Explaining Jesus to Muslims
Download PDF version

3. Jesus' Teaching

To learn what Jesus taught you need to read the four accounts of Jesus' life in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Here we will look at the gospel according to Matthew, chapters 5-7. You should find a Bible or New Testament and read the relevant verses as you do this study. In this passage Jesus teaches about true righteousness, that is, how to live in the way that God requires. He talks about true blessedness, the law, anger, adultery, divorce, vows, revenge, enemies, giving of alms, prayer, fasting, wealth, worry, criticism and hypocrisy. Jesus speaks with authority, claiming to have a superior message than the law of Moses. The law of Moses was given as the law for the theocratic state of Israel. Jesus teaching is more personal. It is not taught as a law to keep so that we will be accepted by God, because it is impossible for the natural man to obey Jesus' teaching. What is taught here is the ideal. Only those who have come into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ can hope to live by this standard. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible. Jesus encourages God's people to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Jesus' teaching is based on God's own character - love, justice and holiness. Right and wrong are unchangeable absolutes related to God's nature which never changes. It should be stressed that this teaching is not law. On the one hand a Christian is set free from all law and rules, but on the other hand, out of love for God he becomes his bond slave. Everyone will be directly responsible to God for his actions on judgment day.

Matthew Chapter 5-7

True Blessing (5:1-12)
For unbelievers blessing means riches, pleasure, pride, good food, power, lust and superiority. Jesus taught that true blessing was just the opposite. It is found through poverty, mourning, humility, hunger, being merciful, being pure in heart and in working for peace. People who are looking for prestige and power and money and pleasure in the world don't find God or know his blessings.

The Law (5:17-20)
Jesus did not cancel the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets, he fulfilled them. The teaching found in them is eternal, but much of the ritual and symbolism was fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Although Christianity is based on Judaism, it is very different. They have the same God, prophets and Scripture, but whereas Judaism was largely external ritual, Christianity is a religion of the heart in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Jews said that Jerusalem was the centre for worship, Jesus said that true worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. True worship is sincere, without hypocrisy and comes from the heart, not in outward ritual.

Anger (5:21-26)
The law forbids murder, but Jesus said that any anger is sin. Jesus said that we should make reconciliation with people as soon as possible and that we should not attempt to worship God if there is anger in our hearts.

Adultery (5:27-30)
The law forbids a person to sleep with another man's wife, but Jesus goes deeper to the root of the problem. He said that even adulterous thoughts or lust are sin. It is sin in the heart that leads a person to hell. Any sexual relationship with a woman who is not your wife is sin. Adulterers will not enter paradise unless they are saved through repentance and faith.

Divorce (5:31-32)
Moses allowed divorce, because he knew the weakness of man, but Jesus says that divorce is as serious a sin as adultery. In Matthew 19:1-9 Jesus says that since creation it was God's will for marriage to be permanent until the death of one partner.

Vows (5:33-37)
Moses said that vows made in God's name should not be broken. Jesus says that we should not make vows at all, but only say Yes! or No! Using God's name in vows comes from Satan, because often vows are lies are so God's name is misused.

Revenge (5:38-42)
Moses said: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Jesus says that we should not take revenge, we should leave the matter with God. Rather than wanting revenge we should be prepared to let people do double. Some people see that as weakness, but Jesus teaches love. What a lot of evil and suffering would be avoided if we left revenge to God.

Enemies (5:43-48)
Moses said that we should love our friends and hate our enemies. Jesus says that we should love our enemies and pray for them and treat them as friends, just as God blesses us in many ways even when we are bad and in fact his enemies.

Alms (6:1-4)
Religious duties should not be done in public for people to see. If done before God in secret, he will reward you. If done to be thought well of by men, the action is hypocritical and there will be no reward from God.

Prayer (6:5-15)
Jesus gives us a model prayer to pray. The first half of the prayer is seeking after God's glory. The second half deals with our basic needs of food, forgiveness and protection from evil Prayers are not to be done in public for the same reason as stated above and we should not just say words without thinking what we are saying. God is not interested in vain repetitions, he wants prayers from the heart.

Fasting (6:16-18)
Fasting is good, especially if done to enforce our prayers. It should also be done in secret, because it is a matter between you and God, not you and other people. None of these acts make a person righteous before God. They are done out of devotion to God.

Wealth (6:19-24)
Wealth should not be our ambition in life, because wealth is never secure and life is transitory. We should concentrate on storing up wealth in heaven by doing God's will. Earthly wealth often causes people to turn their back on God. Your life cannot be motivated by wealth and God at the same time.

Worry (6:25-33)
The Christian has no need to worry about the basic needs of life like food and clothing, because if he trusts in God, God will provide all these things for him as he does for the animals and birds. Christians should be concerned about God's will being done and how they contribute to God's plan for the world.

Criticism (7:1-6)
God will judge us with the same severity with which we judge others. We should concentrate on getting our lives straight and being tolerant of others.

Prayer (7:7-11)
We should come to God confidently in prayer believing that he loves us and wants to bless us. This requires faith, faith in God and his promises. He is our heavenly Father. He loves us as his children and is waiting for us to ask him for his blessings.

Meaning of the law of Moses (7:12)
Do to others what you would have them do to you.

The True Path (7:13-14)
The true path to God is narrow and difficult and there are few people taking it. The way of the world is wide and easy and most people are on that road, but it leads to hell.

Hypocrisy (7:15-23)
Religious hypocrites are people who say that they are doing God's will, but their actions prove that they aren't. If you are religious and at the same time you are an adulterer or a thief or take bribes or practice black magic or sacrifice to spirits or get drunk, you are a hypocrite. If your heart is not right with good, your actions will show it, no matter what you say with your mouth. Not all who call on God belong to him. The Lord knows those who belong to him and all will be revealed on the Day of Judgment.

A strong foundation (7:24-27)
Build a house on sand and the walls will crack and it will fall down. Build it on rock and it will be stable and strong. Those who hear these words of Jesus and obey them have a strong foundation. They will be secure in this world and the next. Those who do not obey these teachings will fall and be destroyed.

Ritual defilement (Mark 7:14-23)
Jesus' disciples were criticized by the religious leaders because they did not wash their hands in the traditional way before eating. Jesus told the crowd that it is not what goes into a man that makes him ritually unclean, but what comes out of his heart. For this reason Christians have no taboos on food and drink. Neither is it the excretions of the body that make a person ritually unclean or interrupt fellowship with God. It is the evil thoughts that come from the heart - murder, adultery, stealing, lying and slander. God is not concerned with defilement of the body, he is concerned about defilement of the mind. That is the sin that separates us from God. It is not water that makes a person clean before God, only the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the cross as an atonement for our sin.

If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)