Matthew 5

When first reading the beatitudes you would think that each "attitude" has a different reward...but I don't think that's what Jesus was trying to say.  Look at the rewards for each activity:  they will inherit the kingdom of heaven, be comforted, shown mercy, see God and be called sons of God (just to name a few).   They can't be separated from one another!   You can't be called a son of God and not see Him, or be shown mercy without seeing God.    No, these were meant to be one activity.   We are to be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungering for righteousness, showing mercy...etc.    And when we do, we will be blessed by being with God in heaven at the End of Days.    So, as verse 11 says, we shouldn't become too stressed out when people don't agree with us.  We shouldn't become angry when the popular and powerful personalities of the day scoff at our values and belittle us and call us intolerant because we choose to follow the Bible.   Their judgment and our reward is coming.

Thinking of that, it helps me understand the very next passage about salt and light.   When I am humble and meek, etc. I am actually being the salt and light.   Forcing myself to obey the commandments, and fighting against bad thoughts keeps me "salty".   If I succumb to revenge, lust or some manner of perversion, I become just like the world around me, and according to verse 13, I am no longer good for spiritual things.   (of course, I can be forgiven, but that's not the illustration that Jesus is giving here)

A person who behaves in the way Jesus taught will almost certainly be noticed.  Some will cheer them and others will curse, but they will be noticed.

Verse 20 says that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees, which would seem to be a formidable task, given that they were professionals in obeying every part of the law.   They knew things about the law that most people didn't.   How could we ever hope to be better than them?   the answer follows in the next passage.   The Pharisees understood the activity of the law, but not the inner change that it was meant to bring.   They could put on a good show, but their hearts were far from loving God.

The person who truly loves the Lord clearly isn't going to murder other people.   But more than that, they are going to repent of anger.  They will pray for their enemies.  And they won't be praying that lightning would strike them, or that a flood would wash away their home...they will be praying that God will soften their own heart toward this enemy, and that God will also show His love to the enemy as well.    

Verse 23 begins a conversation about settling your differences.  It's a great idea when taken at face value, and even more important when you consider that God is the Judge that we have to appear in front of.   We need to settle our differences with Jesus BEFORE we get to "court" or we will be thrown into prison "HELL". and we won't be able to get out.

In the same way we aren't going to meditate on revenge or let our anger fester, we aren't going to lust, or allow our minds to become focused on pornography.   It's more than not physically taking part in the orgy, it's going a step further and not fantasizing about it.   This is an extremely difficult task for some, and requires much prayer and a fairly rigid lifestyle.    Jesus is saying that we should "do whatever it takes" to make sure we don't sin in our minds.    You can't stop yourself from being tempted, but sin begins when we hang onto the thought and begin focusing on it.

Being meek and humble is part of our christian nature.  I truly believe that Jesus intended for us to be non-confrontational.   Yes, it will mean that many will take advantage of us, and that evil will seem to gain the upper hand.   But much of what we do to resist evil seems only to make it worse.   Is is possible that if we were to follow the teachings of Jesus that there would be less violence instead of more?   Maybe it would take a generation to catch on, and we wouldn't get to see it ourselves....but look at how our current mindset has worked out.   We kill a terrorist, and our actions create more, not less.     Maybe there is a better way.   Maybe loving our enemies is a better way to defeat them.

Just food for thought....


PR