Matthew 5:46-47 Questions and Sayings of Jesus
Introduction
Matthew Henry calls this last part of Chapter 5 an exposition of Matthew 22:39 ““The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Helpful verses
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Luke Chapter 6)
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.
17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
The Questions
Matthew 5:46 ““For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Matthew 5:47 ““If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”
Discussion
Who is my neighbor?
What did the Pharisees teach about this?
What was Jesus saying?
Did Jesus have an issue with tax collectors?
Were they wicked in His mind?
46. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?—The publicans, as collectors of taxes due to the Roman government, were ever on this account obnoxious to the Jews, who sat uneasy under a foreign yoke, and disliked whatever brought this unpleasantly before them. But the extortion practiced by this class made them hateful to the community, who in their current speech ranked them with “harlots.” Nor does our Lord scruple to speak of them as others did, which we may be sure He never would have done if it had been calumnious. The meaning, then, is, “In loving those who love you, there is no evidence of superior principle; the worst of men will do this: even a publican will go that length.”
