Matthew 5:22-48

22 Gehenna, the valley of the son of Hinnom, just below the city of Jerusalem, where idolatrous worship was once carried on and where the city offal was burned, will once more become the incinerator for Jerusalem. In the kingdom it will consume the carcases of criminals as well as the rubbish of the city. It should not be confounded with the unseen, or hades, which is often translated “hell”, or with tartarus, similarly translated. Neither is it the lake of fire (Rev_20:14), which follows the great white throne judgment for wicked. Its operation is confined to the temporal judgments of the millennial kingdom. It does not fix ultimate destiny, for it disappears long before the consummation.

22 Raka seems to be a contemptuous epithet from the Aramaic, meaning empty.

23 Instead of removing His hearers from beneath the thunders of the law (as grace has since done), He makes its precepts more pressing, its prohibitions more searching. The appearance counts for nothing with Him unless the heart is also right. He will not even allow them to approach God by means of an oblation, unless they are on terms with their brethren. There is no lenience in this kingdom proclamation. Those who are cast into jail are not delivered until the demands of righteousness have been fully met. A lustful look is a sin of the heart which will not be tolerated in His dominions. The criminals of that day will be executed and their corpses consigned to the vale of Hinnom, where the offal of Jerusalem is burned. So stringent is this law that if a member of the body sins, the whole is in danger of death in the kingdom.

27 See Exo_20:14.

31 See Mat_19:3-9 Deu_24:1-2; Mar_10:2-12; Luk_16:18; 1Co_7:10-11.

31 Because of the hardness of their hearts, Moses made divorce an easy matter. Not so in the kingdom of the heavens. Only one cause will be a ground for separation then. Now, in grace death alone can come between those whom the Lord has made one flesh (1Co_7:39). We are not living under the law of Sinai or under the kingdom code, but under the far more beneficent reign of grace (Rom_5:21).

25-26 Compare Luk_12:58-59. See Pro_25:8.

33 Compare Lev_19:12. See Num_30:2; Deu_23:21-23.

34-37 From our Lord's time down to the present, cursing and swearing have been so common in Palestine that little notice is taken of it. They continually profane the name and attributes of God, and swear by anything that comes into their minds. In fact, to swear fluently and artistically is considered quite an accomplishment which deserves cultivation.

38 Compare Exo_21:23-25; Lev_24:19-20; Deu_19:21.

38 Many futile attempts have been made to carry out the principle of nonresistance here laid down, by those who did not see its relation to the kingdom. When the righteous King is on the throne such conduct will be not only right but rational. Grace, however, goes much further than more non-resistance. It demands active effort on behalf of those who seek to injure or oppress. Recognizing the grave practical difficulty of practising those precepts at the present time, theologians assure us that “these expressions, in their paradox form, must not be taken literally.” If these are not plain examples, it is impossible to form any definite idea of the Lord's meaning. It is ideal conduct for an ideal government, such as will be in actual operation when Christ comes again and Satan is bound for the thousand years.

39 Compare Luk_6:27-31.

43 Compare Lev_19:18. See Deu_23:6.

43 We are exhorted to imitate God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as Christ loves us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a fragrant odor (Eph_5:1-2). The sons of the kingdom are here exhorted to imitate Him in His beneficence in nature. The sun and rain bring all blessing in the physical sphere. Christ brings all blessing in the spiritual sphere. Great is the gift of sunshine, yet how much greater is the gift of Christ! Yet so much brighter is the standard for conduct today as compared with the longed for millennium. The saints should always imitate God; yet this should ever be in accord with the particular revelation of Himself given for the time. The kingdom will be, in a special sense, the display of God's goodness on earth; we will be the highest exhibition of God's grace among the celestials (Eph_2:7). Hence it is most fitting that conduct, in each case, should correspond to the sphere and character of God's operations. The standard for us is as far beyond these precepts as these are beyond the law. The law demanded love, but limited it to neighbors. In their hard-heartedness they inferred that others should be hated. The Lord does not hesitate to enlarge the law. God is good to all. But we look to the cross and know that there are none righteous in His sight, and see His sacrifice for all. Here alone do we find the motive which should control our conduct. God's perfection in nature is not sufficient to provide the sweet smelling perfume which pleases Him today. It seems to be without any practical effect on the hard hearts of humanity.

44 Compare Luk_6:27-28; Luk_6:32-36; Luk_23:34; Act_7:60; 1Pe_2:18-23.