254. What Is Meant by "Whosoever Therefore Shall Break One of These Least Commandments" ?

The meaning of the passage in Matt. 5:19 is: Whosoever shall break, or make invalid through deliberate misinterpretation, one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so (as the Pharisees were doing), shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. The penalty was not exclusion from heaven, but the loss of the position of honor in God's kingdom, which they might have enjoyed. On the other hand, whosoever shall teach men to obey the law in its right interpretation, looking to the glory and honor of God, should be honored in heaven. It was a warning to the Scribes and Pharisees that righteousness must be inward, vital and spiritual, instead of outward and formal.