Matthew’s Gospel is called the Teaching Gospel because he arranged the words of Jesus in an orderly manner. For all who love the word of God, this Gospel is for you. But beware, it also has some very difficult advice on the Islamic State.

In chapters five-seven, the most challenging of our Lord’s teaching shines through: the Beatitudes, the teaching on marriage and the teaching against revenge. It is here that we are close to the very words of Jesus himself, unfiltered and powerful. Saving his other teachings on the sanctity of marriage, and the imperative of the Beatitudes to go beyond the letter of the law, let us take up our Lord’s teaching on retaliation, which is a clear window into his very personal response to the hatred and evil of his day, which he himself endured. This teaching against retaliation is sincere, because he lived it himself, and he asked all who desire to follow him to live it as well.