedience to God…
IV | vv 21-48 | Jesus gives six ‘case law’ examples of how to interpret and live by the Kingdom Law
1 / There are six sets of antitheses here: “You have heard that it was said … But I say to you…” What Jesus will do here is ‘fulfill the Law’ by interpreting it in its fullest meaning, expression, and application. He will also teach His disciples how they should interpret the moral laws of God and apply them to their lifestyles and daily conduct. In every case, Jesus will not just observe our compliance with the external ‘letter of the law,’ but also with the internal ‘spirit of the law’ – loving obedience to the Law-Giver. All of these cases find their origin in the OT laws, and the first four are from the sixth, seventh, and ninth of the Ten Commandments. These examples are exemplary and illustrative, but not exhaustive. “Like case laws in the Pentateuch, they teach disciples how to obey the law in every situation by specifying how to obey it in some situations.” ~Doriani
– 1 | vv 21-26: “You shall not murder…nor shall you harbor, host, entertain, cultivate, or feed in your heart those dispositions of anger, bitterness, or hatred that precede and precipitate murder.” All murder springs from the hatred, contempt, and disdain we have for another human being because we consider them to be worthless: ‘Raca’ and ‘Fool’ are both denigrating epithets and slurs against another human being to deem them to be worthless and not worthy of living—in your estimation. 1 John 3.15: Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
– 2 | vv 27-30: “You shall not commit adultery…nor shall you harbor, host, entertain, cultivate, feed, or navigate toward the lusts after another woman that lust that precedes and precipitates adultery.” If you are content with the wife God has given you [Proverbs 5, 6, 7] then you will have no occasion to ‘look at another woman with lustful intent’ or ‘covet your neighbor’s wife’ or any other woman.
– 3 | vv 31-32: “You shall not divorce your wife ‘for any cause,’ but only ‘on the ground of sexual immorality.” This teaching is based on Deuteronomy 24.1; and Jesus gives a fuller commentary on the Deuteronomy passage in Matthew 19.1-9. Both of these commentaries from Jesus are set in the cultural context of their scribes’ [Scriptural ‘law’yers and teachers] so relaxing and amending the Scriptural commandment that they were allowing husbands to ‘put away’ and divorce their wives ‘for any cause’ of the man’s personal grievance, displeasure, or because he had found another woman he ‘wanted to be with.’ Jesus goes back to the creation order and design for marriage in the ch 19 passage and quotes from Genesis 2.24. Then Jesus states: “…but from the beginning it was not so.” The sole grounds for Scriptural divorce Jesus gives for divorce is “except on the ground of sexual immorality,” that is, the adultery He forbids in the previous example.
– 4 | vv 33-37: “You shall not swear falsely or take an oath in witness or testimony that serves as a cover for your dishonesty…but rather live and speak truthfully at all times.” “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’: anything more than this comes from evil.”
– 5 | vv 38-42: “You shall not seek revenge or retaliation for harms you suffer—inflicted upon you by others…but rather extend mercy and grace even when it’s unmerited and undeserved.” Give everyone else the same mercy and grace God has given to you. See Romans 12.15-21.
– 6 | vv 43-48: “You shall not be prejudiced and biased in whom you show the love, mercy, and grace of God…but rather extend God’s exemplary love, mercy, and grace toward everyone.” In this case, God’s law was quoted partially,but then voided and nullified by the scribes’ own arbitrary amendment [see again ch 15.1-9]. Their selfish motivation is obvious: if we can justify legally hating our enemies, and then give ourselves the authority to identify who our ‘neighbors’ are, then we can legally and morally hate whom we choose to hate [see Luke 10.25-37]. The model that Jesus gives is the gracious kindness of “your Father who is in Heaven.”
~Dave Parks 