Primary Text: Matthew 5:13-26
Memory Verse: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
Introduction:
In the Beatitudes, Jesus taught about a true Christian’s godly character. His teaching then moved to the practicalities of living a righteous life, and began by using two powerful images to show how this godly character is to be portrayed to the world.
Down through history there has existed the idea that to live a truly righteous life after dedicating oneself to Jesus Christ, a person needed to be isolated from the world in a monastery, communing with a group of religious hermits. This is not the Lord’s plan. Recorded in John 17:14-18, Jesus prayed:
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
This powerful scripture clearly teaches that the Christian is not set apart (sanctified) from the world by attempting to live away from the world, but we are set apart by the powerful truth of God, the truth of God’s word. The word of God is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12), and through it and the intercession of Christ, we can be saved to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). Until the Kingdom of God is fully come, we are to shine His light to all the world: “That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).
Studying the Word
Lesson Study
- Describe how a Christian life will naturally impact the world with salt-like qualities. Matthew 5:13a
- What is salt good for if it has lost its “saltiness?” Matthew 5:13b
- How is the Christian to dynamically affect the world the way light affects darkness? Matthew 5:14
- Discuss why Christians might want to hide the light of Christ shining in their lives. Matthew 5:15-16
- What is the importance of the foundational principle Jesus taught in Matthew 5:17-18?
- What is the importance of the foundational principle Jesus taught in Matthew 5:19-20?
- How dangerous is uncontrolled anger? Matthew 5:21-22
- Explain Jesus’ teaching about reconciling all conflicts with others. Matthew 5:23-24
- What did Jesus say concerning the timing and urgency of reconciliation? Matthew 5:25-26
(Writer’s Note on the “fulfilling” of the law: (See the meditations for Tuesday and Wednesday.) Deeper study is recommended…]
So much misunderstanding has arisen from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:17-20, that it seems vital to give it more attention. Old Testament law was comprised of three parts: ceremonial, judicial, and moral, and each part requires separate consideration. In His death, burial, and ascension, Jesus entirely fulfilled the ceremonial law. We now fulfill it by believing in and fully subjecting ourselves to Christ. The judicial law was especially for the Nation of Israel, but God’s theocratic administration has now passed to the church (Matthew 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9-10), so the judicial law has likewise been fulfilled. The moral law, as given in the Ten Commandments and magnified by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-40, is permanent to the end of the age, when we shall be perfected in Jesus’ likeness. The law, then, is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25).