Matthew 5
BSASBJesus opens the Sermon on the Mount by describing the people who are truly blessed in God’s kingdom, and he calls his followers salt and light for the world. He then shows that he has come to fulfill the Law, not throw it out. Using the pattern ‘You have heard… but I tell you,’ he moves the standard from outward acts to the heart, and ends with a call to love as the Father loves.
Matthew 5:1-2
Seeing the crowds, Jesus goes up the hillside and sits, the usual posture of a teacher. The disciples gather close, and he begins to teach. The words that follow are meant first for those who follow him, though the crowds are listening too.
BSA: sat down (“seated Himself, took a position of authority”): Sitting was how a teacher spoke with authority, so Jesus is presenting himself as the one whose word counts.
Matthew 5:3
Jesus begins with the empty-handed. The poor in spirit know they have nothing to offer God and cannot save themselves. To such people, and not to the self-sufficient, the kingdom belongs now.
BSA: poor (“those who recognize their spiritual need, humble”): This poverty is an honest admission of need before God, and it is where entering the kingdom starts.
Greek: πτωχοί (ptōchoi, G4434) — “beggars, the destitute.” This is not the word for someone who is merely short of money. It describes a beggar who has nothing and must depend entirely on others.
See also: Isaiah 66:2.
Matthew 5:4
Jesus blesses those who grieve, whether over loss, over their own sin, or over a broken world. Their sorrow is not the last word. God himself promises to come to them with comfort.
BSA: comforted (“consoled, encouraged, given relief”): God’s comfort is more than sympathy. It brings real encouragement and relief.
See also: Isaiah 61:1-3.
Matthew 5:5
The meek are not weak. They are people who put their strength under God’s control and do not grab or push for their own way. The surprising promise is that the world finally belongs to such people.
BSA: meek (“gentle, humble”): Meekness is a gentle, humble spirit that trusts God instead of forcing its own way.
Greek: πραεῖς (praeis, G4235) — “gentle, mild, strength under control.” The word was used of a trained animal whose power was brought under its master’s hand. It describes strength that is gentle, not weakness.
See also: Psalm 37:11.
Matthew 5:6
Hunger and thirst are not mild wishes. They are daily, urgent needs. Jesus blesses those who long for what is right, in their own lives and in the world, as they would long for food and water. God promises to satisfy that longing fully.
BSA: righteousness (“living according to God’s will, being in right relationship with Him”): What these people crave is a life and a standing that are right with God, not just a better reputation.
Matthew 5:7
Those who show mercy to the guilty and the needy will themselves receive mercy. Mercy shown to others is the fruit of mercy already received, and it brings more of it.
BSA: merciful (“showing compassion, having pity”): Mercy here is active compassion that reaches out to people in need or in the wrong.
See also: Matthew 18:32-33.
Matthew 5:8
In Scripture the heart is the center of a person: thoughts, desires and will. Jesus blesses the person whose inner life is clean and undivided, not just the one with tidy outward behavior. Such people will see God.
BSA: heart (“the seat of thoughts, feelings, and emotions”): Purity is judged at the very center of a person, where motives and desires live.
Greek: καθαροί (katharoi, G2513) — “clean, unmixed.” The word can describe something washed clean or metal with no alloy in it. It points to a heart that is wholly God’s, with no mixed motives.
See also: Psalm 24:3-4.
Matthew 5:9
Peacemakers do more than avoid quarrels. They work to heal broken relationships, as God did in Christ. Because they share the Father’s work, they are recognized as his children.
BSA: sons (“children, heirs”): Being called God’s children means sharing his family likeness and his inheritance.
Greek: εἰρηνοποιοί (eirēnopoioi, G1518) — “peace-makers.” The word is built from ‘peace’ and ‘make.’ These are people who actively produce peace, not people who simply keep quiet.
See also: Romans 12:18.
Matthew 5:10
The last blessing returns to the promise of the first: the kingdom of heaven. Those who suffer for doing right already belong to a kingdom that no opposition can take from them.
BSA: persecuted (“attacked, suffer”): The blessing covers real hostility and suffering, not just mild disapproval.
Matthew 5:11-12
Jesus now speaks directly to his hearers. Insults and lies suffered because of him are not a sign that God has left them. They are a reason for joy, because heaven’s reward is great and they stand in the line of the prophets.
BSA: falsely (“lying, saying what is not true”): The blessing is for those slandered unjustly for Christ, not for those who earn criticism by their own faults. reward (“wage, payment for faithfulness”): God sees faithfulness under pressure and will repay it.
See also: 1 Peter 4:14.
Matthew 5:13
Salt seasons food and keeps it from spoiling. Jesus says his followers are that for the world. Salt that has lost what makes it salt has no purpose left. A disciple who blends in with the world has nothing to give it.
BSA: salt (“preserving and seasoning agent”): Believers slow the decay of society and add flavor to it.
Greek: μωρανθῇ (mōranthē, G3471) — “becomes foolish, becomes tasteless.” The verb is related to the word for ‘fool.’ Salt that has gone flat is like a fool: it has lost its sense and its purpose.
Matthew 5:14-15
Jesus says his followers are the light of the world, and he gives two pictures. A hilltop city is seen for miles. A lamp is placed where it can light the whole room. Light exists to be seen, and so does a disciple’s life.
BSA: light (“shining brightly, a source of spiritual illumination”): Believers do not make the light. They carry and show it to people in the dark.
See also: John 8:12.
Matthew 5:16
The goal of shining is not attention for ourselves. When people see lives marked by goodness, they are led to praise the Father who is the source of it.
BSA: good deeds (“beautiful works, righteous acts”): The works Jesus has in mind are attractive and winning, and they point people to God.
See also: 1 Peter 2:12.
Matthew 5:17
Some may have wondered whether Jesus was setting aside the Scriptures. He says the opposite. The Law and the Prophets point forward to him, and he has come to bring them to their full meaning and completion.
BSA: fulfill (“complete or bring to realization”): Jesus fills the Scriptures up to their full meaning and carries out what they promised.
Greek: πληρῶσαι (plērōsai, G4137) — “to fill full, to complete.” The word means to fill something to the brim. Jesus does not empty the Law but brings out all that God put into it.
See also: Luke 24:44.
Matthew 5:18
Jesus stresses that God’s word is reliable down to the smallest detail. The jot was the tiniest letter, and the stroke a small mark on a letter. Nothing God has spoken will fail before all of it is accomplished.
BSA: accomplished (“fulfilled, completed”): Everything God promised in the Law will be carried through to its goal.
Greek: ἰῶτα (iōta, G2503) — “iota, the smallest letter.” Jesus picks the tiniest letter to show that not even the smallest detail of God’s word will be lost.
Matthew 5:19
Jesus takes God’s commands seriously, even the small ones, and he warns against both ignoring them and teaching others to ignore them. Real greatness in the kingdom belongs to those who live out God’s word and teach it.
BSA: breaks (“disregards, loosens”): The word pictures loosening a command’s hold on you until it no longer binds.
Matthew 5:20
The scribes and Pharisees were admired for strict outward obedience. Jesus says that is not enough. Kingdom righteousness must go deeper, to the heart, and the rest of the chapter shows what he means.
BSA: righteousness (“exceeding the standards of men, a state of being in right relationship with God”): The righteousness Jesus requires is a right standing and a right heart before God, not just human standards met outwardly.
Matthew 5:21-22
The commandment forbids murder, but Jesus traces murder back to its root. Settled anger and contempt toward another person are already serious before God. ‘Raca’ was an insult meaning something like ’empty-head.’.
BSA: hell (“Gehenna, a place of eternal punishment”): Jesus uses the name Gehenna to show how grave contempt for another person is.
Greek: γέενναν (geennan, G1067) — “Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom.” The name comes from a valley outside Jerusalem. Jesus used it as a picture of final judgment.
See also: 1 John 3:15.
Matthew 5:23-24
Even in the middle of worship, if you remember that a brother or sister has something against you, stop. Peace with a person comes before the offering. God is not honored by worship offered with a broken relationship left unmended.
BSA: reconciled (“make peace, restore relationship”): The aim is to restore the relationship, not just to say sorry and move on.
See also: Mark 11:25.
Matthew 5:25-26
Settle matters quickly. A dispute left alone only gets more costly, and in the end you may pay in full. The urgency is the point: make peace now, while there is still time.
BSA: adversary (“opponent, one who opposes”): This is the person who has a case against you, and Jesus says to deal with him before it reaches court.
Matthew 5:27-28
The commandment forbids the act of adultery. Jesus says the sin begins earlier, with a look that feeds desire. He is speaking of deliberate lust, not of a passing thought. God sees the heart as well as the deed.
BSA: heart (“the seat of thoughts, feelings, and emotions, the mind”): Adultery can happen in the inner life before anything is done outwardly.
See also: Job 31:1.
Matthew 5:29-30
Jesus uses sharp, deliberate exaggeration. Nothing is worth keeping, however dear, if it leads us into sin. Believers have always understood this to mean ruthless dealing with whatever draws us toward sin, not self-injury.
BSA: sin (“stumble, offend”): The thing in view trips you up and makes you fall.
Greek: σκανδαλίζει (skandalizei, G4624) — “causes to stumble, trips up.” The root word is the trigger of a trap. Jesus pictures sin as a snare that catches us.
Matthew 5:31-32
The law about a certificate of divorce was meant to protect a wife who was sent away. Jesus teaches that marriage is meant to be lasting and warns against casual divorce. Christians have understood the exception clause and its application in different ways.
BSA: sexual immorality (“immoral sexual behavior”): The one exception Jesus names concerns sexual unfaithfulness.
See also: Deuteronomy 24:1; Matthew 19:6.
Matthew 5:33-37
People used oaths and clever formulas to make some promises feel more binding than others. Jesus says a truthful person needs none of that. Our plain yes or no should be completely trustworthy, because everything we say is said before God.
BSA: swear (“take an oath, make a promise”): Jesus is correcting the habit of adding oaths to give our words extra weight. evil one (“the wicked, morally bad”): Needing to prop up our words with oaths shows how far dishonesty has spread.
See also: James 5:12.
Matthew 5:38-39
‘Eye for eye’ was a legal limit that kept punishment fair and held back revenge. Jesus takes his followers further. Do not retaliate in personal insults. A slap on the right cheek was likely an insult more than an injury, and the follower of Jesus does not answer it with revenge.
BSA: resist (“stand against, oppose”): The call is to refuse to strike back or take revenge.
See also: Exodus 21:24; Romans 12:17-21.
Matthew 5:40-42
Jesus gives three pictures: giving up more than a lawsuit demands, walking an extra mile, and giving freely to those who ask. The follower of Jesus meets claims with generosity instead of insisting on his own rights.
BSA: forces (“compels, impresses”): The picture is someone with authority pressing you into unwanted service. Give (“freely bestow, generously provide”): The giving Jesus asks for is open-handed and generous.
Greek: ἀγγαρεύσει (angareusei, G29) — “compels into service.” This was a word for forced service under official authority, such as a soldier requiring a local person to carry a load. Jesus says to go beyond what is forced.
Matthew 5:43-45
‘Hate your enemy’ was not in the Law itself, but it grew up around it. Jesus calls for love, and for prayer, even toward those who persecute us. God does this himself, giving sun and rain to all, and his children are to be like him.
BSA: love (“showing esteem and goodwill towards”): This love is a settled goodwill that wants the other person’s good, not a warm feeling. sons (“children, sons and daughters”): Loving enemies shows the Father’s character in his children.
See also: Leviticus 19:18; Romans 5:10.
Matthew 5:46-47
Loving those who love us is easy, and even tax collectors, who were despised, do that. Greeting only our own circle is no better than what Gentiles do. Jesus asks his followers for something beyond ordinary kindness.
BSA: reward (“wage or payment for your actions”): Ordinary love that is only returned earns nothing beyond what any person gets.
Matthew 5:48
This closes the section: be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The word points to wholeness and maturity, a love that reaches everyone as the Father’s does. It is the goal set before every disciple.
BSA: perfect (“complete, mature, having all virtues”): The word speaks of a full, grown-up goodness, not a flawless record.
Greek: τέλειοι (teleioi, G5046) — “complete, mature, reaching the goal.” The word comes from ‘goal’ or ’end,’ and means something that has reached the purpose it was made for. Here that means love with no exceptions.
See also: Luke 6:36.