The King gives the Sermon on the Mount
5
📚And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him.5:1 The following teaching of Jesus up to Matt 7:28 is called “The Sermon on the Mount” because Jesus preached it on a mountain side. He had spoken of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 4:17), and had preached “the good news of the kingdom” (Matt 4:23). This sermon shows what Jesus meant when He commanded people to repent. It reveals what entering God's kingdom means, both in one's inner experience and outward behavior. It reveals principles which operate in the kingdom, and those things which exclude people from the kingdom.
The sermon begins (both in Greek and English) with the word “blessed”. So we can say the sermon sets forth the blessed life – who the blessed are and how they should behave. The blessed are those in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3). This sermon does not give specific instructions as to how to enter God's kingdom but shows what sort of people are in it, and what they should seek to become and do.
This sermon, for the most part, is for disciples of the Lord Jesus, not for everyone (v 2. But see the note there). Those who will not receive Him as their one Teacher and Guru, and learn from Him in all things, will not truly understand this sermon or be able to practice it. This is for those who have entered God's kingdom through faith in the Lord Jesus, and those who are not in it cannot really put it into practice (though they may pick out a verse here and there and seem to live according to it). Any attempt they make will be imitation and not reality.
Corrupt and fallen human nature cannot keep God's spiritual holy laws (Rom 8:6-7). And fallen human nature is what we all have by birth – see notes at Gen 8:21; Ps 51:5; Jer 17:9; Rom 3:9, 23. To keep the laws and principles of God's kingdom, we need to be changed, given new, spiritual life, and receive God's Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus gives the Spirit to those who repent and receive Him by faith (Matt 3:11; John 7:37-39; 14:16-17).
Only by living in the Spirit can we practice these spiritual principles. See Gal 5:16-25. The more we are controlled by God's Spirit the more possible it will be to live as Christ taught. Without God's Spirit it is impossible to be truly spiritual, and all men do not have God's Spirit (John 14:17; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 2:14; Jude 19).
We cannot become God's children and spiritual people by trying to live according to the Sermon on the Mount. But if we are God's children we should set out by His Spirit to live according to it. For here Jesus is setting forth what it really means to be a child of God, a true believer in Himself, a real disciple. See the note on “disciple” at Matt 10:1.
In interpreting this sermon we should always keep in mind that it is set in the context of the whole Bible, that we cannot understand it if we ignore this fact, and that the better we understand the Bible as a whole, the better we can understand this sermon.⚜
2 📚And he opened his mouth and taught them 📖, saying,
The beatitudes
3 📚“Blessed 📖 are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 📚“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5:4 This is like saying “sad people are really the happy ones”. We can see from the place Jesus gives to mourning here in this sermon that it is basic to His whole teaching, that it is a foundation stone on which His kingdom is built.
This verse is linked with the preceding one. Those who see their spiritual poverty, their sin and sinfulness, will feel sorrow, will grieve that they are such sinners. And they may, for that matter, lament the sad fallen condition of the whole human race. Jesus is not talking about the sorrow of this world, the selfish sorrow that people feel because they can't get what they want, or because they experience losses, or because their hopes are dashed. That kind of sorrow works death (2 Cor 7:10).
The sorrow of those in God's kingdom is a godly sorrow that works repentance, and so it leads to the happy condition of God's kingdom. Compare Jam 4:8-10. See godly sorrow at work in Psalm 51. Such people will know God's own comfort to some extent now (Isa 40:1-2; John 14:1; 16:33; 2 Cor 1:3-5), and know it fully and eternally hereafter (Luke 16:25; Rev 21:4).⚜
5 📚“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
5:5 Meekness is not weakness. In fact, it is great strength of character. It is a quality of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Himself (Matt 11:29; 21:5; 2 Cor 10:1), and we see what it means by looking at His life. Meekness is consistent with the character of a spiritual soldier mightily fighting the battle for truth and opposing sin and Satan (Eph 6:10-17).
Meekness is a person humbly accepting the circumstances into which God has brought him. It is to be willing to suffer for God, to be slighted or despised without rage and retaliation (see 1 Pet 2:21-23). The meek are those who submit to God's will, God's rule over them, and endure what must be endured for His sake (compare Matt 26:39, 42; John 18:11). The meek bend their necks to bear Christ's yoke and are willing to learn from Him (Matt 11:29; Luke 9:23).
Such people are the spiritually strong of the earth now, the blessed ones who will inherit the whole earth later. The greedy and the grasping, the self-assertive, the self-willed seekers after power and property and prestige will have no part in this earth when God gives it to the meek. Compare Ps 37:1, 11. That whole psalm shows the difference between those who are meek and those who are not.
How is meekness to be obtained? The same way the other spiritual qualities are obtained – they can be produced only by the Holy Spirit as we yield to God. He does this by giving people a proper view of themselves and of others, and a proper attitude toward God.⚜
6 📚“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.
5:6 Righteousness is a great word of the Bible. The words “righteousness”, “righteous”, and “righteously” are used more than 500 times. These words mean whatever is right and just and true and good in God's eyes. Righteousness is opposed to all wrong and injustice and crookedness. God, His Kingdom, His aims and purposes, His works, His dealings with men, are all absolutely righteous (Ezra 9:15; Ps 11:7; 19:9; 36:6; 97:2; 145:17; Dan 9:14; John 17:25). And He requires men to be righteous if they would be in His Kingdom and His heaven.
This verse does not say blessed are those who hunger and thirst after pleasure or money or even spiritual experience. Sinful men (which is what we all are by nature) need righteousness more than anything else, and it is that which they must seek if they are going to exist in a happy state with God forever. What we desire and seek reveals what kind of people we are. Those who have become the children of God by faith in Christ (John 1:12-13) will desire righteousness. They will want to be righteous themselves and to see righteousness prevail on earth. God's Spirit will produce this desire in them.
If this is not our experience, at least to some extent, then we may be sure we know nothing of God's righteous kingdom. A person who has no hunger for food, no thirst for water is very sick indeed. Those who have no hunger and thirst for righteousness are spiritually dead.
The Bible does not teach renunciation of desire. On the contrary, it teaches us to have right desires and to desire passionately, hungrily, thirstily for right things. The kingdom of God is not for the self-satisfied but for the desperate, the aching, the one who wants it like the body craves for food and water. Those content with what they are, and willing to behave as everyone else in the world, will never know what true blessedness is.
See Psalm 119 for an example of a man who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. To seek for righteousness means to hunger and thirst for the righteous God (see Ps 42:1-2; 63:1), and for a continual fellowship and right relationship with God. It is to hunger to be like the Lord Jesus who is the altogether Righteous One (Acts 3:14; 1 Pet 2:21-22; 3:18; 1 John 2:1). It is a strong desire to be finished with all that is dark, low, unworthy of God, and unholy. Such people will be filled. When? Progressively now in this life (2 Cor 3:18; Eph 4:24; Phil 3:12). But completely at Christ's return (Rom 8:29-30; Eph 5:25-27; 1 John 3:1-3).⚜
7 📚“Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.
5:7 This verse does not teach that God will be merciful to us, save us and bring us into His kingdom, because we are merciful to others. The mercy that saves sinners has nothing to do with whether or not they were previously merciful. See Acts 9:1-6; 1 Tim 1:13-14. Salvation comes only by repentance and faith in Christ (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:3-6).
But those who are saved by God's mercy should show mercy to others. And such will have God's mercy following them all the days of their lives (Ps 23:6). This verse sets forth a spiritual law of God's kingdom which is taught elsewhere in the Bible (Matt 6:14-15; Ps 18:25-26; Gal 6:7). God does not lay aside spiritual laws with men after they experience His mercy and enter His kingdom. If people will not be merciful to others, what right have they to expect God to be merciful to them? This verse shows what real Christians should be, and indeed, what they are, to some extent. When God saves men He begins to make them what they should be. If we are not being made merciful, we reveal that He has not changed us and brought us into His merciful kingdom.
What does it mean to be merciful? It is more than to have feelings of compassion – it is to perform kind and helpful acts towards those in need (Luke 10:37; Eph 4:32; Heb 6:10; Jam 3:17). It means to forgive those who offend us and to do good to them. Compare Matt 18:21-35; Luke 10:30-37. The supreme example of all this is the Lord Jesus Himself.⚜
8 📚“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 📖
5:8 To be pure in heart does not mean to be sinless now. If it meant that, then no one on earth would ever “see God”. See Matt 7:11; Rom 7:18; Gal 5:16-17; Jam 3:2; 1 John 1:8. Jesus taught all His disciples to pray “forgive us our sins” (Luke 11:4).
The Greek word translated pure can mean clean. It can also mean without adulteration – one thing without mixture. “Pure” milk is milk not mixed with water or anything else. “Pure” grain is grain with the chaff removed. “Pure” can also mean free from defilement and guilt. So a pure heart (that is, the inner state of a person) is one that is guilt-free, sincere, upright, without hypocrisy, undivided in its aims, motives and devotion, without a mixture of deceit, darkness, etc. See Jam 4:8. It is a heart fully set on God and righteousness (compare Ps 86:11; 1 Kings 15:14; 2 Chron 16:9).
To try to make the outer things of our lives pure is not enough (see Matt 23:25-28). God wants us to be pure inwardly (Ps 51:6, 10). God and His people must deal with the heart. He gives an undivided, clean heart. They must guard the heart above all (Prov 4:23; 2 Cor 7:1). The whole message of Christ aims at this very thing – purity, oneness of heart, and the vision of God. Purity of heart begins with repentance and faith in Christ (Acts 15:9). The Lord Jesus, because of the sacrifice of Himself for sinners, purges the conscience and purifies the inner person (Heb 9:14; 10:22). After that believers must walk in the light and renounce all God shows to be wrong (1 John 1:5-7).⚜
9 📚“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
5:9 Peace is another great word in the Bible, used nearly 250 times. The word appears 90 times in the New Testament, and in every book except 1 John. What does it mean to be a Peacemaker? It is wanting peace, striving for peace in God's way. It does not mean trying for peace at the cost of truth or righteousness or justice. It is not saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace (Jer 6:14). It is not compromising with evil. True peace must be based on righteousness, and so there can be no peace to the wicked (Ps 85:10; Isa 32:17; 48:22).
What causes struggles, quarrels, fighting, wars between individuals, families, and nations? Sin – Gal 5:19-21; Jam 3:16; 4:1-2. What makes for peace? Setting men free from the bondage of their sinful nature. Anything which promotes that – teaching men the truth of God, showing them how to be reconciled with God, etc – eventually makes for peace, if men respond. Peace with God and the peace of God in the heart will mean peace with others. God in Christ was the great peacemaker. See 2 Cor 5:18-21; Eph 2:14-18; Col 1:21-22.
Human peacemakers must understand that the real problem is sin, and the real remedy is Christ's Gospel. Peacemakers must also have the qualities in the preceding beatitudes. When men are like that they will take a strong stand for truth and righteousness and faith (Eph 6:10-17; 1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7; Jude 3), but they will also try to live at peace with everyone and to promote peace between men (Rom 12:18; 14:19; 1 Cor 7:15; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 3:11).
Why shall peacemakers be called the children of God? Because God is the God of peace (Rom 15:33; Heb 13:20), and He was willing to bear any cost, go to any lengths agreeable with righteousness, to bring men into peace with Himself. When men are like Him in this, they shall be recognized as what they are – the children of the God of peace (v 16).⚜
10 📚“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 📖 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:10 This is the last beatitude – vs 11,12 add to it but do not give a new one. This blessing may sound strange to men in general, but it is true for all that.⚜
11 📚Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you, falsely, for my sake.
5:11 This is a continuation of the blessing in v 10. Jesus here shows that to be persecuted for righteousness is to be persecuted for Him. One way men persecute the righteous is by lying about them and slandering them. But to be the kind of people the wicked hate actually is to be in a blessed condition.⚜
12 📚Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For in this way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 📖
5:12 Being able to rejoice in persecution comes from the knowledge that to be persecuted for righteousness and for Christ, works good for His people. Compare Rom 8:17-18; 2 Cor 4:17-18; 1 Pet 1:6-7. The fact that God will reward His servants is seen often in the New Testament (Matt 10:41-42; 16:27; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:35; 1 Cor 3:8, 14; Col 3:24; Heb 10:35; 2 John 8; Rev 11:18; 22:12).⚜
Instruction about various subjects
13 📚“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its taste, how can it be made salty again? Then it is good for nothing, but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 📖
5:13 God's people are the “salt” of the earth, not the “pepper” or the “sugar”. The “you” here are those in God's kingdom, those who have the qualities set forth in vs 3-12, especially those who suffer for righteousness and Christ. But such people as “salt” do not make the world tasty to God! As “salt”, they are to make God's word tasty to men. And as salt preserves things God's people preserve the world from being totally corrupted, and from being destroyed by God's anger (compare Gen 18:26; 19:22).⚜
14 📚“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 📚Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 📚Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father 📖 who is in heaven.
5:14-16 The people described in vs 3-12 are a new creation of God to give spiritual light on earth. Christ was that light while He was on earth (John 8:12; 9:5). Now His followers are “children of the light” and must shine forth with His light which is in them (John 12:35-36; Rom 13:12; 2 Cor 4:4-6; Eph 5:8; 1 Thess 5:5).⚜
5:16 This is the best way to let light shine – not good talk, not good intentions, but good deeds. Many boast of enlightenment who are never kind or helpful to others, and who never glorify God by anything that they do. Such a boast from such people is an abomination to God.⚜
17 📚“Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets 📖. I have come, not to destroy, but to fulfil them 📖. 18 📚For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass away from the Law until all is fulfilled.
5:18 See how Jesus puts His stamp of approval on the Old Testament. See also Matt 4:4; 15:3-6; 22:43; Luke 24:44; John 10:35. He obviously regarded it as the Word of God inspired by God's Spirit. Compare 2 Tim 3:16; Heb 1:1-2; 2 Pet 1:21. He was God incarnate and knew all things, so we should hold the same views of it that He had.⚜
19 📚Therefore whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, 📖 and teaches men to do so, he will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
5:19 Here again it is clear that from v 3 Jesus has been talking about those in God's kingdom, those who have become God's children by a new spiritual birth. We cannot enter God's kingdom by trying to keep the law He gave through Moses (Acts 13:38-39; Rom 3:21, 28; 8:3; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). But after entering it there are spiritual principles which will be at work. These are His own commandments.⚜
20 📚For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, 📖 you will absolutely not enter the kingdom of heaven.
21 📚“You have heard that it was said to those of olden times, You shall not murder, and whoever murders 📖 will be subject to the judgment. 22 📚But I tell you 📖 that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment; and whoever says to his brother, 📖 ‘Empty fellow 📖’, will be in danger of the Council 📖; but whoever says, ‘You fool 📖’, will be in danger of hell fire. 📖
23 📚“Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 📚leave your gift there before the altar, and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
5:23-24 The implication is that God will not accept our worship and gifts if there is something wrong in our relationship with others (especially with fellow children of God) that is our fault and that we can put right. If we make no attempt at reconciliation we give opportunity to the kind of anger that is like murder in the heart. That is why He begins these verses with the word “therefore”.⚜
25 📚“Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way to court with him, so that this adversary will not at any time hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 📚Truly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last copper coin.
5:25-26 Here is another way in which God's people should live in peace with others. Hostility and quarrels over money or property are to have no part in their lives (vs 44,45). The Lord Jesus commands His people to reach an agreement with their opponents who want to sue them in court. If they do not obey, God will see to it that they have a great deal of trouble. Compare 1 Cor 6:1-8.⚜
27 📚“You have heard that it was said to those of olden times, ‘You shall not commit adultery. 📖’ 28 📚But I tell you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 📖 29 📚And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of your parts is lost than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 📚And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you. For it is better for you that one of your parts is lost than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
31 📚“It has been said, ‘Whoever divorces 📖 his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 📚But I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.
33 📚“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of olden times, ‘You shall not swear 📖 falsely, but shall perform your vows to the Lord.’ 34 📚But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne, 35 📚or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King, 36 📚And you shall not swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 📚But let your ‘yes’ be yes, and your ‘no’ be no, for whatever is more than this is from the evil one. 📖
38 📚“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
5:38 Ex 21:24-25; Lev 24:20. That was the rule for the society, for the nation. It was a principle of perfect justice.⚜
39 📚But I tell you 📖 that you should not resist evil, but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 📚And if anyone wants to sue you and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go a mile, go with him two miles. 42 📚Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
5:42 The principle is the same as that in the above verse – reject self and represent God's spiritual kingdom which is one of grace, mercy, love and kindness. Disciples of Christ must think of others and their needs as He did. But should we give to a person who begs for money to buy intoxicating drink or drugs? Or to a crook who makes his living deceiving others? Surely our giving should not cause harm, or actually promote idleness, begging, or evil. The Lord Jesus wants us to be compassionate but not stupid. When people are in real need (Matt 6:2), we should help if we can. See 1 John 3:17-18. We may not be able to give what such people ask or all they ask, but we can give something. Compare Acts 3:6.⚜
43 📚“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy.’ 44 📚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 abuse you and persecute you, 45 📚so that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 📚For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same?
5:46 Tax collectors were usually Jews who served the Romans (who ruled the Jewish people at that time). Their fellow countrymen considered them traitors. Also they had a reputation for greed.⚜
47 📚And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even tax collectors do so?
5:43-47 Love is at the heart of God's spiritual kingdom. The King is the embodiment of love (1 John 4:8), and His rule is love (John 13:34) and everyone in God's kingdom must obey this rule. They are to aim at perfection of love (v 48. Compare 1 John 4:16-18). Love is the fulfilling of all God's law (Rom 13:8-10).
The Old Testament nowhere said the Jews should hate their enemy, but that was the traditional teaching of the religious leaders in Israel. It was actually contrary to such verses as Ex 23:4-5; and Prov 25:21. We cannot become God's children by practicing the principle of love, but if we are God's children, we show that we are such by practicing it (v 45). God loved His enemies (Rom 5:8-10; Col 1:21-22), and He does good to them.⚜
5:47 Those in God's spiritual kingdom must act differently, be better, do more than those who are not. If they do not, what evidence is there that they are in it? See v 20.⚜
48 📚Therefore be perfect, just as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.
5:48 This is the only possible standard a perfect God could set before His people. God is to be their model, and not this fallen world. But only sinless people (if any could ever be found) could perfectly live up to it. However, everyone in the kingdom should aim to do so. Perfection in behavior is the goal set before Christians in other places in the New Testament. See 2 Cor 13:11; Col 1:28; 4:12; 2 Tim 3:17; Heb 13:21; Jam 1:4; 1 John 2:1, 6. Aiming at perfection is not the same as achieving it – Rom 7:18, 25; Phil 3:12; Jam 3:2.
Verses 39-48 reveal certain plain alternatives – who shall rule us, self or God? What principles shall we follow – the principle that self comes first and must be defended, revenged and promoted, or the principle that self must be denied, and God's kingdom put first? The constant theme of the Sermon on the Mount is dying to self and being alive toward God; everything done to please Him, nothing to please self. Great motive power is needed to keep this sermon with its great spiritual demands. What is the only one that will work? See John 14:23-24.⚜