King James Version
Divided in two parts because of the complexity and depth of this chapter.
Scripture is in red. Author’s comments are in black.
23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Here Jesus speaks about how important it is to not stay angry with your brother or allowing anything your brother has against you to stand between you. Your brother here is another person that follows Christ Jesus (a Christian). What Jesus is basically is saying is do not try to get in the grace of God by making an offering (or prayer) to God before you reconcile your differences with your brother. If you do it may not be received by God the way you had hoped. God may not bless your offering or prayer. Forgive and ask forgiveness before the offering so that you may be forgiven.
God forgets once he forgives and never remembers a forgiven sin again. The blood of Christ covered the sin.
Never remind a person of his or her failures or mistakes unless that person is repeating the same mistakes. You are not God and you do not know that persons heart. If you cannot follow this principal, forgive and FORGET, worry about yourself because you are not following the example of God and that is what true Christians are supposed to do.
25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Lets look at Proverbs 25: 8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Now back to Matthew 5:26
26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Make good on your debts whether the debt be a wrong against another or a monetary debt. Do not delay correcting a wrong you may have done to another.
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. What the mind thinks the body is likely to follow. If you allow your mind to lust the next thing that the mind will do is plan how to make the lust come about for real and after that the body will follow the mind. You are in control of what your mind thinks. Avoid temptations even if it means avoiding those that tempt you. Do not allow the mind to dwell on things of the flesh. You can do this by keeping your mind on God.
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. A hand can be infected with gangrene and would need to be amputated to save the life and the rest of the body. It is said that Christians are the body of Christ and the church is the body of Christ. In our lives we will come across those that will cause us spiritual harm, cause us to be tempted away from Christ, cause us temptation of the flesh, force us into anger or rage, and cause us to forget the teachings of Christ on a regular basis. Put these people out of your life. Forget them; send them to others who can try to bring them to salvation but do not risk your own soul. If anyone causes your relationship with God to be in danger run from him or her! It is better to lose a “friend” or family member than to allow yourself to be taken away from God.
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. This does not say for the cause of adultery you can put away your wife, it says except for fornication. Lets look at what fornication means here. It is from the Greek word porneia, where we get the word pornography, (#G4202 in the Strong’s Concordance). Here are the definitions:
1) illicit sexual intercourse
a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,12
2) metaph. the worship of idols
a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols.
This opens a whole new can of worms. What is worship of idols (false gods)? What are your gods? Anything in life that takes you away from the true God is your idol. This can be many things; an overpowering drive for sex, total devotion to a celebrity, alcoholism, drugs, astrology, witchcraft, fortune tellers, pornography, consuming hatred, total desire for money or power, self love (loving yourself beyond anything else), pride, overwhelming jealousy, and even complete devotion to TV or any other entertainment medium that keeps you from the word, worship and love of God. All these are of the flesh and not the spirit. God is to be our main concern and love, not to deprive ourselves of enjoyment of life, but also not allowing our enjoyment of life to interfere with our devotion to God.
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. This is similar to the saying: “your mind (or mouth) is writing checks that your body cannot cash”. For many years when I have been asked to do something for someone I have always placed a qualifier in the answer such as: I will do that for you “if the Lord allows” or “if an emergency does not come up”. The reason I do this is because if I make a promise that I am going to do what a person requests then that person has to understand that I am not in charge of my destiny. Jesus is saying here that you do not know for sure if you will be able to keep a promise and when you swear by God or Heaven or anything that is Gods you may not be able to deliver because of circumstances. Jesus says to respond either positive or negative to a question but do not include an oath on God or Gods realm. You are not a prophet and you know not your future and God will expect you to make good on your oaths to or of Him
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. If you are teaching God’s word and a person refuses to believe do not allow yourself to be angry, allow the person to speak his or her peace and move on. The quote an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is talking about justice of the world. Turning the other cheek is showing those that are of Satan the patience and compassion of being Christian. This may bring them to understanding of the teachings of Christ. Christians are to plant the seed and if you are not received shake the dust off your feet and move on. This is taken from Matthew 10:13-14:
13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Back to Matthew chapter 5
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. Do not be upset if you are sued and lose. If you are judged as being in the wrong show your understanding and cheerfully repay that which has been decided is your debt. If a person asks of you cheerfully give to them. If you are done an injustice worry not because it is of this world and therefore of no real matter because our spiritual home is the only place we can expect to find true justice and our rewards.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. If a person asks a favor of you or is in need show that person that you care by offering more than he or she asks for or more than that person needs at the time. If you care for others your Christian light will shine for the glory and honor of God. This is the Christian way. This is where we get the quote “go the extra mile”
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Verses 42-48 show love to those that may not deserve love and to give to those that are needy. Jesus is teaching this because all humans are in need of the word of God, the love of God and His forgiveness, which He gives freely. All mankind sins against the Father yet he loves us all and forgives us all if we ask. As evil as humans can be God loves the world so much He sent His only begotten Son to die so that we would not have to experience the second death. Share God’s grace and love with others so that the light of God may shine through you and then you might understand the love of God and His Grace better yourself.
If you love only those that love you then you are no better than the worst of humanity. Christians are to be better than that. Love sinners but not the sin. The sunrises on your enemies as well as it does on you (God gives you no special treatment to place you above others). Are you better than others? NO! We are all sinners. Love everyone and help everyone. You may never know how those you have rejected may change your life and they may actually be better than you. If you recognize (treat decently) only those you think are your equals then you have lifted yourself above others. Satan made the same mistake.
Lift yourself above the thoughts of this world. At this time this world is the realm of Satan until the return of Jesus. If you want to live a satanic life then you have no place with God. Treat everyone equally with the same love, as you love your own life. I could go on but I hope you get the picture. Only God is perfect but we all need to strive to be like God. We will fail, but we must emulate and practice what God teaches us. Anything else is from the serpent.
May God Bless the reader with love and understanding.
