Matthew 5:21

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Matthew 5:21
In order to properly understand the book of Matthew it is necessary to “think Jewish.” The teachings of Jesus are in a Jewish context and must be understood in light of the Jewish thought of the day. No place is that more true than the text before us.
In today’s study I want to introduce 5:21-48. The repeated phrase Jesus uses is, “You have heard that it was said, but I say to you…” Initially, one would think that Jesus is contrasting the teaching of the Old Testament with the teaching of His kingdom. But more careful observation will reveal that Jesus is instead contrasting the correct understanding of the Law as opposed to “that which was heard,” in other words, oral laws/traditions handed down from the time of Moses. The Pharisees believed that after God gave Moses the written Law, He also revealed oral laws that Moses gave to the elders of the people who in turn passed them on to the following generations. These oral laws supposedly gave more detailed explanations concerning the keeping of the written laws. Jesus repeatedly condemned these traditions of the elders as that which went beyond God’s revelation.By reading through the text it is easy to see that Jesus is not contrasting the Law with His teaching. For example, in verse 43, “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” Where did the Law ever teach the Jews to hate their enemy? In fact, Leviticus 19:34 states that they were to love the stranger that dwelled in their land. To believe that Jesus is contrasting the Law with His new covenant teaching is to suggest that the Lord had no prohibition against hatred, lust, divorce, or false swearing, in the Old Testament. Instead, Jesus is exposing the “righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,” who taught that the Law was not violated until the actual act of murder or adultery was committed.

Some, however, take this too far and argue that Jesus teaching in this text does not apply in the new covenant. This also goes beyond the intention of the context. Everything Jesus teaches in this section has been universal laws of God since the very beginning. When has God ever condoned hatred, lust, divorce, or revenge? Each of these principles is as true in the new covenant as they were in the old.
Berry Kercheville