He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying...

Matthew 5:1-24 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ² He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.                                                                                               

⁵ “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. ¹⁰ “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

²⁰ “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘ You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. ²³ Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

Today’s text is so full and rich with truth, there is enough in these verses that we could remain here for day, even weeks and still be receiving fresh revelation of the kingdom. Jesus begins declaring blessed many types of people who society would certainly consider less than blessed. The reason for the blessing might be revealed in another teaching of Jesus. In Matthew 6:31-34, Jesus says:      Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ ³² For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.         Regardless of our earthly experience, circumstance, condition or position, if we will seek God, remain focused on Him, the kingdom and righteousness we will be blessed. The psalmist says:  Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. ⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.  (Psalm 37:3-5) God will bless us in every circumstance, He will meet every need for every time and season in our lives.

In verses 13-15, Jesus begins to move in a different direction with His message. He goes from encouragement of promise to exhortation of responsibility of how we are to live. He says:     “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; ¹⁵ nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.     As believers, followers of Christ we are not to live like and look like the world. We are to be a light to the world. A light is not something that blends in, that remains unseen. Jesus says the church should be set high on a hill. Believers should give light to all. John 3:19 says:     This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.    Jesus came into the world as a revelation of light. He now has called and commissioned His church, His followers to be that light to the world.  The world will be judged if it chooses light over darkness. But believers will be accountable if they do not shine the light of Christ, making clear to the world the difference and the choice between light and darkness.  

The next few verses present a major problem for many today. Keep in mind these are Jesus words, not the words of someone else who came after Him. He says:      “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.       Jesus came to forgive sin and redeem us from our sin. As the fulfillment of the law, He became the required sacrifice to pay for the sin of man. Jesus paid a tremendous price to redeem us from our sin. The forgiveness and redemption He offers through the cross does not eliminate or do away with the cost of sin. Romans 6:23 says:  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Sin still causes death. God’s word and His law has not changed. Those who attempt to rewrite God’s law, eliminating the parts that they don’t like, nullify the fulfillment of the redemption Christ offers for sin.  Jesus warning to those who would teach something other than the truth of God’s word regarding sin is this:   “ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven”        The message of Christ is clear, those who teach acceptance and tolerance of what the Bible calls sin are least in the kingdom of heaven. Many leaders of large churches today, who teach contrary to the truth of God’s word regarding sin will find themselves under this judgment in the kingdom.  Jesus never accepted or tolerated sin. The sin of man caused Him to go to the cross. Jesus surely does not think lightly of that which cost Him His life. Neither should we.

One final command or instruction Jesus gives is:   “ Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”    When we seek to make things right with a brother, our purpose, our intention and our goal should be reconciliation. We don’t go to convince them of our feelings or our opinion. When we are dealing with a fellow believer our goal should be reconciliation. Consider that Christ gave up His own life that we might be reconciled to God, that we might become His brothers, children of God. We should be willing to give up our opinions, sacrifice our feelings that we might be reconciled to a brother.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, my redeemer, the fulfillment of the law thank You for the truth of Your word, which never changes. Thank You Holy Spirit for revealing the Light of Christ in my life. Fill me and empower me, help me to truly seek the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness. Enable me to let my light, the light of Christ in me, shine before men in such a way that they may see Your good works, and glorify You Father, in heaven.   Amen.