Matthew 5:17-48

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’  But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’  But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,  or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.  Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.  And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.  Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:17-48

Jesus teaches that he came to fulfill the law.  In the bigger picture, he'll begin to talk about things of the law by teaching next about anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and loving your enemies.  Perhaps some thought he was trying to abolish the law.  Maybe this came about since he opposed the Pharisees; however, there is little talk about the Pharisees prior to chapter 5 in the book of Matthew.  More likely, the focus is not on an objection he is addressing but the simple point he is making.  Jesus has come to fulfill the law.

The law will not pass away until all is accomplished.  It is not something that people can do away with or, as Jesus puts it, "relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same".  Instead, the law is to be upheld.  Jesus puts it in another way, telling his followers that their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.  How is this possible?  The scribes and the Pharisees were the spiritual elite of that day.  Well, one may point out that they were hypocrites (as Jesus points out elsewhere), but I don't think that's the point.  Instead, we must be holy as our heavenly father is holy.  Our righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees because ultimately, we have an advocate who has imputed his righteousness to us.  In any case, Jesus moves on to talk about the law.

In each instance, Jesus begins by saying "You have heard that it was said... but I say to you...".  There is a way in which people perceive the law and how one is to go about following it.  However, Jesus takes each of these things a step further.  The law is much more strict than they had thought it to be.  It is seemingly impossible to keep the law and yet this is what Jesus has come to do.

It is not enough to just say that you've never murdered anyone.  Instead, if you are even angry with your brother, that is sin.  It's interesting that for most of these, Jesus offers a bit more advice.  So, Jesus explains that one is to reconcile with your brother.  This is more important that presenting an offering.  It seems to be a message that instead of being angry or holding a grudge, one is to reconcile quickly.

Previously, most were concerned with the act of adultery.  Many could boldly claim that they had never committed such a sin.  However, the sin is committed even if one has lust in his or her own heart.  This puts the standard at a whole new level.  Now, with this new standard, how many could boldly claim innocence of such a sin?  Jesus adds to this that one is to go to extremes in fighting sin.  Instead of allowing your eye to cause you to sin, you are to tear it out and throw it away.  Keeping a body part is not worth being thrown into hell.  Now, I don't know if we really are called to rip off limbs to fight sin, but the point is to deal seriously with our sinfulness.

Moving on, Moses commanded that a certificate of divorce be given in the case of divorce.  However, Jesus goes beyond this and tells his followers that this is adultery except for on the grounds of sexual immorality.  I'm sure many men had previously gone about the process of providing a certificate of divorce and been content in their righteousness before God.  However, most who did such a thing would still be sinning in light of what Jesus is saying now.

Only a few more to go.  Oaths are to be taken seriously and people did in those days.  However, Jesus warns against oaths.  Instead, one is to let what they say be enough on it's own.  Why would one need to back up their words with an oath?  Swearing by something would seemingly back up your words by the integrity or authority of the thing you are swearing by.  However, these things people typically swear by (heaven, earth, Jerusalem) are not owned or in submission to the one taking the oath.  Your words are your own, so you should stand by them.  Let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no.

I think what Jesus says here about retaliation is quite famous.  Most people have heard the saying "turn the other cheek".  Sadly, I think it gets a bad reputation for seemingly teaching that one is to be a pushover and let others walk all over you.  There may be some truth in that, but Jesus is actually teaching a different form of retaliation.  Instead of being beaten or overwhelmed by those in authority over you, one is to retaliate by not showing weakness and "go the extra mile" in a sense.  The Jews, in the face of a merciless oppressor (the Romans) really couldn't do anything in response.  However, they could "turn the other cheek".  If you think about it, it's not letting people walk all over you.

Lastly, Jesus tells his followers to love your enemies.  Most people follow a general rule, and that is to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  However, Jesus teaches that you are to love even your enemies.  Why would someone do this?  Well, you should do this because that is what your father in heaven does.  Want proof?  God allows the sun to rise on both the good and the evil and he allows the rain to fall on both the just and the unjust.  Did the sun only rise for those who are righteous?  No, it rose for everyone, even those who are wicked and evil.  This is proof of God's "favor" towards those who he would count his enemies.  To only love those who love you is of no reward.  It's what all people do, even those despised.  The example given is of the tax collectors, who were quite despised among the Jews of that day.  Another example is that of the Gentiles, who weren't seen as on the same level as the Jews (from the Jews perspective).  This is all under the teaching that we are to be like our heavenly father.  He is perfect, we are to be perfect.  I guess that also ties in all of this teaching about the law too.  He is perfect, so we are to be perfect and follow his law perfectly.