Gospel Matthew study

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, ¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹ Give us today our daily bread. ¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ ¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6: 9-15)

This is the Lord’s prayer, the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” hallowed means to make holy, i.e. , to pray that people to believe in the Lord, so that they can make God’s name holy. The kingdom of God is in our hearts, and the kingdom of God is God’s kingship, people do God’s will. Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. On one hand, it refers to what is fulfilled on earth now, and on the other hand, it refers to the Lord Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years when he returns. We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the Lord will give us our daily bread. We must first forgive others’ debts, and ask God to forgive our debts, forgive others first, and ask God to forgive us. There are many temptations in the world, we ask God not to lead us into temptations, and ask God to protect us, deliver us from evil.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8)

Here the Lord Jesus taught us not to pray like the hypocrites, that is, the Pharisees, who loved to pray in public, in order to be seen by others. The Lord Jesus said they had received their reward. The Lord Jesus continued to say: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” What does inner room mean here? It is our heart, what does it mean to close the door? Close the door of your heart to the outside world, don’t let the outside world to distract us. Of course, we need a quiet place to pray. Sometimes the Lord Jesus left the crowd to pray on a mountain. Here we also see that God is pleased when we pray to him in secret, and he will repay us. How to repay, He will repay us with His presence. Then the Lord Jesus continued to say that when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans. When we pray before God, we do not need to say many words. We should learn to wait quietly before the Lord and seek His presence.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

¹“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)

Here the Lord Jesus said that when we do good deeds, we should not do it intentionally to be seen by others, to be honored by others, to get praise from others. If we do this, we will not be rewarded by the heavenly Father. Let your giving be done in secret, and the heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. This is not to say that we cannot be seen by others when we do good deeds, but that our attitude, our motive is not to be seen by others and to get praise from others. We should keep a low profile. When we do good deeds, do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing, it seems that we don’t do it, then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. This does not contradict with what studied before.
 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
Let the light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven, not to give glory to ourselves.
May God bless you and your family.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)
The Lord Jesus said: You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ The Old Testament of the Bible doesn’t say to hate your enemies. The Lord Jesus said here: “You have heard that it was said.” But the Lord Jesus told the disciples to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. The purpose of praying for them is for them to believe in the Lord.  If you love your enemy, you become children of the Father in heaven, who makes the sun shine on all, good and evil, and sends rain on all, righteous and unrighteous. What reward is there for loving those who love you, for tax collectors, i.e. sinners, do the same, and if you greet only your own people, you are not better than others, for the Gentiles, that is, unbelievers, also do the same. The Lord Jesus said that be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect, and in the parallel passage, Gospel Luke, it says that be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful, because he is merciful to the ungrateful and evildoers. The Lord Jesus asked us to be merciful to the sinners, to love our enemies, and be kind to them, so that we can be called the children of God. 🙏😊

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)
The Old Testament said: eye for eye, tooth for tooth. But here the Lord Jesus said that do not resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek also. That is to say, if someone insults you, don’t be hold resentment, don’t take revenge.
¹⁰ When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. ¹¹ Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. ¹² If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. ¹³ Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 24:10-13)
At that time, even the poorest Israelites had two shirts for change, but only one coat. The coat was a large blanket-like robe that was worn as clothes during the day and as a blanket at night. According to old testament law, you can not keep over night the coat the poor use as a pledge, the poor need it to cover overnight, but the Lord Jesus said that if someone sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well, then you have to put your complete trust in God’s provision.
At that time the Romans had the custom of forcing the Israelites to carry goods or do other services. The Lord Jesus said that if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. The Lord Jesus went on to say, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Here it talks about helping the needy, helping the poor.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:33-37)
The Lord Jesus said here that it was said to the people long ago: “Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.” This refers to the people in the Old Testament who swore oaths to the Lord, they should not break their oaths, but should keep them to the Lord. The Lord Jesus said: I tell you, do not swear an oath at all. The heaven is the throne of God, the earth is the footstool of God, Jerusalem is the city of the Great King, that is, the city of God, and the head of man is under the management of God, because man cannot change the color of his hair. These all refer to not swearing to God. The Lord Jesus continued: All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’;. The Lord Jesus wants us to be honest and speak the truth. We should not make promises casually to others; the promises we make must be fulfilled. The evil one here refers to Satan, the devil, who is always lying. The Lord Jesus wants us to speak the truth, to mean what we say, let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’²⁸ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. ³¹ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.(Matthew 5:27-32)
One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament is: You shall not commit adultery. Here the Lord Jesus said: Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Here we see that the Lord Jesus not only looked at the appearance, but He also looked at the heart, and then the Lord Jesus continued: If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Here the Lord Jesus said that if your right eye caused you to sin and stumble, you would rather pluck it out and throw it away than your whole body to be thrown into hell.  Here we see the horrors of hell, you would rather pluck out your right eye that makes you stumble than go to hell with your whole body. Here the Lord Jesus used picture language not really ask people to gouge out their eyes and throw them away. The law of the Old Testament says: “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.” Jesus said, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. (Matthew 19:8) The Lord Jesus said that husband and wife are one flesh, and God wants husband and wife to be faithful to each other, he hates divorce. Here the Lord Jesus said that if one divorces his wife not because of adultery, she was made the victim of adultery.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. ²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.(Matthew 5:21-26)
The Old Testament says that you should not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. Here the Lord Jesus said that those who are angry with their brothers will be judged, here we see that the standards of the New Testament are higher than those of the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus continued: “anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court”. What does Raca mean?” Raja is an Aramaic word meaning useless. The Lord Jesus went on to say: Anyone who calls his brother ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  The Lord Jesus continued: “if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them;” What the Lord Jesus is talking about here is to be quick to reconcile with your brother who has something against you. What he said later is the same thing, that is, to be quick to reconcile with your opponent.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
The Lord Jesus came to the world and the New Testament era started. He said that He did not come to abolish the laws and prophets of the Old Testament, but to fulfill them. The Lord Jesus went on to say that if a person sets aside the least of the commandments and teaches others, he is the least in the kingdom of heaven; but if a person keeps the commandments and teaches others to obey them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees were a sect at that time. They were self-righteous people. The Pharisees kept the small things of the law, but they failed to obey the more important things in the law, namely, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The Lord Jesus told them that they should keep the more important things of the commandments while without neglecting the small ones. The Lord Jesus taught us that our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, that is, we must obey both the important and the least of the commandments.
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
Here the Lord Jesus talked about two great commandments, one is to love God, and the other is to love people, which is the summary of all the teachings of the law and the prophets.
⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)
The essence of the law is the Ten Commandments. Here the Lord Jesus said that the Ten Commandments are all included in loving others as yourself. Love others as yourself fulfills the Ten Commandments, and love fulfills the law.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊

Matthew 5:14-16 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
Here the Lord Jesus said that the disciples are the light of the world, and the light cannot be hidden, just like a city built on a hill cannot be hidden. A man does not light a lamp and put it under a bowl, but on a lampstand to give light to the family. The bowl is used to hold food or drink. What does it mean to put a lamp under a bowl? It means that we should not let eating and drinking, or daily living affect our lamps to shine. We should let our light shine before men, that they may see our good works, and give glory to our heavenly Father.
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Here the Lord Jesus said that He is the light of the world, and those who follow Him will not walk in darkness, but will receive the light of life and become the light of the world.
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? (Mark 4:21)
In the parallel passage here, the Lord Jesus said that people do not put their lamps under a bowl or under a bed, but on a lampstand. As mentioned earlier, the bowel represents eating or drinking, or daily living, and the bed represents marriage. Here, the Lord Jesus said that we should not let marriage affect our light to shine. We should put a lamp on the lampstand, let good deeds shine before others.
May God bless you and your family.