Matthew 5:13–20

God’s People Make a Difference in the World—Mark 4:21–23; Luke 11:33

¹³“You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 

¹⁴“You are light for the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is located on a hill. ¹⁵No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven. 

Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Scriptures

¹⁷“Don’t ever think that I came to set aside Moses’ Teachings or the Prophets. I didn’t come to set them aside but to make them come true. ¹⁸I can guarantee this truth: Until the earth and the heavens disappear, neither a period nor a comma will disappear from the Scriptures before everything has come true. ¹⁹So whoever sets aside any command that seems unimportant and teaches others to do the same will be unimportant in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches what the commands say will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰I can guarantee that unless you live a life that has God’s approval and do it more faithfully than the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.