Matthew 5 begins Jesus’ famous sermon on the mount that consists of chapters 5-7 in Matthew’s Gospel. After many crowds followed Jesus, He took His disciples up onto the mountain to teach them (5:1). The Greek word mathetes, which underlies our English, “disciple” means, “one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice .”[1] In essence, a disciple is a learner, one who would study under a rabbi (teacher). Thus, the sermon on the mount is essentially a classroom setting with rabbi Jesus describing to His followers how they ought to live as His people. Now, we can’t lose sight of the fact that Jesus was far more than a “good moral teacher” as some might assert. He was the sinless Son of God, the eternal Word of God become flesh, who came down to be the perfect sacrifice for sins. Nevertheless, He was still a teacher who instructed those who would be Christ-followers, His disciples, in the way they ought to live. His teaching then, is preserved for us today so that we might know what He desires of us, as 21st century disciples, as well.
The teaching chunks of chapter five take on essentially four categories. First, the beatitudes explain what true blessedness from God looks like. In simple terms, what it means to be one of His (5:2-12). Second, salt and light are used as metaphors to describe how the disciples were essential to the world (5:13-16). Salt was an incredibly important part of life in the first century and therefore some conclude it means, “that by their very presence Jesus’ disciples are necessary for the welfare of the world.”[2] Beyond this, they’re to be a light, a beacon of hope and a picture of moral uprightness to the dark world around them. Third, Jesus makes it clear that He didn’t come to override the law (the Torah) or get rid of it, but instead to fulfill it (5:17-20). Even the tiniest aspects of the law, the smallest Hebrew letter the yod and the little hook that distinguishes between letters wouldn’t go away, all would be fulfilled. He powerfully concludes that his disciples’ righteousness was supposed to surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees! (5:20).
This is then outlined in verses 21 through 48. The distinguishing factor is that Christ didn’t call someone merely to be an outward inherent, but to have an obedience that springs from within. The scribes and Pharisees were incredibly strict adherents to the law outwardly, but time and time again in the Gospels we see how this was a self-righteousness, not something that came from within. When God promised the coming new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah, He said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). Under the new covenant, God works in us both to shape our desires and to empower us for obedience (see Phil. 2:13). As such, Jesus wasn’t calling to some outward level of righteousness, but a purity that comes from within. A purity that comes from a heart that is transformed. Not one that would be angry and resentful with others inwardly, but one that would resolve disagreements. Not one that would have a heart filled with lust but still “technically” obeyed the commandment not to commit adultery. The change was to be within. One that would be characterized by marital faithfulness, trustworthiness in speech, a lack of retaliation, and one that would love the unlovable.
All of these things are to characterize the Christ-follower. A righteousness that springs from within. A righteousness that isn’t superficial. A righteousness that first springs from the gracious gift of God’s grace in justification and then manifests as growth in sanctification. This is what it means to be a disciple, a follower, a student of the Lord Jesus.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 609.
[2] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 35.
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