6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 5:17-37

DIVISION

• Mt 5: 17-20. The righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven
• Mt 5: 21-26. Killing and anger
• Mt 5: 27-32. Adultery and lust
• Mt 33-37. Oaths and truthfulness

MT 5: 17-20. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS NECESSARY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

v. 17 - Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets may be taken in the sense of fulfilling the prophecies of the OT or in the sense of teaching a righteousness that exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

v. 18 - Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.

It may mean that the whole Law is binding until the end of the world or that it will no longer be binding on Christians once Jesus fulfills it demands.

v. 19. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

What are these commandments? Are they commandments of the law (Mosaic Law) or the commandments of Jesus (which Jesus will now talk about)? It would probably be the former because Matthew was writing for the Jews who had converted to Christianity.

v.20. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was based on the Law and the Prophets. How Christians are to exceed this righteousness will be explained in the following verses (21-48).

THE OLD RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE NEW RIGHTEOUSNESS

If Jesus demands a greater righteousness, he must teach a more exacting “law”. Thus we find five paragraphs beginning with “You have heard that it was said…But now I say to you…” (5:21ff; 5:27ff; 5:33ff; 5:38ff and 5:43ff).


We have here the new Law for the new Israel. This law is given by Jesus who is greater than Moses (Jn 1:17). The new Law covers the subjects of anger, lust, oaths, retaliation and love. The first three are covered in the gospel for this Sunday.

The section on killing and anger may be related to the seventh beatitude (blessed are the peacemakers) while the section on adultery and lust may be related to the sixth beatitude (blessed are the pure of heart).

MT 5: 21-26. KILLING AND ANGER

Matthew takes the first the fifth commandment (you shall not kill) and contrasts it with the prohibition of anger. Anger is to killing as thought is to deed.

The disciple is not only to avoid anger in himself. He is to avoid or remove the anger of others against himself. Thus he is to be a peacemaker (Mt 5:9).

v. 21. "You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'

To your ancestors – to Israel in the wilderness, who first received the Law of God through Moses.
Whoever kills will be liable to judgment – Judgment may mean the decision of a court or condemnation. See Ex 21:12, Lev 24:17 and Dt 17:8-13.

v. 22. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

There is a double contrast here: Moses and Jesus; the Old Israel and the new.

Jesus declares that anger, the motive behind killing, is liable to the same pu-nishment as that for killing. Rabbi Eliezer (c. A.D. 90) said: “He who hates his neighbor, lo he belongs to the shedders of blood.”

Insults, raqa is probably an Aramaic word meaning “stupid” or “blockhead”.

There seems to be an ascending order of punishment here: local court (judg-ment), Sanhedrin (council) and Gehenna (hell).

Gehenna is the place of punishment after death. It received its name from a valley south of Jerusalem where refuse was burning continually. In popular Jewish belief , the last judgment was to take place there.

v. 23-24. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

The reference to gift and altar may mean that at this time Christians were still taking part in the temple worship.

The disciple has a more difficult task here. He is to seek reconciliation with those whom they have offended. He starts from a weak position.

vv. 25-26. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

Probably Matthew sees behind this saying the final court at which the Son of Man will be the judge and the prison will be Gehenna.

MT 5: 27-32. ADULTERY AND LUST

As anger is the motive behind killing, so lust is the motive behind adultery. And just as he forbids anger, he also forbids lust.

It may be that Matthew is collecting material here to illustrate “Blessed are the pure of heart”. He contrasts lust with purity and the sinful use of the eye in this world with the vision of God in the age to come.

v. 28. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

There is a rabbinic saying that goes this way: “He who looks at a woman with desire is as one who has criminal intercourse with her.”

vv. 29-30. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

In order to avoid lust, the occasions that give rise to sin must be avoided. And since looking was mentioned first, the eye is place first before the hand.

Here we find one of the basic Christian ideas – that the way to the greatest gain in the world to come involves the sacrifice and loss of life in the here and now.

v. 31. "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.'

See Dt 24:1-4.

v. 32. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlaw-ful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Neither Mark nor Luke makes an exception to this command. Only here and in Mt 18:9 is an exception allowed in the case of unchastity (porneia). It is not clear what “porneia” refers to.

MT 33-37. OATHS AND TRUTHFULNESS

The Law forbade the use of oaths when one was going to tell a lie. It also commanded oaths in the name of the Lord. Jesus forbids all oaths in the name of the Lord or in any other name. The disciples are simply to be truthful and this makes oaths unnecessary.

v. 33. Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.'

Do not take a false oath - This is not an exact OT quotation. But see Ex 20:7, Dt 5:11 and Lv 19:12.
Make good to the Lord all that you vow – See Ps 50:14.

v. 37. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one.

“Ek tou ponerou” may either be masculine (the evil one) or neuter (evil).

Oath-taking presupposes a sinful weakness of the human race, namely, the tendency to lie.