Matthew 5:16 (DRB)

Passage

So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Nearby Context

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:15 Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house.

Matthew 5:16 So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 5:18 For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "good works", "shine", "before", "glorify", "father", and "heaven". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "good works", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Neither do men light a candle and..." into verse 17's "Do not think that I am come...", so "light" and "good works" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "good works" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.