Matthew 5:19, commentary and pictures

To be called least in the kingdom of heaven is to have no place in it at all, for whoever willfully breaks even the smallest commandment and leads others to do the same will be shut out, while whoever obeys and teaches the commandments will be called great. That rank of least or great is pronounced by heaven itself, and no earthly learning, wealth, position or reputation counts against heaven's estimate of obedience. Christ spoke this to uphold the law, not to destroy it, so not one jot or tittle passes away and the whole moral law remains fully binding, perpetual and to be literally obeyed. No commandment may be treated as unimportant or set aside, for willfully breaking one proves rebellion of heart and guilt of breaking the whole law. Doing and teaching belong together by precept and example, and this includes the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the seventh day, which Christ kept and taught rather than changing it to another day.

Wording and Historical Setting

To be called least in the kingdom of heaven is to have no place in it at all, not to enter heaven with a low rank. Willful breaking of one commandment and teaching others to do so shuts a person out of heaven, for whoever willfully breaks one does not in spirit and truth keep any of them. Such transgressors will have no part in the kingdom and will not be admitted into the holy city or into God's family, whatever claim to be led by the Spirit is made, for the Spirit does not lead to break the law. They are counted least in the estimation of those who inherit the kingdom and judged least among human beings, declared wanting by heaven's books and having no esteem before heaven. Their guilt includes both their own disloyalty and leading others into the path of disobedience, and no commandment may be treated as unimportant, ignored, or set aside for convenience or pleasure under a lower standard.

The decision of least or great is pronounced by heaven itself. Breaking one of the least requirements of God and teaching others to do the same brings heaven's decision that such a teacher works against God the Lawgiver and receives the lowest standing, while doing God's requirements and teaching them brings the decision of the heavenly intelligences that such a person works for God and receives the highest standing. That calling is given by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the three highest authorities in the universe, with all the heavenly family in the fullest sense of the term. The councils of the universe and the heavenly courts register the breaker and teacher of disobedience as least in value among men and least in all God's creation, and recognize the doer and teacher as one with God and Christ and call him great. That greatness is proclaimed by angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, who value the humble and obedient above the most exalted on earth. Learning, wealth, earthly position, high birth, hereditary greatness, high-sounding titles, reputation, and the greatness people assign count nothing against heaven's estimate, which measures standing by obedience alone and makes disobedient teaching worse.

To break one of these least commandments means to violate or disobey any moral precept, and to teach men so means by precept or by example. Conduct and influence teach either for or against the truth, so lives are to reveal the holy requirements clearly and faithfully through both teaching and example. Works that make commandment-breaking seem justified help lead others into error and bring responsibility for that influence in the judgment. Disrespectful words or indifference that lead others to disregard the law also carry responsibility, and evasions and falsehoods that undermine its binding claims for all people and for all time bring the same judgment of least. Profession of faith does not excuse such disobedience, for true conversion joins faith with heartfelt obedience to the unchangeable law.

The words were spoken in the Sermon on the Mount, in the discourse on the mount and from the mount of blessing, as instruction to the disciples about their work. They were given within the charge that His people are to dispel the darkness of the world as the light of the world, like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid and a candle set on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, letting light shine in good works so men glorify the Father in heaven. This doing and teaching belongs to the good works by which disciples shine and to the righteousness that must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter the kingdom. They were spoken when the charge was made that His teaching opposed the precepts given from Sinai, declaring instead that He came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill them literally down to the smallest details until heaven and earth pass. In manner and word they rebuked pretentious piety and corrected erroneous ideas regarding God's law, restoring it to its holy, just, good, and original place after human maxims, traditions, and rabbinical rubbish had defaced it and made it void.

Christ Upholds the Law

Christ came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfil them, so till heaven and earth pass not one jot or tittle shall pass till all be fulfilled. The law remains fully binding, perpetual, unchangeable, and literally to be obeyed, and even its least commandments keep their force so that breaking one and teaching men so brings being called least in the kingdom of heaven while doing and teaching them brings being called great. His death did not abolish any part of it, for He died for sin rather than to set the law aside. This applies to the Sabbath commandment, which He upheld rather than conforming to human rules that misrepresented it.

He restores the law's true meaning and exceeding breadth, revealing its spiritual character in a new setting in the framework of the gospel and giving the old light missed by those who dwelt on law as entrance into heaven. He shows its principles reach further than the narrow understanding of the scribes and Pharisees, reaching motives and the state of the heart and conduct and every part of life and the inmost parts of the mind. He rescues its precious commandments from rabbinical rubbish, human maxims, traditions, and false interpretations that had buried and defaced them and made them void and made them a yoke of bondage, restoring the law to its holy, just, good and original place and proclaiming its true purity and far-reaching force with greater force than at Sinai. His teaching does not lessen the law, and obedience is not the human traditions or outward rules and outward ceremony added by the scribes and Pharisees, whose human exactions built over and around the law until even its letter could not be kept. Keeping the commandments therefore demands a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, shown in practical godliness.

He magnifies the law and makes it honorable by His perfect obedience and sin-offering, the Father having given it and the Son having died to exalt it. His mission was not to cancel the moral law but to demonstrate by His life and resistance to temptation that people can obey it, proving obedience is possible through His merits. The law directs conduct and reveals sin but cannot save or pardon, while its spirit points to Christ, whose atoning merits enable the repentant sinner to fulfill its requirements. The gospel requires perfect obedience and gives repentant sinners power through His merits and righteousness received by faith and credited to them to return to loyalty and become children of God and live obediently, so that those fallen through disobedience can keep the law and disobedience admits no one to the kingdom. A claim that Christ is present cannot be trusted when people trample the commandments, and disrespectful words or indifference that lead others to disregard the law also carry responsibility to be accounted for in the judgment.

Sabbath Commandment Upheld

The verse proves that Christ did not change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. He declared that He came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfil them, and that till heaven and earth pass not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law till all be fulfilled, so even the least commandments remain binding. Whoever breaks one of the least commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The fourth commandment still identifies the seventh day as the Sabbath, the Lord's day and memorial of the Creator, and changing it does not remove its authority. Those who assert that He changed it or authorize changing the seventh-day Sabbath to Sunday directly contradict His own words and teach others to disregard what He said about breaking and teaching against even a least commandment.

Christ upheld the sacred obligation of the Sabbath by both teaching and example rather than conforming to human rules that misrepresented it. He did not come to lessen the dignity of the law but to exalt it, and rejecting human traditions is not breaking God's law. The law had been perverted by Jewish traditions and misconceptions and made a yoke of bondage, with meaningless exactions and requirements that became a by-word among other nations. Especially the Sabbath was hedged in by senseless restrictions that made that holy day almost unendurable, forbidding to kindle a fire on the Sabbath or even to light a candle, so that narrow views made the people slaves to useless regulations and dependent on Gentiles to do for them services their own rules forbade. Those who imposed such rules did not reflect that if necessary duties of life were sins they were as guilty in employing others to perform them as in doing them themselves, while they thought salvation was restricted to the Jews and the condition of all others was hopeless. A just God has given no commandment which cannot be consistently kept by all, and His laws sanction no meaningless usages or clumsy restrictions, for works of mercy and necessity are lawful and consistent with Sabbath keeping.

The commandment to keep the seventh-day Sabbath is included among the least commandments that are to be obeyed and taught, as part of the law Christ upheld and did not change or set aside. The Sabbath was instituted at creation and established for people to cease their labor on the seventh day, not given only to the Jews, and those who teach otherwise will be confronted with the scenes of Eden and Sinai when the law is revealed at Christ's coming as God's standard of character. Knowingly disregarding it and influencing others to treat it as unimportant, keeping the day observed by the world instead of the fourth commandment, compelling the humanly appointed day, or teaching that the law is abolished is breaking and teaching against God's law. A general record of obedience does not cancel a deliberate violation, as Adam and Eve's single departure bringing the law's penalty shows, and God's mercy does not excuse deliberate transgression of a commandment when its truth is understood. Those who know God's commandments but refuse to obey because obedience involves a cross, and who despise the law or teach against it, will face its authority and are pronounced least in heaven.

No Commandment Is Trivial

No commandment may be treated as unimportant, nonessential, or set aside for convenience, pleasure, or self, and strict observance of every requirement including the least is required. Willfully breaking one commandment proves a person does not keep any of them in spirit and truth, but breaks the whole law and is guilty of all. Willingness to break one of the least leaves a person unable in spirit and in truth to keep any one, and those who make exceptions in what they think are minor points will under temptation break the whole law. This matters because the most trying times are to come upon the whole earth to try all who dwell on it, and those who strive for the crown of eternal life and name the name of Christ must depart from all iniquity.

Even the least departure from God's expressed will is rebellion against the laws of His government and a virtual denial of God, for sin is not measured by the greatness of the act but by departure in even the least particular. Such departure proves there is still communion between the soul and sin and that the heart is divided in its service. Choosing one's own way instead of God's requirements puts a person in controversy with God and at war with the very principles of heaven, placing him on the side of Satan, the enemy of God and man. Disobeying even one commandment and teaching others to disobey by doctrine or example dishonors God and makes the person a transgressor and rebel against His rule, not a minister of righteousness. Such breakers and teachers are Satan's agents in war against Jehovah's law, with Satan as root and themselves as branches continuing the rebellion he began when he swerved from allegiance in his high holy position next to Christ and became God's avowed antagonist leading others against God, and their names are recorded in heaven's books as associate rebels with the first great apostate.

Man must live not by one word or many words but by every word God has spoken, and cannot disregard one word however trifling it seems and be safe. Every commandment is for the good and happiness of man in this life and the life to come, and in obedience man is surrounded as with a hedge and kept from evil, but he who breaks down this divinely erected barrier at one point destroys its power to protect him and opens a way for the enemy to enter to waste and ruin. By contrast doing and teaching the commandments belongs to the great principle of loyalty set against the great principle of disloyalty, calling for Christian courage to uplift the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, making no compromise with rebellion, keeping the line between obedient and disobedient plain and distinct, and doing the Lord's will at all times and in all places. Christ came not to abolish or weaken the moral law but to uphold its claims, explain its nature, obey it as an example, and lead people to love and practice its principles.

One transgression brings the law's penalty and cannot be cancelled by a general record of obedience, so breaking even one requirement cannot be excused by keeping the others. Adam and Eve's single departure illustrates this, bringing guilt and sorrow and requiring the Son of God to give Himself to save sinners, showing transgression is not lightly passed over. When a professed believer breaks even the least precept in word or spirit, especially with self-confidence, he misrepresents Jesus and faces judgment, where an unrepented record of wicked deeds means his name is blotted from the book of life.

How a teacher treats the moral law proves whether his claims are true. Those who do not feel the weight of the moral law, who belittle and make light of God's precepts, who break one of the least commandments and teach others to do the same, shall be of no esteem in the sight of heaven. Such teaching shows there is no light in them, marks them as false teachers to beware of, and is the same work begun by the prince of darkness, the enemy of God, while true teaching leads to reverence and fear of God and to showing love for Him by loyalty to His commandments. God's commandments are the only standard of holiness in heaven and in earth by which holiness and religious profession are measured, so no one can become holy while willfully violating one requirement, and such conduct exposes claims to holiness as without foundation. Treating even the least commandment as no longer binding, or teaching others to weaken or set them aside, or replacing God's commandments with human customs and traditions to lead others to disregard His law, dishonors Christ rather than honoring Him, for faith in Christ and preaching the gospel must not undermine obedience to any part of God's law.

Doing and Teaching Together

Doing and teaching belong together, for the commandments remain authoritative and binding with nothing small passing from them while heaven and earth stand, so whoever disregards even a least commandment and teaches others to do likewise is called least in the kingdom of heaven, while whoever obeys them and teaches them is called great. This charge was given to the disciples as the light of the world, making doing and teaching part of the good works by which they shine before men and of the serious work Christ's followers have undertaken. Entrance into the kingdom requires a righteousness that goes beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, shown in both faithfully obeying the commandments and faithfully teaching them by precept and example. Keeping God's commandments in this way allows Him to reveal His power through His people, who then become lights in the world.

People are accountable for their influence, since conduct and example teach either for or against the truth, and disrespectful words, indifference, or evasions that lead others to disregard the law also carry responsibility. The guilt of the breaker-teacher therefore includes both personal disloyalty and leading others into error, and those who make commandment-breaking seem justified help lead others into disobedience and bear responsibility for it. This standard of obedience to the law will confront every transgressor in the day of judgment, leaving no escape for those who neglect so great salvation. Ministers who teach that God's law is no longer binding, or who encourage disobedience by example, bear especially grave responsibility, and at Christ's judgment excuses for disobedience will be silenced and those who lead others to transgress condemned according to their responsibility. Failure to follow the light God has given separates people from Him, with darkness coming in proportion to the light refused, for His requirements are just and require perfect obedience to the revealed will.

Those who lift up God's standard by keeping His commandments openly in life and teaching others to obey them will be rewarded by seeing souls converted. One soul truly converted will in turn bring others to Christ, so the work advances into new territory. This doing and teaching belongs especially to going forth with the word of the Lord as God's standard-bearers.

Parents are responsible before God to follow His way themselves and to set an example their children can safely follow, because children depend on them as character is formed. Obedience includes the smallest detail and must be taught by parental example, with words and actions at home training children for service to God. That duty is carried out by faithfully teaching children the Scriptures and God's law from their earliest years at home, preparing them for Christ's instruction in the life to come.

Last Days Mission Calling

In the last days those who have light upon the law must stand firmly and let that light shine in clear distinct rays, exalting the Lord by keeping holy His law as a transcript of His character and covenant obligation, for no part of the law loses its binding claims upon all the world. To fulfill means to meet every specification of the law and to prove before the world that it cannot change, so that not the smallest letter will pass while heaven and earth stand until all is accomplished. The lesson reaches down to the present time when the world is stirred by the crisis over the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and it stands directly against the course of the Roman power in speaking against God and seeking to change His times and laws. That power is to be exposed as the man of sin who made Sunday law a distinctive power and thought to change times and laws and oppresses those who honor God by keeping holy the only true Sabbath of creation. The Sabbath was instituted at creation and not given only to the Jews, so those who teach otherwise will be confronted with the scenes of Eden and Sinai, and at Christ's coming the law will be revealed as God's standard of character with authority over those who have despised it or taught against it. Even those who hold high earthly positions are called least in the kingdom of heaven when they transgress, for Christ has supreme authority to present the law that must be obeyed, earthly rulers remain under God, and when their laws conflict with God's commands His law takes precedence, so that compelling people to replace the Creator's seventh-day Sabbath with a humanly appointed day is transgression of His law.

The verse belongs to Christ's charge that His people are to dispel the darkness of this world as the light of the world, like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid and a candle set on a candlestick to give light to all in the house, letting light shine in good works so men glorify the Father in heaven. Keeping God's commandments allows Him to reveal His power through His people, and if all obeyed them they would indeed be lights in the world. It is the work of God's people to give this message to the world, teaching men and women not to regard lightly even one principle of the law, explaining the nature of God's holy requirements by precept and by example, and by such doing and teaching becoming in the world a savor of life unto life. Applied, it requires a true missionary spirit that sends workers into unworked fields and cities such as Memphis and New Orleans, and follows up awakened interest with diligent effort so souls receive truth and give means for the work, instead of hiding the light under a bushel by leaving cities unworked. Entrance into the kingdom requires a righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, and the call applies to every minister, physician, and officer in God's work to seek the Lord in humility, lay aside human plans and self-glory for God's plans under the Holy Spirit, and show sound conversion in words, motives, and actions.

The same breaking and teaching brings grave danger when done among believers in the remnant church. The least disobedience against one of God's precepts brings condemnation, for the least commandments are the teachings of God's Word and none of them may be set aside as nonessential or unimportant. As scribes and Pharisees, priests and rulers broke them by arranging them in human wisdom to teach false doctrines and by putting human laws in the place of the divine, so the same course among believers repeats their guilt.

The words spoken on the mount in Matthew 5 are full of deep meaning and must be brought into practical experience, for every symbol has its value yet many who claim to be Christians only dimly appreciate them and do not choose to bring them into experience. These golden treasures of truth and instruction need to be incorporated into the life to give experimental knowledge of the highest value, and messengers must see their real value, understand the true position they are called to occupy, and when proved and tried work them out in their own lives and experience. The plans laid out in Matthew 5:1-48 are to be studied and acted upon, full of precious instruction to be read and written upon the tablets of the soul, showing what can be accomplished through cooperation with Christ in revealing the likeness of the divine Lord, including being the light of the world whose good works glorify the Father and being the salt of the earth that must not lose its savor lest profession avail nothing. Living by those teachings develops Christlike character and puts divine principles in the heart, and taking them to heart with cherished attention brings transformation of character in Christ's followers. Christ's lesson in the Sermon on the Mount is important for believers in every age to bring into practical life and to keep before those who receive the message, for it is practical godliness and soul-saving message whose truths received with a humble spirit lead to conversion and remove rebuke for past wrongs. Hearing and doing these sayings builds on the rock so that rain, floods, and winds do not overthrow, while mere saying Lord, Lord and wonderful works without doing the Father's will leads to rejection, and a life that does them makes a deeper impression than preaching alone.

Obedient Life and Blessing

Keeping the commandments is a reproduction of Christ's character in oneself, for in Him God was daily made manifest before men. The law represents God's character and unfolds what it means to love and obey Him, requiring perfect spiritual obedience, and obedience to it is necessary for membership in the royal family as a child of the heavenly King. Obedience to the revealed will would prepare God's people to display a character and way of life suited to the light received, while failure to follow that light separates from Him and darkness comes in proportion to light refused. The law given on the mount reaches every part of life, condemning every evil action and calling for perfect obedience, which Christ exemplified in His sinless life. Accepting Christ as personal Saviour leads to an earnest desire to do duty to God and represent Him in character, keeping His commandments as He did.

Every commandment is for the good and happiness of man both in this life and in the life to come, and in obedience man is surrounded as with a hedge and kept from evil. He who breaks down this divinely erected barrier at one point destroys its power to protect him and opens a way by which the enemy can enter to waste and ruin. Man must live not by one word or many words but by every word God has spoken, and cannot disregard one word, however trifling it seems, and be safe. Continual transgression hardens the heart and weakens conscience, so lives and business dealings must be examined to see whether they follow His law. Doing and teaching the commandments maintains harmony with God and His mind and purposes, and brings promised blessing in rising up and sitting down and going out and coming in, with prosperity, preservation from sickness, sure bread and water, and defeat of enemies.

Obedience is possible only as Christ is in the person and the person is in Christ, and only through love for Christ, with love always expressing itself in steadfast, willing obedience. The commandments must be known intelligently and brought into daily life, and none of the least can be disregarded by one who is in Christ with light upon them. Those who so love and obey will be loved by the Father, will have Christ manifest Himself to them, and will have God as helper in every emergency and perplexity. Christ's mission was not to cancel the moral law but to demonstrate by His life that people can obey it, and His perfect obedience and resistance to temptation show that obedience is possible through His merits. Through His merits His righteousness may be credited to the fallen, enabling the repentant sinner to fulfill the law's requirements.

The law cannot save or pardon the sinner, but it reveals sin and remains unchangeable, while Christ saves the repentant sinner and gives power to live obediently. Profession of faith does not excuse disobedience, for true conversion joins faith in Jesus with heartfelt obedience to God's law. Gospel hope and salvation do not make obedience unnecessary or excuse continued transgression; when people understand God's requirements and their sins, they reform through strength from their Saviour and live a new, purer life. The righteousness expressed in the law is the righteousness of Christ, received by faith and not earned by human worthiness, and faith leads to obedience as God works in people, renewing them and enabling them to live by the truth.

God's law is the holy standard of character, and the gospel explains its requirements, measuring love for God and neighbor in honest dealings as well as worship. Those who confuse others about right and holy conduct, or acquire wealth unjustly, have not learned that law and do not meet its standard. Honoring the law is not merely outward claim, for self-glory and self-love make a person a transgressor, in contrast to Christ's spirit as opposed to the Pharisees' motives. Teaching that the law is abolished breaks one of the least commandments and teaches men so, taking away restraint from the intemperate and licentious so no message can impress them to leave intemperance, licentiousness, appetite, and tobacco. Ministers who profess holiness while yielding to appetite and tobacco and leading the people to despise physical and moral law break the commandments and teach others to break them, while health, truth, and happiness come only by intelligent knowledge of and full obedience to the law with perfect faith in Jesus Christ, the only path to heaven.