About 200 years before Christ, the Pharisees seem to have arisen as a brotherhood with a sincere desire to resist the secularism into which Judaism had drifted. Quite the opposite, Jesus upholds the principle in His denunciation of the self-righteous Pharisees in Matthew 23:23. If you donate just $5.00, or whatever you can, Catholic Online could keep thriving for years. Jesus is saying, in plain language, that His teaching does not contradict the Old Covenant law, but it is the ultimate fulfillment of its spiritual intent. In other words, a person would not be committing adultery by divorcing his spouse and marrying another person if the (ex) spouse had committed adultery. Jesus has just reported that he came not to destroy the law, but fulfil it.In this verse this claim is reinforced. The Ten Commandments are a unity. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. In our Father's house there are many mansions, whose Builder and Maker is God. MP3 Audio (5.26 MB) Mr. Greene talks about the meaning of Matthew 5:19 on this day of Pentecost. If it were not the case, he would not have said: “except for immorality.”. Jude 1:11. Why Hebrews Was Written (Part One), The letter of the law that the Pharisees tried to keep was not enough—especially for us. 13 “You are the salt of the earth. When combined with the keeping of God's commandments, it will produce quite a witness and go a long way toward keeping us clean—because we will be using God's Word as He intends. Matthew 5:19. (h) He shall have no place in the Church. Nay, they even (m) say, that if a Gentile should bid an Israelite transgress anyone of the commands mentioned in the law, excepting idolatry, adultery, and murder, he may transgress with impunity, provided it is done privately. Jesus magnified God's law while on earth. Notice where His statement appears. If one keeps the Sabbath, like the other commandments, it leads to freedom. Yesode Hattorah, c. 9. sect. When a religious system has lasted long, and is wearing towards its decline and fall, there are always such men. It is the least in terms of the world's regard and respect when compared with the other nine. the least in the kingdom of heaven; meaning either the church of God, where he shall have neither a name, nor place; he shall not be in the least esteemed, but shall be cast out as a worthless man; or the ultimate state of happiness and glory, in the other world, where he shall not enter, as is said in the next verse; but, on the other hand, whosoever shall do and teach; whose doctrine and conversation, principles and practices agree together; who both teach obedience to the law, and perform it themselves: where again he glances at the masters in Israel, and tacitly reproves them who said, but did not; taught the people what they themselves did not practise; and so were unworthy of the honour, which he that both teaches and does shall have: for. The Sabbath is a day, the breaking of which is immoral, the keeping of which will produce liberty. Far from doing away with God's commandments, He raises the standards of acceptable behavior far higher. Using this principle, consider that there can be no doubt that, of all the Ten Commandments held in respect and honor by the people of the world, the Sabbath commandment is the least of the ten. And whoever says to his brother, “Raca!” shall be in danger of the council. Active. Show the volunteers who … Source material for the Gospel of Matthew seems to suggest a date of composition between 80 and 90 CE. God's is a law that liberates. (4-6) Jesus’ first answer to the Pharisees: get back to marriage. (Part One), The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Fourteen). Galatians 3:19 They then compounded this rejection with a vain sense of self-righteous superiority that in many cases excluded any contact with people of another ethnicity, and they even brought violence against other Jewish people who disagreed—as the apostle Paul's pre-conversion conduct shows. How many people in the church think of breaking the fourth commandment in terms of immorality? '', "it is lawful sometimes to make void the law, and to do that which appears to be forbidden.''. That is human nature's thinking, not God's thinking. These are purchased for us by the righteousness of Christ, confirmed by the faithfulness of God. Some Bibles title this paragraph, “Jesus Fulfills the Law.”The sense in which many professing Christians use the term “fulfills” is not inspired Scripture. Because so much of this world's thinking carries right on into the church, some of us are thinking in much the same way the world does. Matthew 5: 32 and Matthew 19: 9, a Study . It is obvious that He is connecting good works with lawkeeping. If not one jot or tittle, not even the least commandment, is done away until everything is fulfilled, the conclusion has to be that the Sabbath is still in effect—regardless of what men say—and to break it is immoral. For references for this view, see Christian views on the old covenant . That is the exception laid out by Jesus. See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, ΤῶΝ ἘΝΤΟΛῶΝ ΤΟΎΤΩΝ ΤῶΝ ἘΛΑΧΊΣΤΩΝ, ὃς δʼ ἂν ποιήσῃ καὶ διδάξῃ, ἐν τῂ βασιλείᾳ τὼν οὐρανῶν, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Sorrow can do two things for us. Transgressing any commandment—even the least of them—can reduce our reward in the Kingdom. Because they understood Ezekiel 20, and other sections of the Bible as well, they knew that a reason for the Jews' captivity was Sabbath-breaking. Compare Psalm 119:6. one of these least commandments—an expression equivalent to "one of the least of these commandments.". The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). The Catholic Church thinks so little of it that it believes it has the authority to disregard it altogether. To that condemnation many in every age of the Church have been liable, the Anthiomian fanatic and the Jesuit casuist standing so far on the same footing. People would be engaged in yielding obedience to all the law of God without any such vain distinctions. K.J.V. The combination is in this case even more significant than in the other. 5:16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. But even one who becomes rich by honest trade is in danger of missing the fact of their need for a savior. CHAPTER 5:17-20 TEXT: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, … McFall seeks to discredit Matthew 19… 18 For verily 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. When I pray the Gospels, Jesus is present, helping me to see my best way forward. It can show us, as nothing else can, the essential kindness of our fellow-men; and it can show us as nothing else can the comfort and the compassion of God. God's involvement in our lives should give us freedom, as well as security against our fears of living and being this way. See Matthew 5:9. Our desires of spiritual blessings must be earnest. An essay by British writer Leslie McFall recently generated interest among some Bible students in America. those mentioned in the preceding verse, which should make the first verse of this chapter. 5. Jesus expresses here in the strongest manner His conviction that the whole O. T. is a Divine revelation, and that therefore every minutest precept has religious … If people keep the eighth commandment, it keeps the world free of stealing. Maimonides says (i), that the sanhedrim had power, when it was convenient, for the time present, to make void an affirmative command, and to transgress a negative one, in order to return many to their religion; or to deliver many of the Israelites from stumbling at other things, they may do whatsoever the present time makes necessary: for so, adds he, the former wise men say, a man may profane one sabbath, in order to keep many sabbaths. In Matthew 5:19, Jesus Christ mentions "the least commandment." (h) T. Bab. And He answered and said to them, … 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. Galatians 2:20 Not right doing only, still less right teaching only, but both together, made up the ideal of the preacher’s work. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. Therefore, He knew that the split second of divine effort involved in healing was a valid use of time on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10-12). But with God, all things are possible (Mt 19:26). Matthew 5:19 Context. The church binds up evil, sin, and the demonic rule on the earth. Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 5:19: Genesis 1:26-28 Matthew 5:17-20 A Midrash on Torah Observance Last Updated 6/14/00. 3. that they who pretend that there are any laws of God so small that they need not obey them, are unworthy of his kingdom. Malachi 3:6 Being right—in addition to keeping God's commands—means being humble, modest, kindhearted, concerned, sympathetic, empathetic, helpful, warmhearted, friendly, gracious, serving, giving, charitable, open, hospitable, cordial, thoughtful, considerate, sensitive, cooperative, and on and on. (k) Hilch. (Matthew 5:21-26). Matthew 13:52 It helps us to understand what our thinking has to become. It is just as immoral as adultery or fornication, lust, or lying. And elsewhere (k) he affirms, "if a prophet, whom we know to be a prophet, should order us , "to transgress anyone of the commands", which are mentioned in the law, or many commands, whether light or heavy, for a time, we are ordered to hearken to him; and so we learn from the former wise men, by tradition, that in everything a prophet shall say to thee , "transgress the words of the law", as Elias on Mount Carmel, hear him, except in the case of idolatry. John W. Ritenbaugh the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven—shall, by that providence which watches over the honor of God's moral administration, be raised to the same position of authority and honor to which they exalt the law. These verses wear on first view a Judaistic look, and have been regarded as an interpolation, or set down to the credit of an over-conservative evangelist. Men might aim at a positive standard of the greatness of the true teacher and the true worker, but the conscious aim at being “greatest” was self-frustrating. John W. Ritenbaugh Matthew 25:1-12 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. A.F.V Most people donate because Catholic Online is useful. ((i) Hilch. To bring the kingdom rule on earth “as it [currently] is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). Matthew 5:22 is the twenty-second verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount.It is the first of what have traditionally been known as the 6 Antitheses.In this one, Jesus compares the current interpretation of "You shall not murder" from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) with his own interpretation. But if salt loses its taste, with what … The fourth commandment is just as much a part of the royal law, the Ten Commandments. Matthew 19:5, NLT: "And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.'". New Covenant Priesthood (Part Two). I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. And. Many and many a man in the hour of his sorrow has discovered his fellow-men and his God as he never did before. Matthew 19:5, NASB: "and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?" Though all desires for grace are not grace, yet such a desire as this, is a desire of God's own raising, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands. God's Involvement in Our Lives Gives us Freedom, Is the Christian Required to Do Works? The spirit of the law means God's original intent or purpose behind each law. Matthew 5:18-19 Paul was "a Pharisee of the Pharisees," and he went around throwing people into prison and, indeed, he may have even consented to the martyrdom of Stephen. Compare James 2:10. Keeping God's commandments keeps people free. 79. “Blessed” means … 1. John W. Ritenbaugh 85. He alleges that the common rendition of Matthew 19:9 reflects a post-apostolic corruption of the Lord’s original instruction. In other words, they shall be reduced by the retributive providence that overtakes them, to the same condition of dishonor to which, by their system and their teaching, they have brought down those eternal principles of God's law. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least. 2. He designed it to be a refreshing rest and an opportunity both to recuperate physically after six days of work and to draw close to Him in love and to worship Him, as well as to deepen love for the brethren through fellowship and outgoing concern. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Young's This is not a commandment that can be just shoved aside; it cannot be taken for granted any more than any of the other nine. In His Sermon on the Mount, He paraphrased six Old Testament laws or principles, giving their intended meanings. The same conclusion is true of this commandment and also for each of the others He expands during His Sermon on the Mount. If Catholic Online has given you $5.00 worth of knowledge this year, take a minute to donate. That honour belonged to him only who was all unconscious that he had any claim to it. & 89. (19-20) The disciple’s relationship to the law. They produced hundreds of laws in a vain attempt to try to keep people from breaking it, but they missed the point altogether. Are we going to believe Jesus or those who contradict what He says? Jesus knew the spirit of the Sabbath commandment. Thus, sandwiched between righteousness and letting one's light shine comes an explanation that He did not come to do away with the law but to fill it to the full, to help us understand its ultimate application—its spiritual intent. There was a time that a group of people, the Pharisees, contrary to most of the rest of the world, believed that the keeping of the Sabbath was the most important of the commandments. It is parallel to verse 18 where it says, "not one jot or one tittle," the least things that are part of the law of God . Matthew places it immediately after Jesus' exhortation, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works" (Matthew 5:16). In our carnality, human nature tends to make us think that keeping the Sabbath constrains us, holds us in, and keeps us from doing things. 5:15 Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. NOTE: This section of Scripture, Matthew 5:17-20, is pivotal to understanding the relationship of Messiah to the Torah, and therefore of the believer to the Torah.Thus, we have given it a section of its own. So, how do preachers preach the Beatitudes now that they sit … Continue reading "Commentary on Matthew 5:1-20" In this case, it does not mean “accomplishes by keeping” or “does away with,” as judged against what He taught in what immediately follows. Should we be baptized in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38), or in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19)? But they may be reconciled with Matthew 5:17, as above interpreted. Furthermore, they see it as a contradiction of Jesus' sinlessness (according to His own words, Matthew 5:19) for Him to have taught disobedience to any Torah command, no matter how small. So the reforms that were begun under Ezra were taken to radical extremes by people after he died. Romans 7:6 And shall teach men so; not only teach them by their example to break the commandments, but by express orders: for however gross and absurd this may seem to be, that there should be any such teachers, and they should have any hearers, yet such there were among the Jews; and our Lord here manifestly strikes at them: for notwithstanding the great and excellent things they say of the law, yet they tell us, that the doctors of the sanhedrim had power to root anything out of the law; to loose or make void any of its commands, for a time, excepting in the case of idolatry; and so might any true prophet, or wise man; which they pretend is sometimes necessary for the glory of God, and the good of men; and they are to be heard and obeyed, when they say, transgress anyone of all the commands which are in the law (h). From adultery and fornication see Christian views on the Mount, He righteousness... 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