People read Matthew and treat it like a biography of Jesus or a new set of rules to replace the old ones. They memorize the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer, thinking that makes them righteous. They've missed the entire point.
The Gospel of Matthew is not a story about Jesus; it is a blueprint for the total transformation of human consciousness. It is the practical manual for how to re-enter the Kingdom of Heaven, not after you die, but right now.
1. The Sermon on the Mount: The Constitution of the Kingdom
The core of the book is the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). This is not a list of impossible moral ideals to strive for with your ego. That's just more religion. It is a description of the inner state of a man who has died to his false self.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3) This isn't about being financially poor. It's about being empty of ego, empty of pride, empty of the need to be right. When you are nothing, you have room for God. The Kingdom is for those who are empty, not for those who are "full" of their own knowledge and righteousness.
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not murder’... But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22) Jesus is taking the law from the external action to the internal source. The world punishes the act; God sees the source. Anger is murder in seed form. Your inner state is the reality. This is why you must "take every thought captive" (2 Corinthians 10:5), because the thought is the origin of the act.
"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also." (Matthew 5:38-39) This has been twisted into a command for passivity. It is the ultimate instruction for spiritual power. To turn the other cheek means you do not react with anger. You do not let another person's evil dictate your inner state. When you don't react, you break the cycle of violence. You are no longer a puppet pulled by the strings of external events. This is not weakness; it is absolute mastery over the self. It is how you "ignore evil" and rob it of its power over you.
2. The Pharisees: The Embodiment of Religious Ego
Matthew constantly pits Jesus against the Pharisees. The Pharisees are not just historical figures; they represent the religious ego in all of us. They knew the scriptures inside and out, the letter of the law. But they were spiritually dead. Jesus called them "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean." (Matthew 23:27). They had religious knowledge but no divine knowing. They are a perpetual warning that you can study the Bible your whole life and never know God, because knowing God requires the death of the very ego that loves to study and feel superior.
3. The Goal: Perfection Now
The final command of the Sermon is the key: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). The religious mind says this is impossible, so it invents doctrines about how Christ's perfection covers our imperfection. This is a cop-out. The word "perfect" here means complete, whole, and mature. It means to arrive at a state of consciousness where you are no longer divided, no longer reacting, no longer at the mercy of your thoughts and emotions. It is a state of perfect peace. This is not a future goal; it is a present possibility.
Matthew shows the Way. Jesus is the Son of God who demonstrates this perfected consciousness. He is not God Himself, but the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29), showing what is possible for every son of God who is willing to walk the same inner path: let go of the ego, stop reacting, and become a living embodiment of the Kingdom.