Click link to the next study in my sequential chapter study through the Gospel of Matthew.
“‘And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.’ A barrier to the mount of Revelation existed in the wilderness. Moses said: “‘The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ (Deut. 19:12) Then the LORD said to him, ‘Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.‘ So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.” (Deut. 19:23-25) They saw only fire and smoke "for our God is a consuming fire." (Heb 12:29) In contrast, Jesus went up on a mountain and His disciples came to Him, but the multitudes remained at the base of the mountain. “Went up on a mountain”— “Ulrich Luz believes that this phrase has a probable ‘association with the ascent of Moses on Mount Sinai.’ Allison notes that the phrase… appears twenty-four times in the LXX, eighteen of which are in the Pentateuch. (27 Allison, The New Moses) Fourteen of these refer to Sinai, with eleven applying directly to Moses. [cf. Exod 19:3] Thus, the phrase, while not exclusively Mosaic, would seem to be a predominantly Sinaitic motif.” (Mosaic Imagery In The Gospel Of Matthew by Wayne S. Baxter) "Only His disciples came to Him. Moses appointed 70 elders (Num. 11:16-30; Exo. 18) and Jesus’s number of disciples grew to 70 (Luke 10:1)." (Paulien)
[But here is the mission— >] Disciples and the people belong together. The disciples will be His messengers; they will find listeners and believers here and there.” (Bonhoeffer)
"Then He opened His mouth and taught them,' with authoritative understanding of Scripture (Matt. 7:29). “This revelatory nature of Jesus’ teaching is further highlighted by the echo of Jesus’ own Words in Matthew 4:4: It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” (cf. Deut 8:3).[32—Matthew’s portrait of Christ as the Revealer is consonant with early messianic expectation. For example, the Samaritan woman told Jesus, ‘I know that Messiah is coming ... when he comes he will explain everything to us’ (John 4:25, cf. ... 1 Enoch 51:3) The essence of Christ’s teaching is Torah.... Some consider Jesus’ proclamation as ‘messianic Torah.’ Allison, for one, agrees with this sentiment, writing, ‘Jesus is the Moses-like Messiah (Deut. 18:18-22) who proclaims the eschatological will of God on a mountain typologically equated with Sinai’ (The New Moses, 185).”(Mosaic Imagery In The Gospel Of Matthew by Wayne S. Baxter) Those who will not listen, He will slay.
The Beatitudes
Saying (2) - Revelation promises a blessing to those who read and understand the prophecies therein. ”Blessed” (makarios) or “happy” the state of those redeemed from the curse of the law— death. (Gal. 3:13-14) “This is the same word that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount with reference to the deep inner joy that nobody and nothing in life can take away (John 16:22), which buoys the faithful through the hardships of life. The readers of Revelation are promised this special happiness when they observe the instructions specified in the prophetic word.” (Plain Revelation by Ranko Stefanovic) “There is little doubt that here the kingdom sense is primarily future, post-consummation, made explicit in v.12.” (The Expositors Bible Comm. by D. A. Carson)
“Jesus frames the eight beatitudes... with the promise ‘for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,’ (found in both v.3 and v. 10) thus indicating that they and the intervening promises (Mt 5:4-9) are specific aspects of kingdom blessing. The future tense in the second clauses suggests that Jesus has in mind the experience of the kingdom in its consummated form. [16–Note also reference to inheriting the earth (Mt 5:5) and seeing God (Mt 5:8), which points to the eschaton. ] Thus the blessedness involves living now in light of the consummation; in this way the future is invading the present and ultimately determining the quality of life within the present. The employment of the passive voice, undoubtedly the divine passive, indicates that God will perform each of the acts described in the second clause.” (The Gospel of the Son by David Bauer)
Deuteronomy 11:29 records Moses' direction that "when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal". See Deuteronomy 27-28 for the fulfillment of this ordinance of God by the nation, “The first national act of the Israelites on crossing the Jordan was to imitate the patriarchs in raising an altar, and renewing their covenant with God, whenever they arrived at a new situation. Carnal policy might suggest, that it was more proper to prepare for war, and wait to perform the duties of religion, when victory should be decided in their favour. But Moses well knew that no design could long prosper without the covenant presence and blessing of God. All good men should make God the beginning, the middle, and the end of all their actions. The solemnities attendant on repeating the blessings and curses of the covenant were very instructive. The blessings were the wish and the object of every heart; as to the curses the whole people said, Amen, when they were pronounced; on violating the laws to which they had openly subscribed, they must submit to the punishment with silence, and give glory to God.” (Sutcliffe) The end is destruction.
“’Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (3) The phrase ‘poor in spirit’— ‘alludes to an Old Testament theme which underlies all the beatitudes, that of the ‘poor’ or ‘meek’ (’ānî or ’ānāw) who occur frequently in the Psalms and elsewhere (N.B. Isa. 61:1–2, alluded to in v. 4, and Ps. 37, alluded to in v. 5), those who humbly trust God, even though their loyalty results in oppression and material disadvantage, in contrast with the ‘wicked’ who arrogantly set themselves up against God and persecute his people.” (R. T. France)
“‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted’ (4) The godly remnant of Jesus’ day weeps because of the humiliation of Israel, but they understand that it comes from personal and corporate sins. The psalmist testified, ‘Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed’ (Ps 119:136; cf. Eze 9:4). When Jesus preached, ‘The kingdom of heaven is near,’ He, like John the Baptist before Him, expected not jubilation but contrite tears. It is not enough to acknowledge personal spiritual bankruptcy (Mt 5:3) with a cold heart. Weeping for sins can be deeply poignant (Ezr 10:6; Ps 51:4; Da 9:19–20) and can cover a global as well as personal view of sin and our participation in it. Paul understands these matters well (cf. Ro 7:24; 1Co 5:2; 2Co 12:21; Php 3:18). ‘Comfort, comfort my people’ (Isa 40:1) is God’s response. These first two beatitudes deliberately allude to the messianic blessing of Isaiah 61:1–3 (see Lk 4:16–19; cf. France, Jesus and the Old Testament, 134–35), confirming them as eschatological and messianic.” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary by D. A. Carson)
“‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.’ (5)- a synonym with the Kingdom of God. Jesus quotes Psalm 37:9a. The whole verse is: "For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." The meek do not take vengeance, which belongs to Jesus. That psalm a contains a plethora of descriptions of the end of the wicked. “This is the way with the wicked, he says, as he boldly extends his observation to wicked men in general... [Yet] where do we see this happening to the wicked? The answer must be that we do not yet see their end. The meek do not inherit the land—now. But like the writer of Hebrews, Jesus and David speak of the pilgrim’s future homeland (Heb 11:8–16) in the world to come (Heb 2:5). They look, with Peter, for the new heaven and earth, the home of righteousness (2 Pet 3:13). In this light the couplet in verse 10 to the expression Jesus quotes becomes more significant. ‘A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.’ This is said not once but repeatedly throughout the psalm. David assures the godly that the wicked: • will soon wither like the grass and die away like green plants (v. 2); • will be no more so they cannot be found (v. 10); • will be laughed at by the Lord, for their day is coming (v. 13); • will be pierced by their own swords, and their bows will be broken (v. 15); • will be broken in power (v. 17); • will perish like the beauty of the fields and vanish like smoke (v. 20); • will be cut off (vv. 22, 28, 34, 38); • will be destroyed (v. 38).” (The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge)
“‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, - Hunger and thirst— “Nothing would better express the strong desire which we ought to feel to obtain righteousness than hunger and thirst. No needs are so keen, none so imperiously demand supply, as these. They occur daily, and when long continued, as in case of those shipwrecked, and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands, with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. An ardent desire for anything is often represented in the Scriptures by hunger and thirst, Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 63:1-2. A desire for the blessings of pardon and peace; a deep sense of sin, and want, and wretchedness, is also represented by thirsting, Isaiah 55:1-2. for they shall be filled.’
“’Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (7) In relation to disciples: "Mercy embraces both forgiveness [by God] for the guilty and compassion for the suffering and needy. No particular object of the demanded mercy is specified, because mercy is to be a function of Jesus’ disciples, not of the particular situation that calls it forth. The theme is common in Matthew (6:12–15; 9:13; 12:7; 18:33–34). The reward is not mercy shown by others but by God (cf. the saying preserved in Matt. 7:1-2). This does not mean our mercy is the causal ground of God’s mercy but its occasional ground …. This beatitude, too, is tied to the context. ‘It is ‘the meek’ who are also ‘the merciful’. For to be meek is to acknowledge to others that we are sinners; to be merciful is to have compassion on others, for they are sinners too’ (Stott, Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 48...).” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary by D. A. Carson)
“’Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’ (8) ‘Blessed are the pure in heart’ - That is, whose minds, motives, and principles are pure; who seek not only to have the external actions correct, but who desire to be holy in heart, and who are so. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. ‘They shall see God’ - There is a sense in which all will see God, Revelation 1:7. That is, they will behold him as a Judge, not as a Friend. In this place it is spoken of as a special favor. So also in Revelation 22:4, ‘And they shall see His face.’ To see the face of one, or to be in the presence of any one, were terms among the Jews expressive of great favor. It was regarded as a high honor to be in the presence of kings and princes, and to be permitted to see them, Proverbs 22:29, ‘He shall stand before kings.'” (Barnes)
“‘Blessed are the peacemakers, 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) — ‘for they shall be called sons of God.’"(9)
“‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; The children of the world will resent this aloofness, construing their attitude as a criticism of their own behavior. The hatred of the world because of this belief results in persecution... The consolation of the followers of Christ, in that case, is that the various evidences of hatred which they must endure will be more than outweighed by their heritage, 'the kingdom heaven.'" (Kretzmann)for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ (10)
"Jesus ends [the Beatitudes]: ‘Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My name's sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your [eternal] reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (11-12) “Joy, gladness in the highest measure is possible, an irrepressible exhibition of exultation is expected of Christ's followers. For all the hatred that can be poured out by the enemies cannot be measured against, cannot come into consideration in comparison with, the reward of grace in heaven. They will be more than amply repaid for all the disagreeable show of hatred which they were compelled to endure here, Rom. 8:17-18; 2Co. 4:17. Another comfort which upholds them in their trial: they thereby become, in that respect at least, the equals of the prophets. It cannot be a source of lasting sorrow to endure for a time, knowing that the prophets of old were martyred in the same way, and yet endured the afflictions gladly for His name's sake, 2Ch. 36:16; Heb.11:33-40. Therefore, take up the work and endure the suffering of those that were before you, knowing that their reward will be yours also.” (The Popular Commentary)
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’
“Identifying people by their works is also a scriptural principle. The apostle James argues that genuine believers evidence certain works as proof of real faith (Jam. 2:18–26). A profession of faith without the works of faith is not genuine faith.” (Michel P. V. Barrett)
Jesus' Teaching on the Torah
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (7-19) The will of God for man is his keeping of the Ten Commandments. Thus, next, Jesus expounds on them in Matthew 5:17–48. "The sermon is thus far from being just a collection of moral precepts. It presents the radical demand of Jesus the Messiah on all who respond to His preaching of God’s kingdom. ‘The Sermon on the Mount' compels us, in the first place, to ask who He is who utters these words..” (R. T. France)
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,’ (Exodus 20:13) and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' But I say to you: ‘Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.’ (21) In God’s eyes, He said, not only is murder forbidden; the thought behind it is culpable as well.” (Edward Fudge) Jesus does not "forbid our necessary defence, or the magistrates putting offenders to death; but it forbids all malice and hatred to any, for 'he that hateth his brother is a murderer', and all revenge arising therefrom; likewise anger, and hurt said or done, or aimed to be done, in a passion.” (Benson)
“Anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin,’ or disciples— who will judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:2; cp. Exodus 18:25)and rule with Him (2 Timothy 2:12). “But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.’ (22) The Lord is saying “that a murderous, angry, or unforgiving spirit makes a man liable to final destruction in hell.” (The Doom of the Lost by Basil F. C. Atkinson)
"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (23-24) “’Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny’ (25–26)… The reason for settling the matter is: "Because the debtor will never come out of prison until he repays his debt in full, something that is impossible, some traditionalists argue that the person who goes to hell must suffer conscious torment forever. But such reasoning is misguided, as conditionalist author Guillebaud makes very clear: ‘A prisoner who never comes out of prison does not live there eternally. The slave who was delivered to the tormentors till he should pay two million pounds would not escape from them by payment, but he would assuredly die in the end: why should not the same result be at least a possibility in the application?’ [Guillebaud, The Righteous Judge, 21.] (The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ (Exo. 20:14)” says Jesus. “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (27–28). "Just as murder is rooted in hate, so adultery begins with unlawful desire.” (Edward Fudge) "Adulteresses and their paramours were... liable to be punished with death by the injured party.” (The Pulpit Commentary)
“If your right eye causes you to sin,” Jesus says, ‘gouge it out and throw it away.’ “‘Throw away’ (ballō ) eye or hand, He says—as men discard worthless salt (Matt 5:13), dead grass (Mat. 6:30) or inedible fish (Matt 13:48).” (Edward Fudge) It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Gehenna) ’ (30) "There are few subjects on which the Son of God speaks more decisively than on the reality and the awfulness of Hell or Gehenna." (Edward White) “The word is wholly different from Sheol and Hades, which are often improperly rendered ‘hell.’ It is, rather, the ‘lake of fire’ into which Hades is said to be cast, Rev. xx. 14. It marks the final destination of the lost, as distinct from the intermediate state, the place of souls, or the abode of the dead, which is the true notion of Sheol or Hades.” (Charles Frederic Hudson) “If a person perishes in hell as a dislodged and discarded eye perishes— biological death followed by disintegration—then Jesus’ warning favors terminal punishment.” (Rescue from Death by Robert Taylor) "Will not such perishing, then, be akin to the ' perishing' in the figure?" (J M. Denniston) “Here he does not describe its destruction or duration, saying only that those who go there have been discarded and expelled by God. This is no gentle and passive death, but a fearful extinction wrought by potentially excruciating destruction in the fiery pit of the age to come.” (The Fire That Consumes by Edward Fudge)
“Furthermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.’ Not only is lust the moral equivalent of adultery, but so is divorce. The connective 'de' ('furthermore') that begins Matthew 5:31 ties this section in very closely with the one that precedes ( Matt. 5:27-30)…. We could also add the exception clause in the last part of Matthew 5:32 since that seems to have been Jesus’ intention (cf. Mark 10:12). He probably did not repeat it because He did not want to stress the exceptional case but to focus on the seriousness of the husband’s decision to divorce his wife. Jesus had more to say about divorce in Matthew 19:3-9 (cf. Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18).” (Thomas Constable)
"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.’ Jesus next gave a condensation of several commands in the OT that forbade taking an oath, invoking the Lord’s name to guarantee the oath, and then breaking it (Exo. 20:7; Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 5:11; 6:3; 23:21-23). [Thus, including all Torah- not just the moral code.] God has always intended simple truthfulness in speech as well as lifelong marriage. The rabbis had developed an elaborate stratification of oaths. They taught that swearing by God’s name was binding but swearing by heaven and earth was not binding. Swearing toward Jerusalem was binding but swearing by Jerusalem was not. In some cases, they even tried to deceive others by appealing to various authorities in their oaths…. Jesus was not talking about 'cursing' here but using oaths to affirm that what one sad was true.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable)
“You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' Jesus here refers to the law of retribution, or compensation, as contained in the Levitical ordinances, Exo. 21:24. This is... a sound principle for the instruction of the judge; fair compensation should be granted for injuries received. But the scribes and Pharisees applied the statement to the relation of every person toward his neighbor. They taught and declared that everyone had the right to take revenge and to exact compensation for himself. Christ goes on record as differing from this explanation: ‘But I tell you not to resist an evil person,’ either by trying to prevent injury or by demanding revenge for it, by repelling one outrage with another. … ‘Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.’ To give and to lend are two duties of charity which Christ puts on a level, both guided by prudence and the interest of the neighbor, 2 Th. 3:10; Pro. 20:4. Stewards of God's bounty will have to give an account at the last day, and their sentence may depend largely upon the manner in which they appreciated the trust of God. All such assistance rendered to the needy neighbor should be given cheerfully, without a thought of reward.” (The Popular Commentary)
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect’ The antitheses of Matthew 5:21-48 reach a climax in the final antithesis, that involving love (Mt 5:43-48). The contrast between ‘you have heard that it was said’ and ‘I say to you’ in each case involves the principle of relational redemptiveness, or love, that is, an attitude that actively seeks the good of the other, over against overt compliance to a legal norm. This principle of love, then, that lies behind Jesus’ demands throughout Matthew 5:21-42, comes to explicit expression in Matthew 5:43-48. It is no surprise that love is the key to discerning the meaning of the commandments of the law, for Jesus will later declare that love to God and neighbor are the central commands of ‘the law and the prophets’ (Mt 22:34-40), from which all the others spring.” (The Gospel of the Son: Intro to Matthew by Bauer)
Comments