Bringing The Law To Life

A. INTRODUCTION

1. Our Summer Series for 1996 is part of the most carefully-studied and widely-known record of the teachings of Jesus Christ, Matthew 5 - 7, popularly (and, I think, unfortunately) known as "The S __ __ __ __ __ on the M __ __ __ __." Much of what this passage contains of Christ's teaching appears nowhere else in the gospels, but a shorter parallel is contained in Luke 6:17-49, "The Sermon on the Plain," so-called because of the notably different description of that setting.

2. MATTHEW 4:23 - 5:1 [ NKJV ]

And Jesus went walking by the Sea of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them....

a. This passage presents a "snapshot" of the first year of Christ's earthly ministry, which included:

(1) t __ __ __ __ __ __ __ in the synagogues;

(2) p __ __ __ __ __ __ __ the g __ __ __ __ __ of the k __ __ __ __ __ __; and

(3) miraculous h __ __ __ __ __ __ of all sorts of diseases.

b. As a result, Jesus became rather famous throughout the region. Soon He was drawing "great m __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __" from far and wide.

c. It should be noted in 5:1 -- the beginning of the "Sermon on the Mount" -- that Jesus was

not addressing the multitudes. He was teaching His d __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __.

d. And this was not preaching. The passage indicates that He sat d __ __ __ before beginning His discourse. There were two modes of rabbinical teaching. Informal, almost casual teaching was communicated while walking alongside one's pupils. But when the teacher sat down ( Latin: ex cathedra, literally "from the chair"), seriously significant information was about to be delivered.

3. Matthew 5:2-12

a. This first section of the "Sermon on the Mount" is, of course, known widely as "The B __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __."

b. Bible scholars have for centuries debated:

(1) Christ's intended p __ __ __ __ __ __ for His teaching here;

(2) How literally they should be I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __; and

(3) whether they apply fully to the p __ __ __ __ __ __ or some f __ __ __ __ __ period.

4. Matthew 5:13-16

a. Some refer to this section as "The S __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __," because Jesus in these verses presents His two designations or symbols of the true disciple:

(1) s __ __ __ and

(2) l __ __ __ __.

B. TEXT: Matthew 5:17-20

1. "Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill." ( v.17 )

a. There were four different ways in which a Jew of Jesus' day might understand "the Law."

(1) It could mean the Decalogue ( the 10 c __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ).

(2) It could mean the Pentateuch ( "the five scrolls" ), which consists of the first five books of the Bible.

(3) When using the phrase "the Law and the Prophets," as Christ does in this passage, they usually meant the entire bulk of the Hebrew Scripture, the Old Testament.

(4) They could also understand that phrase to include the Oral or S __ __ __ __ __ Law.

"In the Old Testament itself we find very few rules and regulations; what we do find are great, broad principles which a man must himself take and interpret under God's guidance, and apply to the individual situations in life. In the Ten Commandments we find no rules and regulations at all; they are each one of them great principles out of which a man must find his own rules for life. To the later Jews these great principles did not seem enough. They held that the Law was divine, and that in it God had said his last word, and that therefore everything must be in it. If a thing was not in the Law explicitly it must be there implicitly. They therefore argued that out of the Law it must be possible to deduce a rule and a regulation for every possible situation in life. So there arose a race of men called the Scribes who made it the business of their live to reduce great principles of the Law to literally thousands upon thousands of rules and regulations." - William Barclay: The Gospel of Matthew