Remember His original audience.  Any time you study the Words of God, you must be very careful to understand to whom He was speaking.  God never just talks for the sake of talking; He always reveals Himself to particular people at particular times who are experiencing particular circumstances.  Understanding the people, their times and their circumstances is key to understanding what God meant in telling them what He did.

     So who is Jesus' audience in Matthew 5-7?  Our biggest clue is in the first verse: "he saw the crowds."  These crowds were coming from everywhere (see Matthew 4:25), and they were filled with sick people, the friends and loved ones of sick people, poor and uneducated 'people of the land' (fisherman, farmers, shepherds, etc.), some curious religious leaders, and others.  "His disciples came to him" and it was to them he began to speak.  His disciples were not those who were well educated.  They were not famous or influential for the most part.  They were Jews who were hungering for a word from God.  Remember, the nation of Israel had gone 400 years without a prophet to bring to them a fresh word from God.  John the Baptist brought a fresh word and Jesus' words were even more powerful than John's.

 

Notice the place of the Old Testament truths in Jesus' teaching.  Jesus said it very clearly himself that He didn't come to abolish, or do away with, the truth God had revealed to Israel through Moses and the Prophets.  In fact, He came to Israel in order to bring them back to a correct understanding of the things God wanted from them all along.  This is why He teaches so much according to the formula, "You have heard it said... but I tell you..."  Don't try to pluck the teachings of Jesus out of the Old Testament truths from which they come.

 

Notice the emphasis on inner righteousness in all Jesus teaches.  Kingdom righteousness is inner righteousness... that seems to be the theme of this Sermon on the Mount.  The righteousness the religious leaders of Israel were teaching and exemplifying was one focused on the outer appearances of obedience to the words of the law.  Jesus is correcting that false idea of righteousness by giving examples of God's true intention in giving His laws of outward obedience.

 

This is some deep stuff here.  Don't be too hasty to move through these teachings of the Master.  Just because you may grasp these concepts with your brain, doesn't mean you've grasped them in your spirit and in your living.  Remember that Jesus is NOT passing on knowledge for the sake of knowledge.  He's passing on understanding so that our entire lives can be changed to fit the mold of the Kingdom of God.  Chew on these things.  Let them settle in you and change your inner self.  Then be amazed at how different your attitudes and actions become over time.  This is discipleship at its best!