^{17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.
18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.'
22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire.
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison;
26 truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
31 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'
32 But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 "Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.'
34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.}

• "The Law and the Prophets" here represents the whole of the Old Testament.
• Anger lies at the root of murder, so to root out anger is to avoid murder absolutely.
• "Adultery" was committed when a married or engaged woman has sexual relation with another man. According to Deuteronomy (22:22-24) both should be punished by death, though often the man escaped while the woman was killed by her own father and brothers for shaming them. Similar to the first point, rooting out lust would render adultery impossible.
• "Right eye, ... right hand": the right side was considered more respectable.
• Only the husband, not the wife, could initiate the divorce for reasons as simple as spoiling a meal. With a bill from her former husband, she could marry another man.
• Swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem: commonly a seller would swear by God (i.e., calling God to witness) that his wares are good. Honest people don't even need to swear.
• Swear by one's head: this is an ironic comment, because with hair coloring (commonly used at that time) what you see (the pretense on top) may not be what you get (the true nature below).

Jesus brings God's law to perfection. When Jesus uses four points here or eight points in the beatitudes, he is not setting specific rules, but uses these points as poetic and vivid ways to express a central message. The central message here is that Jesus brings the Old Testament law to perfection.

1. Imagine each of the four examples Jesus uses. For example, how hateful would a murderer be, and what changes does Jesus desire?
2. Take any law, such as going to Church on Sunday. What would be perfect and imperfect ways of doing it? Which way do I follow?
3. God's supreme law is love. What is perfect love in my life now?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community