Giving to the Neeedy Matthew 6:4 | 1515
swear an oath at all: l ei ther by heav en, for it is God’ s throne; m 35 or by the earth, for it is his foot stool; or by Je ru sa lem, for it is the city of the Great King. n 36 And do not swear by your head, for you can not make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is sim ply‘ Yes’ or‘ No’; o any thing be yond this comes from the evil one. a p
Eye for Eye
38“ You have heard that it was said,‘ Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ b q 39 But I tell you, do not re sist an evil per son. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the oth er cheek also. r 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If any one forc es you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to bor row from you. s
5:34 l Jas 5:12 m Isa 66:1;
Mt 23:22 5:35 n Ps 48:2
5:37 o Jas 5:12 p Mt 6:13; 13:19,
38; Jn 17:15; 2Th 3:3; 1Jn 2:13, 14; 3:12; 5:18, 19
5:38 q Ex 21:24; Lev 24:20; Dt 19:21
5:39 r Lk 6:29; Ro 12:17, 19; 1Co 6:7; 1Pe 3:9
5:42 s Dt 15:8; Lk 6:30
5:43 t Lev 19:18 u Dt 23:6
5:44 v Lk 6:27, 28; 23:34; Ac 7:60; Ro 12:14; 1Co 4:12; 1Pe 2:23
5:45 w ver 9
x Job 25:3 5:46 y Lk 6:32
5:48 z Lev 19:2; 1Pe 1:16
6:1 a Mt 23:5
6:4 b ver 6, 18; Col 3:23, 24 ther in heav en. He caus es his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righ teous and the un righ teous. x 46 If you love those who love you, what re ward will you get? y Are not even the tax col lec tors do ing that? 47 And if you greet only your own peo ple, what are you do ing more than oth ers? Do not even pa gans do that? 48 Be per fect, there fore, as your heav en ly Fa ther is per fect. z
Giving to the Needy
6
“ Be care ful not to prac tice your righteous ness in front of oth ers to be seen by them. a If you do, you will have no re ward from your Fa ther in heav en.
2“ So when you give to the needy, do not an nounce it with trum pets, as the hyp o crites do in the syn a gogues and on the streets, to be hon ored by oth ers. Tru ly I tell you, they have re ceived their re ward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is do ing, 4 so that your giv ing may be in se cret. Then your Fa ther, who sees what is done in se cret, will re ward you. b
Love for Enemies
43“ You have heard that it was said,‘ Love your neigh bor c t and hate your ene my.’ u 44 But I tell you, love your en e mies and pray for those who per se cute you, v 45 that you may be chil dren w of your Faa
37 Or from evil b
38 Exodus 21:24; Lev. 24:20;
Deut. 19:21 c
43 Lev. 19:18
5:38 – 42 The common person was at the mercy of the Romans everywhere. Within this oppressive atmosphere, Jesus points to the motivation of the individual disciple who has been taken advantage of and wronged. Even when they are being abused, they must think of ways to advance the kingdom of heaven and spread its influence on this earth. Jesus himself lived out this radical principle and became a vivid example for his followers. 5:43 – 47 Jesus takes the competing attitudes of love for neighbor and hate for enemy and brings them together in a way contrary to human nature, and contrary to what was occurring in many areas in Israel. This teaching actually represents the love that God has for all humans. God loves all people and wants all to come to repentance. Jesus’ disciples are to look at people in this world as God does and to love them enough to reach out to them with the message of reconciliation, even to the point that they“ pray for those who persecute”( v. 44) them as Jesus’ disciples. This kind of love demonstrates a right relationship between God the Father and Jesus’ disciples. 5:48 Jesus is the ultimate example for his disciples to follow as they hear the command,“ Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That statement implies a goal that Jesus’ disciples are to pursue with restful dissatisfaction until they reach eternity.
UNCORRECTED PROOF
5:21 – 48 Respecting the purity of marriage also allows Jesus’ disciples to understand God’ s original design for marriage and to be committed to its purity. We should also be careful not to read into Jesus’ statement what he did not imply. He did not declare the exception of sexual infidelity to require divorce; reconciliation and forgiveness are always the goal. Jesus also did not state that remarriage in the case of a legitimate divorce is invalid. Further, he did not state that illegitimate divorce and even illegitimate remarriage are unpardonable sins. While there are always consequences for going contrary to Jesus’ intentions for us, we must be careful not to create oppressive burdens that cancel out God’ s grace and restoration.
6:1 The term for“ reward” can indicate payment of“ wages”( 20:8) or the compensation of a person’ s good deeds with a good prize. 6:2 – 4 The term translated“ hypocrite” was originally used for actors on a Greek stage who put on various masks to play different roles. Jesus here criticizes the religious leaders for a particular form of hypocrisy: performing external acts of righteousness that mask, even from themselves, their own inner corruption. Jesus’ disciples are to go to the opposite extreme and keep secret the work they do for Jesus. Human praise cannot be compared to the value of being recognized by God.