03 October

Bible In 365 Days                

Matthew 5-6

Matthew 5

In the three chapters beginning here we have what could be called the "Magna Carta of the Kingdom of Heaven". This chapter opens with a great revelation of its supreme condition. Character is everything. The first word is suggestive, "Happy." That marks the divine will for man. It also announces that human happiness is conditioned in character. A sevenfold happiness is named. Such character is contradictory to the spirit of every age apart from the Kingship of God, and will result in "persecution." So the King adds an eighth beatitude, and that a double one, for those who because of their loyalty endure suffering.

Such character will result in influence, and that is the divine intention. This is marked by three figures:

- Salt, the opposite to corruption, that which prevents the progress of corruption.

- Light, that is the gift of guidance, so that those who have lost their way may find the path home.

- A city, which is the realization of social order and good government.

The people who live in the beatitudes will realize this threefold law of influence. The moral code followed. It first recognized the divinity of the Mosaic economy. The Revised Version has an important alteration. Instead of, "Ye have heard that it was said by them," it reads, "to them," thus more clearly marking this recognition. Moses was the mouthpiece, not the author of the words of law which he uttered. The righteousness which the King comes to make possible does not destroy the old, it fulfils; that is, fills to the full.

Neither will the requirements of the new law be less exacting than the regulations of the Pharisee, they will go far beyond-exceed them, touching not only the details of externalities, but the fiber and temper of hidden life.

The first requirement deals with murder. The old said, "Thou shalt not kill." The new declares anger deserves judgment; that is, in the Revised Version the words, "without a cause" are relegated to the margin. "Raca," a term of contempt, deserves the discipline of the highest court. "Fool," a term of insult, deserves Gehenna. Thus no room is left for murder. The supervision of the Kingdom does not begin by arresting a criminal with blood- red hands; it arrests the man in whom the murder spirit is just born.

Of adultery, the old said, "Thou shalt not commit." The new declares, Thou hast sinned in that thou hast looked with desire. These are the most searching words concerning impurity that ever were uttered.

The old safeguarded oaths. The new forbids. The same danger is recognized, taking the name of God to a falsehood, and perjury in any form. In the new Kingdom, character will make the oath unnecessary, and therefore simple affirmation or negation will be sufficient.

Of revenge, the old said, "Insist on your own right, and loving your neighbor, hate your enemy, and so secure your safety." The new says, "Suffer wrong, and lavish your love on all."

Of temper, the new temper is the outcome of the new relationship to God, and is of love. The love, moreover, is not that kind which "alters when it alteration finds." Its strength is to be in itself, not in the object.

Matthew 6

In the first verse the Revised Version has substituted the word "righteousness" for "alms," a reading approved of, almost unanimously, by the great editors and critics. This is a statement of a new motive for conduct. The application of the principle laid down in verse Matthew 6:1 to the subject of alms follows. The secret alms is known to God, who sees in secret. A subject of the King no longer desirous of the applause of his fellow men quietly and secretly helps the needy, and the deed is recognized by God, and is recompensed by Him.

Here the same principle is applied to prayer. Prayer is the soul dealing with God, and when one prays in order to attract the attention of men it is blasphemy. The prayer given as an example is perfect. The first three petitions move wholly in the realm of the divine purpose. Man must seek first the Kingdom of God. The second three voice man's probationary needs. The whole prayer is social. The singular pronoun is absent. Man enters the presence of the Father, and then prays as one of the great family.

The true reason for fasting is in the opportunity it affords for a clearer vision of God, which should ever manifest itself in new gladness of face.

The King warns His people against laying up for themselves earthly treasures. The Master does not say it is wrong to possess earthly treasure. He does say it is wrong to lay it up for self. We are to hold it as stewards.

The next saying gives a great principle of life. The emphasis in verse Matthew 6:24 should be on the word "serve." That word marks the true relationship existing between Mammon and the man who is given over to it. The man imagines he is compelling Mammon to serve him. As a matter of fact, he is serving Mammon, and the service precludes the possibility of his serving God. "Therefore," that is to say, all that follows is based on the principles of the foregoing statement. Anxiety concerning the things of life is slavery to those things, and it is wrong and futile. There is a subject for anxiety, and that is declared in the words, "seek the Kingdom," "serve God." The warning is against worry, not work.