Mat 5:21-48 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Matt 5:21-47: 5:21-47 You have heard. ... But I say: Jesus contrasts his own teaching to six misinterpretations of the law. Each antithesis provides an example of the surpassing righteousness of Jesus. Jesus reveals the will of God as it contrasts with traditions. 5:21 our ancestors were told: The expression refers to the traditional interpretation of the teachers of religious law and Pharisees. Though their traditions prohibited murder , they did not prohibit hatred. The surpassing righteousness of Jesus demands reconciliation (5:23-24 ); merely refraining from committing murder is not sufficient (5:22 ).

Summary for Matt 5:21-47: 5:21-47 ^a You have heard. ... But I say: Jesus contrasts his own teaching to six misinterpretations of the law. Each antithesis provides an example of the surpassing righteousness of Jesus. Jesus reveals the will of God as it contrasts with traditions. 5:21 ^b our ancestors were told: The expression refers to the traditional interpretation of the teachers of religious law and Pharisees. Though their traditions prohibited murder, they did not prohibit hatred. The surpassing righteousness of Jesus demands reconciliation (5:23-24 ^c); merely refraining from committing murder is not sufficient (5:22 ^d).
5:22 ^e judgment ... the court ... hell: The second and third punishments are more severe than would have been typical in Jesus’ day, emphasizing the surpassing righteousness of Jesus and his followers (see 5:20 ^f). They did not tolerate unreconciled relationships or any devaluation of others.

• If you call someone an idiot: The Aramaic term reqa’ (transliterated as raca) means something like “empty head,” and the clause probably means the same as if you curse someone (literally if you say, ‘You fool’; cp. Jas 2:20 ^g). Devaluation of people is a sin that manifests itself in various ways.
Summary for Matt 5:23-26: 5:23-26 ^h Jesus gives two illustrations of reconciliation in community and society.
Summary for Matt 5:27-30: 5:27-30 ⁱ Jesus’ righteousness uncovers sin at a deeper level than the external; he reveals the true intent of the law.
Summary for Matt 5:29-30: 5:29-30 ^j good eye ... gouge it out ... stronger hand ... cut it off: These graphic images call for radical separation from sin. But even self-mutilation, radical as it would be, cannot stop a lustful mind. Jesus is calling for the surpassing righteousness that only he can bring. 5:29 ^k hell (Greek Gehenna): Gehenna originally referred to a valley outside Jerusalem where some of the kings of Judah worshiped idols and performed human sacrifice by fire (2 Chr 28:3 ^l; 33:6 ^m; Jer 7:31 ⁿ; 32:35 ^o). The site was eventually destroyed by Josiah (2 Kgs 23:10 ^p). In the New Testament, Gehenna describes the place of punishment by God. Unless disciples have surpassing righteousness, they will not enter the Kingdom (Matt 5:20 ^q) but will be punished eternally (5:22 ^r; 23:33 ^s).
Summary for Matt 5:31-32: 5:31-32 ^t Jesus challenges the misapplication of the Old Testament provision for divorce (see Deut 24:1-4 ^u; cp. Matt 19:3-9 ^v): Following the rules does not make divorce acceptable. Jesus allows only one legitimate reason for divorce, sexual infidelity, and forbids casual divorce (see also 1 Cor 7:10-11 ^w). 5:31 ^x A notice of divorce is a document stating the legality of a divorce. Evidence suggests that such a document permitted remarriage. “The essential formula in the notice of divorce is, ‘Lo, you are free to marry any man.’ ... The essential formula in a writ of emancipation is, ‘Lo, you are a freedwoman: lo, you belong to yourself’” (Mishnah Gittin 9:3).
5:32 ^y The exception clause permits but does not demand divorce when one partner has been unfaithful (see also 19:9 ^z). Notably, Jesus does not demand death for the guilty party (see Deut 22:21-22 ^aa).

• The implication seems to be that by divorcing his wife for illegitimate reasons, the man causes her to commit adultery by wrongly putting her in a situation where she remarries and so breaks the law.

• anyone who marries a divorced woman: It is not clear whether Jesus is referring to any woman who is divorced, regardless of the reason, or only to a woman who is divorced without an acceptable reason (unfaithfulness). The underlying assumption in Jewish divorce law was simple: Legitimate divorces permitted remarriage.
Summary for Matt 5:33-37: 5:33-37 ^ab Jesus here summarizes the Old Testament teaching on oaths (Lev 19:12 ^ac; Num 30:2-4 ^ad; Deut 23:21-23 ^ae; Ps 50:14 ^af; Zech 8:17 ^ag). The Pharisees had degrees of commitment for oaths—for example, ones that did not mention God were not as binding. Jesus shows that because God is related to all things (heaven, earth, Jerusalem, my head; see also Matt 23:16-22 ^ah), breaking any oath breaks God’s command (see Exod 20:7 ^ai). The point is that one must be altogether truthful. Jesus’ righteousness elevates the disciple’s everyday yes and no to the level of binding oath. Oaths become superfluous to the honest person (Jas 5:12 ^aj).
Summary for Matt 5:38-42: 5:38-42 ^ak The Old Testament permitted proportionate retribution (Exod 21:24-25 ^al; Deut 19:16-21 ^am), which was to prevent punishments from far exceeding the severity of the offense. Jesus, however, does not permit personal retaliation at all among his followers. Jesus’ way is not to insist on justice but to find victory through suffering and the cross (1 Pet 2:23 ^an). Some have taken this passage as a guide for all of life (including politics). Others understand it merely as the willingness to forgo one’s personal rights and to forgive as God has forgiven (see Matt 5:48 ^ao; 18:23-35 ^ap). Like the servant in Isa 50:4-9 ^aq and 53:7 ^ar (see also Matt 12:15-21 ^as), Jesus’ followers are to apply the same virtue to honor, possessions, time, or property. Righteousness does not insist on its own way.
5:41 ^at Forced labor was a humiliating fact of Roman occupation (see 27:32 ^au); Jesus turned it into an occasion for exuberant service to God. This saying shows Jesus’ opposition to Jewish revolutionaries, who advocated violent resistance (see 5:9 ^av).
5:42 ^aw See Deut 15:7-11 ^ax.
Summary for Matt 5:43-47: 5:43-47 ^ay hate your enemy: Jesus is opposing not the Old Testament, but a traditional, though mistaken (cp. Exod 23:4-5 ^az), interpretation of the Old Testament. The “hate” clause is not in the Old Testament (but see Ps 139:21-22 ^ba).
5:45 ^bb By loving all people, Jesus’ followers would not become children of God; they would show by their actions that they are indeed God’s true children, according to his nature and will (see Deut 10:18-19 ^bc).
5:47 ^bd If you are kind only to your friends (literally, If you greet only your brothers): Jews were instructed to greet Gentiles for the sake of maintaining peaceful relations, but such greetings were not the same as those for “brothers”—i.e., fellow Jews.
5:48 ^be This verse ties 5:20-48 ^bf together as a unit (see study note on 4:23-25).

• you are to be perfect: The term rendered “perfect” means maturity and wholeness in response to Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom, and complete consecration to God (19:21 ^bg; Eph 4:13 ^bh; Phil 3:15 ^bi; Col 1:28 ^bj; 4:12 ^bk; 1 Jn 4:18 ^bl). Perfection has love at its core (see Luke 6:36 ^bm).