Matthew 5 - Beatitudes & teachings of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ started to teach His disciples regarding blessing, the world has taught people how having a high social status, wealth & abundance is a sign of blessing, but here Jesus said opposite things of the world view.
Matthew 5:3–12 (NRSVue) Titus 3:4-7 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The author then include the salt & light parables which may add more understanding of being different from the world, to do righteousness & be kind when the society is doing evil or being cruel. When Jesus Christ mentioned that our righteousness should exceeds the scribes and Pharisees, it was because they were obsessed in only following rules & to perform it outwardly without addressing their heart. Jesus Christ wanted His disciples to be genuine & authentic, in short be humble and let the works of faith be out of the heart.
So by zooming out of the whole chapter, it points to one root - the heart. Jesus expounded the commandments & eventually lead the readers to a deeper level, encouraging to self-reflect at the heart level & not just by appearance. The teachings on the topic of Law or Prophet is to address the issue on how to avoid abusing the rules & loopholes. Anger is about the envy that was displayed in Cain by being angry at Abel who had done nothing wrong. Adultery does not happened on day one but it starts from the heart to be discontent or hold their spouses in contempt. So before it ripens to become an action, one must stop that hence the cutting off analogy. As for divorce, it requires the heart to stay faithful towards the spouse where their flesh also follows their heart. Oath is an action that most people want to convince others to believe in them but here Jesus Christ as us to focus on doing our vows to the Lord that we have made & thru that trust is build.
As for the turning the other cheek, in their culture slapping in that way represent public humiliation, it encourages non-violent resistance. For example, someone cut in line during check outs at the grocery, then I looked at them and said “I let you go first”. Those who wanted to take advantage will feel embarrassed & squirmed in the queue, but those who are really in need & desperate because they have somewhere else to be will keep saying thank you and apologized genuinely. So this does not apply to domestic abuse, for those who falls in this category please seek help from local authorities.
Loving the enemies means that when they are in need such as shelter, water, food, we should provide for them if we are able. We should pray for them as well for even tax collectors were kind to their own. All these sums up to one principle or commandment : love our neighbours as ourselves. It is a reminder although I’m not perfect yet and I can’t say that I’m there, but the teachings of Jesus Christ serves as an exhortation for believers to produce the works of faith from the heart.