Today's Gospel lesson is a continuation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew obviously had some purpose in mind as he produced his edition of Jesus' teaching.  The Sermon on the Mount, establishes Jesus' authority as a teacher. The community for whom Matthew was writing were Jewish Christians, Jews who believed the Gospel. These Jewish Christians were being persecuted by other Jews: charged with heresy and beginning to be expelled from the synagogues. It is possible that some in Matthew'