Matthew 5-7

Matthew 5-7 As way of background, the Gospel of Matthew was written according to church tradition by the former tax collector, Matthew. As a Jew and eyewitness of Jesus, Matthew ties the Old Testament into the New Testament by proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah. As the promised Messiah, Matthew reveals Jesus as the fulfillment of what was promised and as a new and clearer interpretation of God's plan. Jesus is Immanuel, "God with us", and …

…those who have submitted themselves to the reign of God in Christ. Through obedience to the word of God, they are becoming the bearers of the nature of God. They are the partakers of the kingdom of God manifested in a whole new set of attitudes and dispositions. Therefore these chapters bring us to more than religious pity; they bring us to what we are not by nature yet what we shall be in Christ.