Matthew 5 begins what is known as Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The size of the crowds following Jesus by this point in His ministry have become massive. People come from great distances in every direction to see His miracles of healing and hear His compelling teaching.

The words people use to describe nature vary drastically from place to place. A person raised in the Midwestern U.S. might call a body of water a "pond" while someone from central Africa might think of it as a "lake." Likewise, what someone raised in ancient Israel called a "mountain," someone from Nepal might call a "hill." Jesus' sermon was not given in a location resembling Mount Everest or the Rocky Mountains. Jesus likely delivered this sermon in the hills near His home in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. One traditional site of the sermon provides an elevated spot with ample seating, allowed a great mass of people to hear Jesus speak. Jesus sits down to teach, the position assumed by most religious teachers of the day. This elevated sitting position would have been seen as a position of authority (Matthew 5:1).

The crowd includes Jesus' chosen disciples, His committed followers, and likely some who were simply curious. The sermon itself may have been much longer than what Matthew includes in chapters 5—7. Matthew's call by Christ is explicitly described in Matthew 9:9, but ancient writing was not concerned with keeping events in strict order of time. Matthew's call might have happened during Jesus' ministry just prior to this speech (Matthew 4:23–25). This means Matthew may have been present for this message. As a tax collector, he would have been fluent in reading, writing, and keeping records. That opens the possibility that this is a word-for-word transcription of Jesus' sermon. Even if Matthew compiled this from Jesus' later repetitions, the words are still surprising, even confusing, and challenging (Matthew 5:2).

Matthew's reporting of the sermon begins with a list of sentences called the Beatitudes. That name comes from the Latin word beatus, which means "blessed" or "happy." Each sentence begins with the words "blessed are." Blessed, as Jesus uses it here, means something like "having a good result or outcome." It does not refer to feelings of happiness—in fact, some of these statements involve pain and suffering. Reading from a merely human perspective, it is surprising to hear the kind of people He mentions are "blessed." Human nature doesn't associate humility and mourning with good outcomes. Jesus' entire sermon, though, is designed to show those who listen that our "normal" perspectives are upside down. What matters most is humility and the kingdom of God. These attitudes are reflections of those who understand God's will and His perspective (Matthew 5:3–12).

Next, Jesus emphasizes to His disciples that their lives are enormously valuable. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That's why it is so important they do the good works God gives them to do. It is how those in the darkness of the world will see God. Like lamps give light to a dark room, or salt prevents decay in food, Christian influence is meant to counter evil and despair (Matthew 5:13–16).

Jesus then makes it clear He has not come to do away with "the Law or the Prophets." This phrase is a reference to the Scriptures we now call the Old Testament. They are not being dismissed, but Jesus has come to satisfy them. His mission is not to discard those commandments, but to bring them to their full and complete purpose. In order to do that, Jesus explains the deeper meaning of those commands. This begins with a remark about exceeding the righteousness of the infamously strict scribes and Pharisees. His point is twofold: their righteousness is superficial, and no person can be good enough to earn heaven on their own (Matthew 5:17–20).

What does it mean to have a righteousness that surpasses that of Israel's religious leaders? Jesus explains this with a series of examples using a pattern of "you have heard…but I say." The point is not necessarily to dismiss the words being taught. Rather, Jesus' point is to explain that there is something more to God's commandments than bare legalism. In each case, Jesus explains that merely avoiding physical sin is not "good enough." God intends His Words to affect our hearts—our thoughts and attitudes can be sins, just as much as our behavior and speech.

Avoiding murder follows the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13). Yet truly following that commandment, as God intended, also means not harboring unrighteous anger. Anger is not exactly identical to murder, but anger is a sin just as much as murder is a sin. Christians ought to seek reconciliation, both with God and with others, rather than face judgment (Matthew 5:21–26).

The seventh commandment forbids adultery (Exodus 20:14), but God means something more than merely avoiding physical acts. The phrasing Jesus uses here implies active thinking: the choice to dwell, fantasize, or "ogle" someone. It can also mean making efforts to tempt another person into sin. Lustful thoughts are not exactly the same as physical adultery—but they are every bit as sinful. With that in mind, Jesus makes deliberately exaggerated statements about the danger of our urges. It's better to be maimed or blinded, rather than to let our natural instincts drag us into hell (Matthew 5:27–30).

Divorce, in Jesus' era, was given very loose restrictions. In practice, men could dismiss their wives for virtually any reason. God's command about divorce was not a sign of His approval (Deuteronomy 24:1–4), it was meant to protect women from unfair treatment. Jesus shreds selfish attitudes towards marriage by saying no divorce is valid except in cases such as sexually immorality. Marriage is not something we are meant to put on and take off like a coat. It has sacred implications and should be treated accordingly (Matthew 5:31–32).

Jesus also dismissed the use of casual oaths. This does not mean wedding vows, courtroom oaths, or contracts. Jesus is speaking of sealing promises with some kind of "I swear by…" statement. While the Old Testament allowed for oaths in the name of God (Leviticus 19:12), people of Jesus' era would swear on lesser things, often to excuse later violations. People even today will add "I cross my heart…" or "I swear…" to suggest a promise is sincere. Since this implies the person's word is not always trustworthy, Jesus says such oaths are evil (Matthew 5:33–37).

Christ also refers to the Old Testament's law of retaliation (Deuteronomy 19:21). This was meant to prevent conflicts from spiraling out of control, by keeping punishments equal to the offense. In personal matters, though, Jesus commands believers to seek peace over "getting even." Insults and abuses should be ignored—or returned with more love and service than the aggressor expects. This even extends to demonstrating love and praying for those who hate and persecute us (Matthew 5:38–47).

Jesus' final demand of those who would be righteous before God is the most difficult of all: You must be perfect as God is perfect. This not only explains the depth of God's commandments, it sets the stage for Jesus' preaching of the gospel, as salvation by grace through faith (Matthew 5:48).

Matthew 5:1–12 contains the beautiful Beatitudes delivered by Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount. The series of nine sentences describes an unlikely group of people as blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those hungry for righteousness, and the merciful. All are blessed because of their part in the kingdom of heaven. This includes those persecuted for the sake of righteousness and on account of Jesus. Instead of despairing, they should rejoice for the great rewards they will receive in heaven. These are not prerequisites for salvation; instead, they are the natural expressions of saving faith in the life of those who know Christ.

Matthew 5:13–20 describes the essential role Jesus' disciples and followers serve on the earth. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. These metaphors represent the impact Christians are meant to have in the world. That's why it matters so much that they do the good works God gives them to do. Otherwise, they will stop being useful as salt and light. Instead, they should do those works, allowing their light to shine in the dark world in order that all who see will give glory to God.

Matthew 5:17–20 sets up an important point about the nature of sin. To do so, Jesus first declares that heaven's standard of righteousness is beyond human ability. His purpose is not to discard the law of Moses, but to accomplish the purpose for which the law was given. A cornerstone of Jesus' teaching is that man cannot earn salvation, since we cannot hope to be good enough. This passage sets the stage for this idea, through exaggeration. In order to earn the kingdom of heaven, a person must be even more righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees—that culture's ultimate standard for ''good behavior.'' In later passages, Christ will expand on how sin involves not only what we do, physically, but our thoughts and motivations.

Matthew 5:21–26 begins to expand Jesus' comments about righteousness. The underlying theme is that sin involves more than just physical actions: it also includes thoughts and attitudes. It's relatively easy to say, ''I do not murder,'' but very difficult to say, ''I'm not unfairly angry towards other people.'' The point is not that anger is literally-and-exactly the same as murder. Rather, it's that unrighteous anger is undeniably a sin, in and of itself. True righteousness—the kind that would be needed to earn heaven—requires that level of perfection. Not only does this teaching counter superficial religious hypocrisy, it underscores the fact that salvation must be by grace through faith, and can never be earned by good works.

Matthew 5:27–30 continues to expand on a theme Jesus introduced in Matthew 5:20. True ''righteousness'' is not merely about what a person does but includes what they think and feel. This teaching is meant to explain the reality of sin, and to highlight the need for grace and faith, not good works, in salvation. In this passage, Jesus acknowledges that adultery is a sin, but also declares that attitudes of lust are sinful as well. He does not say that lust is exactly, precisely the same thing as adultery. He does, however, teach that lust is absolutely a sin, even if it never results in physical action.

Matthew 5:31–32 contains Jesus' comments about divorce, delivered during the Sermon on the Mount. As with His prior statements about lust and adultery, Jesus raises the standards of righteousness above mere legalism. While God may have ''allowed'' divorce, that does not mean He ''approves'' of it. Rather than seeing divorce as a loophole, Jesus indicates that we ought to see marriages as sacred unions.

Matthew 5:33–37 continues a theme Jesus has been expanding in the Sermon on the Mount. The difference between righteousness and sin is not just a matter of following rules. It starts in the human heart. Here, Jesus attacks another way in which hypocrites would twist and abuse religious teachings. When Jesus speaks against swearing oaths, he's not referring to serious, formal commitments like marriage or a courtroom witness. He's condemning those who use the language of oaths to disguise dishonest intentions.

Matthew 5:38–42 is part of the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches about how to respond to insults and persecution. Old Testament law established a legal principle of ''eye for an eye,'' intended to prevent excessive revenge—punishments were meant to be proportional to the crime. In personal matters, however, Jesus sets a very different standard. In response to insults and unfair treatment, Christians are to endure, not retaliate. The following passage, speaking on loving one's enemies, adds an active component to this concept.

Matthew 5:43–48 continues Jesus' teaching on love and humility, a part of the Sermon on the Mount. After commanding believers not to seek revenge in the face of insults, Jesus expands the idea of love to include one's enemies. Human beings naturally struggle with the idea of passively accepting persecution. We naturally recoil at the idea of expressing active love—in our deeds, not necessarily in our emotions—for those who hate and attack us. However, loving those who love you is easy; God's standards are higher.

The Sermon on the Mount contains some of Jesus' most challenging teaching. It begins with the unlikely blessings of the Beatitudes. Jesus' disciples must do good works in order to be a powerful influence: as the salt of the earth and light of the world. The superficial righteousness of the Pharisees is not good enough to earn heaven. Sins of the heart, such as angry insults and intentional lust, are worthy of hell just as much as adultery and murder. Easy divorce and deceptive oaths are forbidden. Believers should not seek revenge. Instead, God intends us to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. In short, we should strive to be perfect, as God is perfect.

Matthew 5 follows Matthew's description of the enormous crowds that were following Jesus (Matthew 4:25). One day, Jesus sits down on a hill to teach them, in an address we now call the Sermon on the Mount. He describes as blessed those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, and who are persecuted. Christ also explains how God's standards of righteousness go far beyond behaviors and speech; they also include our thoughts and attitudes. Meeting God's standards means perfection. Chapter 6 continues this sermon, with more examples of Jesus clarifying God's intent for godly living.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.

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