Do I Need My Old Testament? Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• If you have read your Old Testament, have you ever wondered how it fits in to our faith? Have you ever wondered why we do not observe the feasts and ceremonies that were celebrated in the Old Testament?

• How does the Old Testament fit in for the Christian? Are we still under the Ten Commandments? How do we know which laws we are bound to and which ones we are not? Are we to just ignore the Old Testament? Should we read it?

• Have you noticed that as a Church we call ourselves a New Testament church? Have you wondered why we pattern our practice after that of the early New Testament church?

• Today as we continue to examine Jesus Sermon on The Mount, we will look at what Jesus has to say concerning the Old Testament scriptures, the Law and the Prophets as Jesus puts it.

• WE will start by looking at Matthew 5:17-19

• SLIDE #2

• Matthew 5:17-19 ( ESV ) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

• Let us begin by looking at Jesus attitude toward the Old Testament.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. JESUS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE OLD TESTAMENT.

• As I stated earlier, some of the religious leaders attacked Jesus thinking He was not honoring the Law and Prophets.

• In this short discourse on the Law and Prophets Jesus is going to share a couple of thoughts that should to this day help us to understand the role of the Old Testament.

• The first thought for us to consider is the fact that Jesus endorsed the Old Testament.

• SLIDE #4

A. Jesus endorsed the Old Testament.

• The Law, first 5 books. The prophets, books that prophets wrote.

• Jesus put His stamp of approval on the Old Testament cannon.

• It is interesting that the religious leaders tried to accuse Him of breaking the Old Testament laws, but in Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus showed His respect or endorsement of the Old Testament law.

• In Matthew 8:1-4, when Jesus healed the leper, He told the man to go show himself to the priest to be declared clean and then offer the appropriate sacrifice according to the Law on Moses.

• The Law was more than a system of statutes designed for the working of government. It was also a system of types foreshadowing the Kingdom of God.

• Jesus said He did not come to destroy it. To destroy it would have not only annulled the statutes, but also prevent the fulfillment of its types.

• Jesus also had a high view of the Old Testament and the Law.

• Notice that Jesus speaks harshly of those who would try to change what it said.

• The religious leaders of the day were good at putting weight or varying degrees of importance to the Law. The ones that dealt with actions were seen as more important to follow than the ones that dealt with attitudes.

• Jesus said neither an iota nor a dot would pass from the Law until al is accomplished.

• An iota or JOT as it is translated in many English versions was the word for the smallest letter in Hebrew alphabet while dot was a little mark that changed the meaning of words.

• Those things seemed insignificant in the whole scope of the alphabet, but Jesus rejected the notion of putting weight on some aspects of the Law while lightening other aspects.

• Notice that Jesus speaks of not allowing the Law to change UNTIL all is accomplished.

• SLIDE #5

• This leads to the next attitude Jesus had toward the Old Testament.

B. Jesus knew He would replace the Old Testament Law.

• This would seem to be a bit contradictory, but Jesus knew there would be a New thing coming!

• SLIDE #6

• Galatians 3:24 ( ESV ) So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

• There would come a point in which the purpose of the Old Testament would be fulfilled!

• After the resurrection, Jesus said the following to His disciples.

• SLIDE #7

• Luke 24:44 ( ESV ) Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”