The Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament

¶ … Matthew in the New Testament

The Gospel of St. Matthew of the New Testament Bible contains some of Jesus' most famous phrases. These religious phrases have been incorporated not only into contemporary theology but also the common speech and frames of reference, even for nonbelievers, because of their power to represent compelling philosophical ideas. Even though 'nonviolence' or civil disobedience would not have been comprehensible concepts to Jesus' contemporaries, advocates as diverse as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. later extrapolated these principles from Matthew's text.

In the sermon, however, Jesus counsels humble behavior but stresses the need to have a strong internal belief structure of resistance to go with passive resistance. He inveighs his listeners in 7:6, not to give pearls to swine, that is, not to fruitlessly preach against those who will not listen. In the same book he talks of the narrowness of the gate of heaven, and of the difficulty of judging others, lest one be judged one's self -- hence the need for humility. In other words, in an imperfect world, one must not be overly critical of the faults of others, particularly the small faults -- because probably one possesses these small faults within one's own soul. Instead, fight the larger 'war' but with the right tools of nonviolent resistance.

In a moment of anger, it is easy to snap at a loved one, or simply someone one thinks is a poor driver, while one is hurrying home from work. Jesus understands this. As for the larger questions of anger and resistance, he stresses that tolerance of others and faith in the truth of one's religious values, precepts and principles are not mutually exclusive -- one can be a believer and a Catholic, yet not have to constantly preach to nonbelievers. Rather, one must be aware of the falsity of prophets, be humble, and not dwell upon the defects, the grains of sand or wood in the eyes of the souls of others. (7:4-5)