Matthew 5:13-20: Salt, Light, Old Testament, Righteousness

Tod Kennedy, January 19, 2005

Key Verse of Matthew 5.
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

1.     Outline of Matthew 5

a.      Characteristics of Kingdom people, the repentant people, or the righteous remnant (Matthew 5:1-16).

b.     Christ’s relationship to the Old Testament (Matthew 5:17-19). Christ fulfills the Law.

c.      Kingdom righteousness contrasted with the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

d.     Illustrations of Kingdom righteousness contrasted with the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:21-48).

i.        Personal conflicts (Matthew 5:21-26).

ii.      Man and woman relationships (Matthew 5:27-32).

iii.    Vows (Matthew 5:33-37).

iv.    Retaliation (Matthew 5:38-42).

v.      Love your enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).

Matthew 5:13, You are the salt of the earth.

1.     Jesus said that those who had repented and accepted him as Messiah King and learned from him were the salt of the earth. Salt is used 4x in the NT (Matthew 5:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34; Colossians 4:6). It is used many times in the OT to solemnly ratify (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5), to give taste (Job 6:6), and to symbolically enhance the importance of something (Exodus 30:35). What is the point of salt?

a.      Salt was used to preserve foods. Even in the travels by ship to the new world, food was preserved with salt. The covered wagon trains used salt to preserve food. Bacon has lots of salt and can be stored for later use.

b.     Salt adds flavor to food. Most people like salted food. People with high blood pressure must go easy with salt for it causes fluid retention and can then raise blood pressure.

c.      Salt in small amounts has even been used to fertilize lands in the ancient world.

d.     In modern Israel weak salt is sometimes scattered on the soil that is used for flat roofs on Patios. It hardens the soil and prevents leaks.

e.      The super bowl is coming up. There will be a run on buying chips at the grocery store. Which chips do most people like? The bland plain tasting chips or the ones that are salted? Most like salted chips even if they are unhealthy. The salt gives a distinctive flavor. Most foods are that way.

f.       The salt in the ancient world was often from marshes and therefore mixed with impurities. Rain water would dissolve the salt more than the impurities and wash it away and therefore it weakened the salt content and reduced the usefulness of what salt the people used.

2.     Jesus is saying that if the disciples became weakened by dilution with bad doctrine or bad life their value and usefulness would be lessened.

a.      People will ignore their message.

b.     People will lose their message in the everyday mixture of life and its beliefs and activities.

3.     Matthew 5:14, So what? Or Lesson for us.

a.      Believers need to retain what is distinctive to our doctrine and to our lives so that others will recognize who we are and what we have and take advantage of the message.

i.        This applies to kind of life, to power or ability to live life, to guiding principles in life, to doctrine, to worldview, to the whole purpose of life.

b.     The figure of salt tells us to stand for something—God and God’s word (Colossians 4:3).

c.      The fruit of the Spirit through us to others seasons and helps the world (Galatians 5:22-23).

Matthew 5:14-16, You are the light of the world

1.     What is the principle that light teaches?

a.      Light makes sight and knowledge possible. The city on the hill that has lights is visible to some far away.

i.        When one is on an airplane at night 35, 000 feet above the ground you can see the lights of a city or a farm or the highway.

ii.      When driving at night or in a fog you look for lights up ahead so you can follow the road or know when a town is coming.

b.     No one turns on a lamp and then puts it in a black box to hide the light. It will do no good.

2.     Light has a purpose: to make visible, to give knowledge and understanding. It is used 244x in the Bible.

a.      In Luke 2:32, Simeon called Jesus the Light of Revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

i.        John 1:4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 we have Jesus as the light and John witnessed to him.

ii.      John 8:12; 9:5; and 12:46 light is used for Jesus.

b.     Light also is used for God and his holiness in 1 John 1:5. It is opposed darkness.

c.      In Ephesians 5:8 believers are light in the Lord. That is, believers are related to the source of all righteousness and truth. We reflect God’s light as we live like children of the light.

d.     In Philippians 2:12-18 Paul exhorts believers to many things, including appearing as lights in the world.

3.     Believers are to make their light known.

a.      the light that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

b.     The light that is God’s word.

c.      The reflected light from God through his Spirit.

d.     So others may see the Christian life and glorify God because of what they see and understand.

4.     The figure of light tells us to make something known to others—God and God’s word.

5.     Lighthouses along the coasts have alerted, protected, and saved many lives and many ships.

6.     Matthew 5:14-16, So what? Or Lesson for us.

a.      We must have the light first—faith acceptance.

b.     We must understand the light—faith learning.

c.      We must let it shine out—faith application.

Matthew 5:17-20, The Law and Prophets, Righteousness, and the scribes and Pharisees.

1.     Matthew 5:17. The question now comes: is Jesus going to disregard the OT or change or eliminate the OT?

a.      Of course not. He will complete (plerosai, aorist active infinitive of pleroo, plhrow to make full, to complete, to bring to completion, to bring to a desired end such as a prophecy, to bring an activity to completion) the law in its rightful sense by

i.        Teaching it correctly.

ii.      Obeying it correctly

iii.    Suffering the law’s required penalty for sin.

b.     Matthew 5:17, So what? Or Lessons.

i.        By these statements Jesus said that the OT was authoritative and without error.

ii.      Do we accept the Scripture as authoritative and without error and there God’s words to be studied, correctly understood, and accurately applied?

2.     Matthew 5:18. This does not say that the law of Moses will remain in effect until the new heaven and new earth.

a.      Jesus says that everything required by the law will be accomplished before the law has been completed.

b.     Even the smallest letter (jot is like the dot over the English i) and mark (tittle is like the mark on the R that distinguishes it from P) in the Hebrew scrolls will be recognized as authoritative and heeded.

c.      This verse teaches us that Jesus viewed the OT as accurate, perfect, and without any mistakes. Jesus here ascribes inerrancy to Scripture.

d.     Matthew 5:18, So What? Or Lessons for us.

i.        God’s word is accurate, authoritative, and without error in part or whole.

ii.      How do we think about God’s word and do we learn it and use it?

3.     Matthew 5:19. Kingdom of heaven people should be loyal to God’s word, the OT.

a.      To annul (luw  luo, to undo, to untie, to set free, to destroy, to abolish or do away with; Aorist active subjunctive) means to set aside or do away with parts of law.

b.     They are members of the kingdom heaven by their faith acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. As members of the kingdom they ought to teach and follow God’s word.

c.      Those who live during Jesus’ ministry and who do not accept the entire OT are wrong. They can be a part of the kingdom of heaven, but they will not receive honor from the kingdom. They will miss blessings, because they reject or change the kingdom law.

d.     Remember that the kingdom of heaven was offered to the people during Jesus’ ministry. Those who accepted the kingdom still lived under the OT. They did not have the choice to change or reject parts of the law.

e.      Matthew 5:19, So what? Or lessons for us.

i.        One’s learning and faith application of God’s word determines the reward or lack of reward from God.

ii.      This verse brings up the doctrine of rewards.

4.     Matthew 5:20. His audience was intimidated and impressed by the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

a.      Jesus tells the audience that the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was the wrong kind of righteousness.

i.        The scribes and Pharisees practiced selective obedience which produced only relative righteousness.

ii.      Their righteousness was a false righteousness based upon a false standard—the scribes and Pharisees did change parts of the law. They used their own human legal righteousness as the standard to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

iii.    Do not try to be like the scribes and Pharisees.

b.     Furthermore, Jesus is not saying that human legal righteousness will gain a place in the kingdom.

c.      He is saying that one needs a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Their righteousness was human and external. One needs absolute righteousness. And to gain that by faith one must be ready for grace.

i.        This righteousness only comes from God himself in the person of Jesus. Romans 3:21-22 explains this.

ii.      The man in Mark 10:17-27 and Luke 18:18-27 also asked this question. Jesus demonstrated to them that there is always something lacking in the best of people. The conclusion was that there is no way that man can gain salvation. Only God can save.

iii.    The lawyer of Luke 10:25-37 asked this same question.

iv.    Jesus demonstrated that no matter how much of the law you have kept, there will always be something else that is not good or sin. He proved that man can do no work for eternal life. Only God can provide that.

v.      Recall that the Nicodemus story happened in the same short time frame. Nicodemus was ready for grace. The rich man was not ready for grace.

d.     The answer that each should have given Jesus is that I cannot do that kind of righteousness, and so now what hope is there for me. Instead they held to a works system for eternal life.

e.      Matthew 5:20, So what? Or lessons for us.

i.        Human righteousness, whether legal or religious, is not good enough to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

ii.      Am I ready for grace—grace for eternal life and grace for living? The recognition test can help a person to know if they are ready for grace. This test causes one to truthfully admit that he always falls short of God’s standard.