Matthew 5 Study Notes

5:21-22 Matthew 5:21 begins a section of the Sermon on the Mount generally known as the “six antitheses.” The title may seem to imply that Jesus opposed the OT in some way, but in reality he always upheld its authority. Rather than contradicting or overturning OT teachings, Jesus opposed the misguided interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees. These men were concerned only with superficial matters, but Jesus went deeper. He argued that the law prohibits not just actual murder but murderous attitudes as well. Similarly, violent temperaments are condemned just as surely as violent deeds.

5:23-24 Disciples must attempt at their earliest opportunity to reconcile with a brother or sister who has something against them, even if doing so interrupts important business. Speaking to the context of his day, Jesus said disciples should seek reconciliation even if it meant halting in the middle of offering sacrifices at the Jerusalem temple. This interruption was significant since Jesus’s original audience (located away from Jerusalem) would have to abandon their gift at the altar, travel for days to reach Galilee and seek reconciliation, and then return to Judea to complete the sacrifice. Such is the priority of reconciliation.

5:25-26 A person can typically pay a smaller penalty for their offense by seeking an out-of-court settlement rather than waiting for the issue to be settled in court. This illustrates that reconciliation is urgent because the longer it is postponed, the more severe the consequences.

5:27-28 Jesus said that gazing on a member of the opposite sex for the purpose of arousing illicit sexual desire is adultery of the heart. This does not mean lustful thoughts are equally as sinful as the act of adultery. Rather it means the law prohibits adulterous desires as well as adulterous actions. Sin begins in the mind before it is committed outwardly. True righteousness therefore seeks to avoid not only adulterous acts but also adulterous thoughts.

5:29-30 Self-mutilation and amputation are not effective ways to overcome sin. After all, sin arises from a corrupt heart rather than flesh and bone (15:19). Jesus here uses hyperbole (intentional exaggeration for the sake of making a point) and allegory (in which the eye represents a lustful perspective and the hand represents an immoral deed) in order to convey a vital requirement of discipleship. Disciples should put a stop to thoughts and behaviors that contribute to immorality.

5:31-32 Jesus challenged a loose rabbinic paraphrase of Dt 24:1 that distorted the original meaning of the text. In the hands of the rabbis, Dt 24:1 greatly multiplied the number of offenses that could justify divorce. For instance, rabbinic commentaries on Dt 24 cited minor complaints such as a wife’s fading beauty or her tendency to burn food as legitimate grounds for divorce. However, Jesus kept true to Dt 24:1 and insisted that sexual immorality is legitimate grounds for divorce. People who divorce for frivolous reasons and remarry are guilty of adultery since their original marriage covenant has not been genuinely dissolved.

5:33-37 Oaths to the Lord (i.e., “I swear to God”) were considered binding, but since Jews avoided use of God’s personal name and instead used reverent substitutions, clever liars could take an oath that seemed to appeal to God without technically doing so (23:16-22). Jesus taught that swearing oaths is wrong since oaths call for the destruction of an object or person if the oath is broken. Thus, swearing by heaven . . . earth . . . Jerusalem, or even one’s own head is inappropriate because it implies that we have the authority to destroy things over which God alone has authority. Swearing against God or his belongings aligns us with the evil one who attempted to assume God’s position as ruler of the universe.

5:38-39 Jesus explained that eye for an eye (Ex 21:24; Lv 24:20; Dt 19:21) was given not as a mandate for personal vengeance but as a principle to guide courts in determining appropriate punishments. The slap on your right cheek was a back-handed slap that was both insulting and injurious. For this act Jewish law imposed a fine that was double the one for an open-palmed blow on the left cheek. Thus we see that Jesus urged his disciples not to seek vengeance even against the most offensive kind of blow. The words don’t resist an evildoer do not indicate, however, that we should not seek justice or defend ourselves when threatened with serious bodily harm.

5:40 Frivolous lawsuits were rare in first-century Israel, and so the suit described here was probably a legitimate one that the plaintiff was likely to win. Ordinarily, defendants are upset if the judgment goes against them, but Jesus commanded his disciples to seek reconciliation with their opponents by going above and beyond the legal requirements in order to make amends. Jewish law permitted an opponent to sue for possession of an offender’s inner garment, the shirt. Typically it was a sleeved tunic that extended to the ankles and was made of wool or linen. These could be valuable and were frequently used for bartering or making payments. The coat was an outer robe or wrap. It was the more essential piece of clothing since it provided warmth and could double as a blanket for the poor. Based on OT texts such as Ex 22:26-27 and Dt 24:12-13, Jewish law insisted that the coat was exempt from seizure by the courts (m. B. Qam. 8:6). Taking the coat was too severe a punishment. Jesus thus commanded his disciples to do even more than the courts allowed when seeking reconciliation with an opponent.

5:41 Jesus likely had in mind the much-resented practice of compulsion, in which Roman officials could force their subjects to perform menial tasks such as hauling a load on their backs (27:32). It is often said that soldiers could legally compel a subject to carry a load for only one mile before letting him go, but no surviving text establishes this as law. Most likely compulsion was usually limited to a mile simply out of common sense: people are tired after hauling a load for a mile, and soldiers who pressed for more than this risked fostering dangerous resentment among subjugated peoples. In contrast to this, Jesus said his disciples should carry their oppressor’s pack out of obligation for the first mile, but then exceed all expectations by going a second mile as an act of love and service.

5:42 Since this entire paragraph is devoted to Jesus’s teaching against retaliation, this verse probably prohibits disciples from seeking vengeance against opponents by refusing to help them in a time of need. By giving the necessities of life to an enemy, disciples may restore broken relationships (Rm 12:19-21).

5:43 The words love your neighbor appear in Lv 19:18. However, the command hate your enemy does not appear anywhere in the OT. Evidently some of Jesus’s contemporaries argued that the command to love your neighbor also implied the opposite—that a person was to hate everyone who was not his neighbor.

5:44-45 Loving enemies and praying for one’s persecutors does not make a person God’s child. Only rebirth does that. However, the sort of forgiving love Jesus mentions displays your family resemblance to the heavenly Father, and thus serves as a sign to your true identity. God blesses both the evil and the good with sun and rain.

5:46-47 Tax collectors were despised because they often collected more than the legal tax and served Rome at the expense of their downtrodden fellow Jews. Jesus taught that selfish behavior and loving only those who love you resembles the behavior of tax collectors and pagan Gentiles, not the character of the heavenly Father.

5:48 Much as a child resembles his biological parents, spiritual children bear close resemblance to their heavenly Father. Consequently, Jesus’s disciples are commanded to exhibit moral perfection. The close connection between this verse and Jesus’s teaching about love (vv. 43-47) suggests that unconditional love is the most crucial expression of God’s character in the life of his followers.