Jesus seems to be of two different minds in this passage. First he states that even the least of the laws of Moses must be followed in order to be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven, yet he goes on to say that the teachers of the law and Pharisees – who were renowned for following the letter of the law as strictly as possible – will not be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. It seems a contradiction, but it is not.

Visit the locker room before any team sporting event, and you’re likely to hear the coach give some sort of speech intending to encourage the players, even rile them up so they are suitably psyched to face the opposing team on the field of play. The coach has trained them for this moment, but now the training is set aside. Now, the coach can only help dispel any doubts they hold in their minds, remind them of their training, and push them toward excellence.

Often this verse translates the phrase “those who work for peace” as the more concise “peacemakers.” While this term has its benefits, it can also be misunderstood to mean something that Jesus did not intend. In English, we tend to equate the idea of being a peacemaker with that of making peace, but they are not altogether the same thing.

To a first-century Jewish audience, this announcement regarding the pure of heart would likely bring to mind the Pharisaical obsession with external, ritualistic purification. As illustrated in the parable of the good Samaritan, the religious elite were the kind of people who were reticent to provide assistance if it caused them to be impure in the eyes of the law.