Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 5:19

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:19 (ASV)

Shall break one of these least commandments — At first, these words seem to imply that the ceremonial law was to be binding in its full extent on Christ’s disciples. The common usage of the time, however, confined the word “commandment” to the moral laws of God , and it is never used in any other sense throughout the New Testament, with the possible exceptions of Hebrews 7:5, 16 (1 Corinthians 7:19). The context, which immediately proceeds to address moral laws and does not touch on ceremonial ones, aligns with this meaning. The “least commandments,” then, are those that seemed trivial yet were truly great—the control of thoughts, desires, and words, as compared with the apparently greater commands that dealt with actions. The reference to “teaching” shows that our Lord was speaking to His disciples as the future instructors of humanity, and the clear meaning of His words is that they were to raise, not lower, the standard of righteousness that had been previously recognized.

Shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven — The consequence of tampering with the great laws of duty, or with the least laws which are practically great, is described in terms that are at once severe and gentle. It is gentle because the sentence, where the guilt is not willful or is repented of, is not one of absolute exclusion from the kingdom. It is severe in that being the “least” in that kingdom—the object of pity or sorrow to others—involved a great humiliation for those who aimed at being the highest. To that condemnation, many in every age of the Church have been liable, with the Antinomian fanatic and the Jesuit casuist standing on the same footing in this regard.

Whosoever shall do and teach — Here again, the teaching work of the disciples is prominent. In this case, the combination is even more significant than in the other. Not only right action, and still less only right teaching, but both together constituted the ideal for a preacher's work.

Great — Not “greatest.” The avoidance of the latter word, interpreted by the later teaching of Matthew 18:4, appears to have been deliberate. People might aim for a positive standard of greatness as a true teacher and worker, but the conscious aim of being “greatest” was self-defeating. That honor belonged only to the one who was completely unconscious of having any claim to it.