Matthew 5:10

Matthew 5:10

In the first part of Matthew chapter 5 Jesus gave the wonderful words that we call the beatitudes. In verses 10 through 16 of Matthew chapter 5 Jesus is speaking on the subject of persecution and related issues. Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-16, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Do you remember back in chapter 4 of Matthew when Jesus called Andrew and Peter and He said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men?" In verse 13 of chapter 5 Jesus refers to this calling of each of us who are believers, and he compares us to two things: salt and light. Salt was used in Biblical days just as it is today, as a seasoning to improve the taste of food. Salt makes the food more attractive and more desirable. As believers our lives are supposed to make the Gospel more attractive and desirable. If we are believers in Jesus, we should ask ourselves if our lifestyles, actions, and attitudes make the Gospel attractive to the unbelievers; or do we repel them because of things that are not consistent with the life that Jesus presented to His followers? Are we being the salt that Jesus meant for us to be?

And then in verse 14 Jesus says that we are the "light of the world." Is it not amazing that He calls us the light of the world? John 1:9 says of Jesus, "That was the true light that lights every man that comes into the world." He is the great light of the world, but He gives us the privilege of sharing in His work because when we believe on Him, He puts His spirit within us and somehow the light of the truth about Him shines out of us.

Notice that Jesus says in verse 16 to "let" your light shine. We have the power to suppress our light, or to simply let our light shine. The way to be a good witness for Christ is to be who you really are. Do not suppress what you really like about the Lord, and about salvation, and about the Bible, just to please those around you. These verses about being a witness are tied to the last of the beatitudes about persecution, because it is the fear of persecution that causes many believers to hide their candle under a bushel.

Notice also that Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth" and "You are the light of the world." This is "you" in the plural. All of the believers together make up the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. Each of us has a job to do in following the Lord. You may not seem important in the ways that the world measures success, but you are very important to God. You are here for a reason, and when He is done with you, He will take you out of this world. The Gospel will not get spread to all the people of the world by having just one great evangelist who preaches in person and by television. That is not God’s way. The Gospel will only be spread to all the world by having each Christian do their part in letting their light shine and not hiding their light.

After talking to us about how we are to be salt and light on the earth, Jesus says something about Himself in verse 17 and then about the Word of God in verse 18. Jesus said what He did not come to do, and He said what He did come to do. Jesus mentions two of the main parts of the Old Testament: the law and the prophets. We can divide the Old Testament into several major types of books: law, historical, poetic, and the prophets. The law was given by Moses and is primarily explained up through the book of Deuteronomy. Many of the books of the Old Testament are largely historical in nature and go into much detail to show how the Israelites failed to keep the law. The prophetic books are the books of the Old Testament that give the lives and messages of the great prophets. One of them, Isaiah, was quoted in Matthew chapter 4. God spoke through the prophets to show the Israelites how greatly they had failed and how they would suffer the consequences of their failures, but in spite of all this that God had a wonderful future planned in the person of the Messiah. Jesus is the fulfillment of the message of the prophets. He also fulfilled the law.

Many of the people to whom Jesus spoke were steeped in traditions that had been based upon the Old Testament law. These traditions permeated their society and daily lives, and of course many of the traditions were invalid applications of the law that God had given. The teachers and enforcers of these traditions, the Pharisees and the scribes, at the very outset of the ministry of Jesus began accusing Him of violating their traditions and therefore of violating the law. They were very wrong. Jesus would say later that by their traditions they had transgressed the commandments of God. Jesus was not a revolutionary. He did not come to destroy, but He came to fulfill the law. He was the only one who kept the law perfectly. In spite of the rigorous religious observance performed to the very minutest detail, the Pharisees were not able to attain to the righteousness of the law. That is exactly why Jesus said in verse 20, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Their diligence and dedication to religion was not enough.

A requirement to entering the kingdom of heaven is perfect righteousness. This righteousness cannot be attained by works. Jesus achieved it, and He offers it to us as a free gift. This is the great doctrine of imputed righteousness. Paul goes into much detail explaining it in Romans chapters 3, 4, and 5. In Romans 4:6 the Bible says, "Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works." Good works have their place, but they do not gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven. God requires perfect righteousness to enter the kingdom of heaven. We cannot achieve perfect righteousness because of our sins and the weakness of our flesh. Therefore, the Lord devised a way that the righteousness of Jesus would be credited to our account, that is, to the account of those who believe on Jesus. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast."

There once was a very well-known sports figure who in his retirement became a very religious person. The story about this man showed how dedicated that he had become to a ritual of prayer and other religious observance. He often goes to autograph sessions and stays much longer than the average individual would and he even signs autographs for free, even though being exhausted and in need of rest due to a medical condition. The story said that this man performs these good works hoping that it will improve his chances to go to heaven. We can only feel a lot of compassion for such a person and hope that he comes to understand the teaching of Jesus, "That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The teaching of Jesus in verse 18 has a lot of significance in regards to the scriptures. A vital question in regards to the Bible is the question: Is it without error? This is the question of the inerrancy of the Bible. There are many evidences that the Bible is indeed without error, not the least of which is the teaching of Jesus when He said, "For truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The word "jot" that Jesus used here, is the Greek word, “iota”, which is simply a letter of the Greek alphabet, the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. This is the only place where this word is used in the entire Greek New Testament. The word "tittle" is even less than a letter of the alphabet. It is a mark that joins the lines that form a letter. A "tittle" is only a part of a letter. Not only are the words of the Bible true, but the letters that make up the words, and even every individual stroke of a pen by the original authors was totally without error and entirely authoritative. The Bible contains the final answer of the things that God chose to reveal to us about Himself, what He expects from us, and some of the details of what He plans to do in the future.

Jesus goes on to expand upon the importance of the Bible in verse 19 when He said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." It is imperative, it is important, and it is critical that we teach the Word of God. But before we teach it, we must learn it. And there is one other thing that must be done before we teach it, and that is to "do" it. Jesus said that whosoever shall do and teach them shall be called great. Notice also that Jesus mentioned doing before teaching. Doing is more important than teaching. Some have learned to teach without an equal emphasis on doing in their personal lives. When the truth becomes known about them, they become examples of why not to believe the teachings. It would be better for such individuals had they kept their mouths shut and never taught anything, because they did not "do and teach."

We must be careful not to teach our opinions, our traditions, or our preferences. If you have been called by God to preach or to teach, it is a serious failure to spend a lot of time teaching things other than the Word of God. In First Peter chapter 4 the Bible says, "If any man speak, let him speak the Word of God."

It is important to notice that Jesus said concerning his words that, "whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." A few verses earlier when talking about those who are persecuted, Jesus said, "Great is your reward in heaven." We discovered in verse 20 that the righteousness needed to get into the kingdom of heaven cannot be earned by good works. We can only obtain this righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. But this does not mean that works are not important. The right kind of good works are very important. Good works do not determine if we get to heaven or not, but they will determine a great deal about what happens to us when we are in heaven. When we get to heaven we will not be floating on clouds and playing harps. There is much to do for God in this life and there will be much to do for Him in the next. Many of the things that are now happening to us are the result of God preparing us for what He is going to have us do for Him in the next life. First Corinthians 3:11-14 speaks about good works and their place after someone becomes a believer in Jesus. It says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward."

First Peter 5:4 tells us about teaching God’s Word and the reward for doing it properly. It says, "And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away." Actually, the word "crown" as a reward for believers is used 8 or 9 times in the New Testament. A crown is symbolic of authority. Do you remember when James and John asked the Lord if they could sit one on His right hand and the other on His left in glory? Those are positions of authority. In Mark 10:40 Jesus said, "But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared." According to Jesus, if we are wise, we will learn God's Word so that we may obey it and teach it to others. Great will be the reward in heaven for those who do and teach the words of Christ.

___________________________________________________