Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 5:43 - 5:48
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_5:43-48
43"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'44But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Mat_5:43 The quote referred to by Jesus is a composite.
1. "You shall love your neighbor" is from Lev_19:18. Jesus seems to see this as a crucial text, even listed with the Ten Commandments in Mat_19:18-19. In Mar_12:31, it is the second greatest commandment after Deu_6:4-5, and in a similar way in Luk_10:25-28.
Paul uses this text as a summary of the entire Law in Rom_13:8-10.
2. "And hate your enemy" is not a quote from the OT, but a commonly drawn inference by Jewish, exclusivistic religionists (i.e., Sadducees, Pharisee, Essenes).
How different is the new Kingdom ethic from the fallen world model of " self," " more for me at any cost," " what's in it for me" ! Knowing God changes everything (cf. Mat_5:20; Mat_5:48)!
Mat_5:44 The KJV adds a phrase from Luk_6:27-28. It does not appear in ancient Greek uncial manuscripts à or B or several other geographically separated early manuscripts.
In Mat_5:44 there are two present imperatives: " keep on loving and praying" and one present participle, " the one who keeps on persecuting." These presents speak of ongoing commands both of loving and forgiving on the part of the believer as well as the possibility of ongoing persecution.
The Kingdom is radically different from the current world order!
Mat_5:45 "that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" Believers'lifestyles clearly reveal whose family they belong to: God's or Satan's. Children act like their fathers (cf. Lev_19:2).
Mat_5:46-47 The actions of believers must go beyond the expected social acts of unbelievers. These verses contain two third class conditional sentences which implied probable future action.
Mat_5:46 "rewards" This was a recurrent theme in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Mat_6:1-2; Mat_6:4; Mat_6:6). See Special Topic at Mat_5:12.
Mat_5:48
NASB "you are to be perfect,"
NKJV "you shall be perfect"
NRSV "be perfect"
TEV, NJB "you must be perfect"
This is an allusion to Lev_11:44-45; Lev_19:2; Lev_20:7; Lev_20:26. This term literally meant "mature" or "fully equipped." This is a strong statement that God's ultimate standard of righteousness is Himself (cf. Deu_18:13). Humans cannot achieve perfection except in Christ (cf. 2Co_5:21). However, believers must strive for it in their daily lives. There must be a theological balance between (1) salvation being accepted as a free gift of God through Christ, which is called positional sanctification and (2) striving toward Christlikeness, which is called progressive sanctification.
Some interpreters see this verse as a summary of the immediate paragraph only. If so, it would focus on the inclusive love of God that His children should emulate.
hyperlink
Copyright © 2013 hyperlink