Matthew 5:11-20 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Matthew 5:11,12

A. Find out:

1. What 3 things will people do? v.11a

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you

2. Why will they do it? v.11c

because of me.

3. What are we to do? v.12a

Rejoice and be glad,

4. Why? v.12b

because great is your reward in heaven

5. What had already happened? v.12c

for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

6. Read John 15:18,20. What ought we to remember?

keep in mind that it hated me first… No servant is greater than his master.’

B. Think:

1. What ways will people come against us?
2. What should be the only ground we give them to do that?
3. Why will they do it?

C. Comment:

First let’s start with WHY people will persecute us. The only causes should be because we love Jesus, because we are Christians, and because we are righteous. We should not give them the opportunity to be against us because we are unloving or because we are bad at our jobs. No, the only reason must be that we are Christians.

The ungodly rejected and opposed the prophets of God in the Old Testament because they came from God, and in the New Testament they rejected Jesus for the same reason. For exactly that same reason the ungodly and the unrighteous will reject us also.

Second, let’s note the WAYS people oppose us. We have seen that it starts in the heart that rejects God and soon what is in the heart is expressed by the tongue. The first level of attack is insults, deriding who we are and what we are, to try to make us feel stupid. But they will not stop there; next comes persecution which means tangible opposition in some form, some way that seeks to stop us being what we are, where we are. But even that isn’t enough; then they will tell lies about us to try and get others to side with them, to justify what they feel and what they are doing – all because we simply love Jesus!

D. Application?

1. Opposition is already here in small ways, and they will get bigger, but God is for us!
2. God’s grace is sufficient!

Passage: Matthew 5:13-16

A. Find out:

1. What are Jesus’ disciples first of all? v.13a

you are the salt of the earth

2. What is a possibility? v.13b

salt loses its saltiness

3. What would the consequence be? v.13c

It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

4. What also are we? v.14a

You are the light of the world.

5. What do you do with a lamp? v.15

they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the hous

6. How are we to be similar? v.16

let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

B. Think:

1. What do you use salt for?
2. What do you use a lamp for?
3. What do these two pictures indicate about us?

C. Comment:

Note first the USE of these two things. Salt flavors and preserves food. It enhances it and prevents decay. Light pushes back the darkness and reveals things as they are.

Note second, the possible APPLICATION of these two pictures. We are to be those who influence the world around about us, and we’ll do that as we enhance it by our love and grace, as we purify it by our holiness and righteousness, and we reveal reality to the world by the lives we live and the words we speak.

Thirdly, note JESUS’ COMMENTARY on the two pictures. Salt is salt and if it becomes less than salt then it is thrown away. Light is to be seen, so we should live out and speak out fearlessly so people can see, hear, and understand the origin of our goodness.

Finally, let’s observe the PURPOSE of us being these things: it is to glorify God. Our aim must be to point others to God by our lives and our words, not merely to be “good people”. Knowing that we are good doesn’t help others, it is knowing why and how we are good that will help them, by realizing that it is really our relationship with the Lord that makes us what we are.

D. Application?

1. Purity without grace is harsh legalism, but purity with grace will show the goodness of God.
2. Goodness from God is seen!

Passage: Matthew 5:17-20

A. Find out:

1. What HAD Jesus come to do? v.17

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them

2. What won’t happen? v.18a,b

not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law

3. When will it happen? v.18c

until everything is accomplished

4. Who will be called least in the kingdom? v.19a

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven,

5. Who will be called great in the kingdom? v.19b

but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven

6. Who do you need to be more righteous than? v.20

unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

B. Think:

1. What is Jesus’ main point in verses 17 & 18?
2. What is his main point in verses 19 & 20?
3. What do these verses say to us about standards and morals?

C. Comment:

Jesus first speaks about the PERMANENCE of the Law. When God gave the Law in the Old Testament, He didn’t make a mistake. The Law lays down the way things work best, the way people have been designed to live best. Failure to live according to this way brings destruction. No, the Law is here to stay.

But second, Jesus speaks about the FULFILMENT of the Law. How? Well, the Law insisted on justice and demanded that guilty people be punished, so on the Cross Jesus came to take the punishment for every guilty person who comes to him. By doing that, Jesus exactly fulfilled what the Law demanded, the guilty are punished.

Third, note the REQUIRED OBEDIENCE to the Law. The Pharisees taught one thing and did another. They tried to keep every aspect of the Law but failed! Rule-keepers fail constantly, yet Jesus insists the rules (Law) are to be kept. How is this dilemma to be resolved? The answer will be by the law of love. As God fills us with His own presence, His own Spirit who is love, we find we do love Him. Without thinking about it we find we fulfil all the “you shall’s” and “shall not’s” of the Ten Commandments. No longer do we focus on the Law but on the Lawgiver Himself and in love, do what He requires.

D. Application?

1. Jesus HAS died to take my failures.
2. Today I live in response to His love FOR me and His love IN me.