What I Noticed Today (Matthew 5-7)
Matthew 5
Matthew 5-7 is Jesus’s first discourse or teaching.
In verse 1, seeing the crowds following him (continued from Matthew 4), Jesus sat down and taught the disciples.
In verses 2-12, Jesus teaches the disciples what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are:
- The poor in spirit (v. 3). Be humble with an honest view of ourselves.
- Those who mourn (v. 4). God will bring comfort.
- The meek (v. 5). Surrender to God’s authority.
- Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (v. 6). Always seek righteousness.
- The merciful (v. 7). Show mercy to others.
- The pure in heart (v. 8). Real righteousness that derives from a pure heart brings you close to God.
- The peacemakers (v. 9). Resolve conflict and do not seek revenge.
- Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (v. 10). Those who live righteous lives can expect persecution.
- Those who are reviled and persecuted falsely on account of Jesus (v. 11). Expect others to lie about you when you follow Christ.
Rejoice and be glad that our reward is in heaven. Believers will be persecuted, just as the prophets were persecuted.
Note: Jesus is teaching about the attitudes and life of a righteous believer. These stand in stark contrast to the scribes and Pharisees of the Old Testament. Note also the general progression of the attitudes. They begin with our attitude toward ourselves (v. 3), our attitude toward our sin (vv. 4-6), our attitude toward God (vv. 7-9), and our attitude toward the world (vv. 10-11).
In verses 13-16, Jesus compares believers to salt and light. Salt that loses its taste cannot be made salty again. A light is not hidden under a basket but put on a table, so it gives light to the house. In the same way, we should not hide our “light” but let it shine before others, so they will see it and be drawn to Jesus.
This is so important for us as believers today! As Christians, we represent Christ. People judge Christianity by our actions. We need to be model Christ!
In verses 17-20, Pharisees were concerned that Jesus was there to abolish the Law, but He said no, He came to fulfill the Law. Jesus said to the contrary, those who relax the Law will be the least in heaven, but those who teach the Law will be called great
In verses 21-48, Jesus gives examples of six Old Testament Law and how believers should live. Each contains the phrase, “But I say…”
- Murder/Anger (vv. 21-26, Exodus 20:13).
- Adultery/Lust (vv. 27-30, Exodus 20:14).
- Divorce/Divorce (vv. 31-32, Deuteronomy 24:1).
- Oaths/Swearing (vv. 33-37, Leviticus 19:12).
- Retaliation/Retaliation (vv. 38-42, Leviticus 24:19-22).
- Love your Enemies/Love Your Enemies (vv. 43-48, Leviticus 19:17-18).
Note: This section (vv. 21-48) is known as the “Six Antithesis.”
Matthew 6
In Matthew 6, Jesus provides three principles regarding our worship of God (vv. 1-18) and two principles regarding our relationship to material possessions (19-34).
- Giving to the poor (vv. 1-4). Give out of your heart without making a fuss to gain attention for yourself.
- The Lord’s Prayer (vv. 5-15). Pray privately, sincerely, for God’s will in our lives, in a spirit of forgiveness to others.
- Fasting (vv. 16-18). Do not make a show of your fasting to gain attention for pious behavior.
- Laying up treasures in Heaven (vv. 19-24). Do not let material gain become the focus of your life, but invest in the Kingdom. Being focused on the accumulation of wealth for wealth’s sake makes it impossible to focus on the riches of Heaven.
- Do not be anxious (vv. 25-34). Worrying about tomorrow doesn’t change a thing, but it causes a loss of joy today!
Note: The issue of hypocrisy is seen in verses 2, 5, and 16 (giving to the poor, praying, and fasting).
Matthew 7
Matthew 7 examines three major themes: 1) judging ourselves, 2) judging others, and 3) judging the Lord.
In verses 1-6, Jesus warns us not to judge others with a different standard than we use to judge ourselves (take the log out of your own eye, before you worry about the speck in your brother’s eye).
Taking the speck out of our own eye will enable us to see so we can help others.
In verses 7-11, Jesus tells the disciples to ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, and knock, and it will be opened for you.
Note: The words ask, seek, and knock is in the present tense, which in Greek implies continuous action: keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. Don’t stop! God wants to hear from us, and He wants to provide good gifts for us.
Note: Some take this verse out of context and make God seem like a genie in a bottle, ask and you will receive, but note that what God gives us are good gifts. They are what God knows we need, not necessarily what we want or ask for.
In verses 12-14, Jesus proclaims what we call the Golden Rule as this is a summary of the Law. In so doing, Jesus also warns the way to righteousness (Jesus’ teaching) is narrow, the way to destruction (the teaching of the Pharisees) is broad.
In verses 15-23, Jesus warns about the false prophets who appear as sheep but are really wolves. He said you could tell who is a false teacher by their fruit: those who are good produce good fruit, those who are bad produce thorns and thistles. Jesus warns not everyone who proclaims His name is driving out demons is good if they are not obedient to the Father.
In verses 24-27, Jesus closes this instruction to the disciples with a call to action in the form of a parable. Everyone who has heard His words and did them is wise, building on a solid foundation. Those who hear and reject Him are foolish, like a man who builds a house on a foundation of sand.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
