1708 | Matthew 5:3
The Beatitudes
5:3-12pp— Lk 6:20-23
He said:
3“ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. i
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. j
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. k
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. l
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, m for they will see God. n 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. o 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, p for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:3 i ver 10, 19; Mt 25:34
5:4 j Isa 61:2, 3; Rev 7:17
5:5 k Ps 37:11; Ro 4:13 5:6 l Isa 55:1, 2
5:8 m Ps 24:3, 4 n Heb 12:14; Rev 22:4
5:9 o ver 44, 45; Ro 8:14
5:10 p 1Pe 3:14 5:11 q 1Pe 4:14
5:12 r Ac 5:41; 1Pe 4:13, 16 s Mt 23:31, 37;
Ac 7:52; 1Th 2:15
5:13 t Mk 9:50; Lk 14:34, 35
5:14 u Jn 8:12 5:15 v Mk 4:21; Lk 8:16 5:16 w Mt 9:8 5:17 x Ro 3:31 5:18 y Lk 16:17 5:19 z Jas 2:10
11“ Blessed are you when peo ple in sult you, q per se cute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you be cause of me. 12 Re joice and be glad, r be cause great is your re ward in heaven, for in the same way they per se cuted the proph ets who were be fore you. s
Salt and Light
13“ You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salt i ness, how can it be made salty again? It is no lon ger good for any thing, ex cept to be thrown out and tram pled un der foot. t
14“ You are the light of the world. u A town built on a hill can not be hid den. 15 Neither do peo ple light a lamp and put it un der a bowl. In stead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to ev ery one in the house. v 16 In the same way, let your light shine be fore oth ers, that they may see your good deeds and glo rify w your Fa ther in heaven.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17“ Do not think that I have come to abol ish the Law or the Proph ets; I have not come to abol ish them but to ful fill them. x 18 For truly I tell you, un til heaven and earth dis ap pear, not the small est let ter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means dis ap pear from the Law until everything is accomplished. y
19 There fore any one who sets aside one of the least of these com mands z and teaches oth ers ac cord ingly will be called least in the king dom
5:3 – 12 These kingdom blessings( beatitudes) disclose God’ s gracious favor toward his followers for traits that are opposite of what usually garners acclaim and popularity. The rewards for this countercultural behavior include present membership in“ the kingdom of heaven”( vv. 3,10) and future recompense for this life’ s lack of glamour( vv. 4 – 9,11 – 12). 5:3 poor. In the OT“ poor” often refers to the economically destitute among God’ s people( cf. Luke 6:20) who trusted in God as their only hope( cf. Luke 6:22). 5:4 those who mourn. Over both personal and corporate sins( see Ezra 9:1 – 4). 5:5 the meek... will inherit the earth. Alludes to Ps 37:11. In the OT faithful Israelites would occupy the land of Israel in peace and prosperity, but in the NT Jesus’ humble followers encompass the entire globe and receive spiritual blessings. 5:6 hunger and thirst for righteousness. Have a deep longing for both personal holiness and justice for the oppressed. 5:8 heart. The center of one’ s being, including mind, will, and emotions. see God. Experience his presence in this life and know him intimately in the life to come.
5:9 peacemakers. Those who promote peace, as far as it depends on them( Rom 12:18). In so doing they reflect the character of their heavenly Father and so are called“ children of God”( see Jas 3:17 – 18). 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted. Righteous living is often offensive to others( v. 11). Persecution provides an opportunity for believers to prove their fitness for the kingdom( Heb 12:4 – 11). 5:13 – 16 salt... light. The point of both metaphors is that Jesus’ followers should positively impact the world. While salt was used for various purposes in Jesus’ day, its preservative power is probably the point of the comparison here. After the countercultural beatitudes, the salt and light sayings remind Jesus’ followers not to isolate themselves from other people but to model discipleship in the midst of a fallen world. 5:14 light. Illuminates one’ s way. 5:16 This verse does not contradict 6:1 – 4 because the point here of others seeing“ your good deeds” is that they“ glorify your Father in heaven,” not that they praise you. Here Jesus’ main point is about the result of one’ s actions; in 6:1 – 4 it is more about one’ s purpose.
5:17 – 20 Jesus’ teaching is radical enough that he has to assure his Jewish audience that he has“ not... come to abolish the Law or the Prophets”( v. 17)— the two major, earliest divisions of their Scriptures, standing for their whole Bible. But neither is he preserving all of its principles unchanged; he has come“ to fulfill them”( v. 17). 5:17 fulfill. As in Matthew’ s earlier use of prophecies,“ fulfill” means to complete an intended purpose. It can refer to articulating the final and complete intention of a commandment( Gal 5:14), the typological recurrence of a significant pattern of God’ s actions( Jas 2:23), or the occurrence of something previously promised( Acts 7:17). 5:18 Some regulations, like those involving animal sacrifices, were done away with by Christ’ s death precisely because, as the oncefor-all sacrifice for sinners( cf. Heb 8 – 10), he accomplished everything to which these laws had pointed forward. All OT texts, therefore, must be filtered through the grid of NT teaching to see how, if at all, their laws or principles have changed. But the OT remains binding for Christians once it is understood how each part of it is fulfilled in Christ.