INTRODUCTION
We are busy with a series on “The Sermon on the Mount”.
We are at part 4 of the series this morning, called Jesus and the Law.
We already looked at the content and theme of the sermon, being “The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven”
We already looked at the beatitudes, where Jesus showed us what character we as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven should portray as well as the blessings we can expect as a result thereof.
Then last week we looked at our relationship towards the world, where Jesus compared us and our relationship to the world to salt & light.
We are there to make the world bearable for God and the people.
We are there to preserve God’s morality.
We are there to shine in such a way that people see Jesus in and through us.
And we need to radiate Him wherever we are and go.
So lets’ start this morning by looking at the fourth part of the series, Jesus & the Law.
SCRIPTURE
Matthew 5:17-19 NASB (New American Standard Bible)
17"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Let us pray
SERMON
Introduction
Laws are set in place to govern people and situations.
It usually comes in two forms
• Something that you are not allowed doing.
• Something that you are obligated to do.
Also, a law has to have a consequence if it is not abided.
If you are not allowed to do something and you do it then there should be a consequence.
Otherwise the law will be useless.
If I tell my child that he is not allowed to play Xbox after 10 at night and he does this, then there needs to be a consequence, otherwise it is off no use.
What will happen if my son plays Xbox after 10 and I catch him?
If there is no consequence in place, nothing and then he will keep doing it despite my objections.
But if I place a consequence on the disobeying of my rule and take away his Xbox in totality for a week, then, the next time he will think twice before playing Xbox after 10 at night.
But the fact is that some laws are ridiculous.
Laws are sometimes set in place to benefit a certain person or group of people, whiles the other person or group of people are affected negatively.
We can think of the apartheid law and more recently, the BEE law.
Laws are sometimes changed to benefit a particular person or group of persons or institution.
In the end we can say the following:
Law is not perfect
Strange Laws from around the world
So to star things off this morning I would like to give you some weird and ridiculous laws from around the world.
• Israel
Picking your nose on the Sabbath is illegal. This law only applies to Jews and is enforced by the Rabbis. It is not so much because it is disgusting. It has to do with the possibility that the noise might start to bleed when you are picking it, thus violating the religious code of sanctity.
• France
No pig is allowed to be called Napoleon. This is because of their respect for the French General Napoleon Bonaparte. George Orwell wrote a short story called Animal Farm in which a pig, representing Stalin, was named Napoleon. This sparked this law and in France the pig in the story is called Caesar, in stad of Napoleon, by many people.
• Minnesota, USA
It is against the law to hang female and male underwear together on the same washing line.
• Japan
It is illegal to be overweight. There is even a minimum waist measurement. This is a very strange law as Japan brought us sumo wrestling. However, there is no punishment for individuals and is more geared towards putting pressure on the local governments and companies.
• Victoria, Australia
Only a qualified, licensed electrician is permitted to change a light bulb. If you defy this law you could be given up to a A$10 fine.
• Denmark
You may not be charged for food at a restaurant unless, by your own account, you are full.
• England
It is illegal to die in parliament. Apparently this law is no longer in effect. However, this entailed that, if you were in parliament, you were not allowed to die. If you looked a bit sick would you be taken out of Parliament? This had to do with the fact that if you died in Parliament you had to be given a state funeral.
Do you see how ridiculous some of these laws were?
And it did not start there.
Some of the Mosaic laws were also very strange.
Let me give you some examples:
Leviticus 19:27 ERV
(27) "You must not round off the hair that grows on the side of your face. You must not cut your beard that grows on the side of your face.
Exodus 21:17 ERV
(17) "Whoever curses their father or mother must be killed.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 GW
(18) Parents might have a stubborn and rebellious son who doesn't obey them. Even though they punish him, he still won't listen to them.
(19) His father and mother must take him to the leaders of the city at the city gate.
(20) They will say to the leaders of the city, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won't obey us. He eats too much and is a drunk."
(21) All the men of the city should stone him to death. You must get rid of this evil. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid.
Leviticus 3:17 GW
(17) This is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live: Never eat any fat or blood."
These laws, for us, are strange and we do not understand all of it and some of these laws needs to be read in context of the culture and time it were given.
But some of them, regardless of the time and culture, were just strange.
And the people obeyed them, in as far as they could.
But, because there was a law there was also punishment if a law was broken.
This Old Law, the law that we read about in the Old Testament, was called the Mosaic Law, the Law of Moses.
And then Jesus came.
And He gives a sermon.
And He says the following:
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it
What do these words of Jesus mean to us?
Do not think…
Jesus is addressing the crowd that came to listen to Him.
He just told them how they were supposed to act, what their character should be like.
He just finished telling them that they needed to be salt and that they needed to be the light, spreading the Gospel wherever they were.
These teachings of Jesus were the opposite of what the Pharisees and Scribes were teaching.
This probably let some of the people in the crowd to think that what Jesus is saying is that He is coming against the law.
This might have been their thinking.
And Jesus, being God, knew what they were thinking.
Therefore He says to them: “Do not think…”
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets”
You see, when Jesus came to earth He came with a new teaching.
From the very start people could see that this teaching was different.
We read in:
Mark 1:27 GW
(27) Everyone was stunned. They said to each other, "What is this? This is a new teaching that has authority behind it! He gives orders to evil spirits, and they obey him."
You see, Jesus did not follow the normal acceptable road.
He followed the right way, be it unacceptable or not.
He did not allow others to dictate the way He was to teach.
He only allowed the Father to lead and to teach Him in what He needed to say.
We need to start doing the same.
We need to stop following others blindly; we need to stop doing what others do because it was that way always.
We need to start doing what God tells us to do.
We need to start teaching others what the Holy Spirit place on our hearts
Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it
The next part of the sentence is where Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
What does this mean?
To understand what Jesus is saying here we need to first look at the word abolish.
ABOLISH VS. FULFILL
Abolish
What does abolish mean?
The word “abolish” comes from the Greek word “kataluō”.
It means to:
• dissolve
• destroy
• demolish
• overthrow
So Jesus is saying that He did not come to overthrow the Law, He came to fulfill it.
The first thing we see is that the word “abolish” is set directly opposite fulfill.
Jesus says that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
So what Jesus is saying is that He did not come to earth to be an opponent to the law.
His purpose was not to prevent the fulfillment of the law.
In fact, His purpose was exactly the opposite.
The thing is, Jesus respected the law.
He loved the law.
He submitted to the law.
He brought the law to completion by fulfilling prophesies concerning Him.
Listen to His words in:
Luke 24:44 GW
(44) … "These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. I told you that everything written about me in Moses' Teachings, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true."
The Mosaic Law was a set of rules which demanded perfect obedience.
If one was unable to perfectly obey the law you were under threat of a curse.
We read the following in Galatians 3:10 & 13:
Galatians 3:10, 13 GW
(10) Certainly, there is a curse on all who rely on their own efforts to live according to a set of standards because Scripture says, "Whoever doesn't obey everything that is written in Moses' Teachings is cursed."
(13) Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that God's laws bring by becoming cursed instead of us. Scripture says, "Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed."
The fact is this:
If the Mosaic Law still has the same binding condition it had, then it was not fulfilled.
And if it was not fulfilled then it means that Jesus failed with regards to His purpose of coming to earth.
BUT, if it was fulfilled; if Jesus did accomplish His purpose, then it means that the Mosaic Law has no binding ability any more.
Also, if it was not fulfilled then it remains binding on us even today.
And not just partially, but in its totality.
You see the Law was a total system.
You could not choose to obey one law and ignore the others.
You had to obey all of them.
Fulfill
This brings us to the next word “Fulfill”.
“Fulfill” comes from the Greek word “plēroō” and means”
• To fill to the brim
• To complete
• To render perfect
In His life and in His teachings Jesus fulfilled the law.
Jesus never sinned.
He never disobeyed the law.
Therefore He was the perfect example.
He showed the divine purpose of God’s law by obeying it perfectly.
Listen to the author of Hebrews in:
Hebrews 4:15 GW
(15) We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn't sin.
Jesus obeyed the law perfectly and He encouraged all to obey it as well.
Jesus’ purpose was to fulfill the Law and the Prophets
The Old Testament foretold the coming of the Messiah
In the Law and the Prophets there are in the region of 330 prophesies regarding the Messiah.
It also foretold the coming of the Kingdom of God
Listen to this:
Daniel 2:44 GW
(44) "At the time of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never be destroyed. No other people will be permitted to rule it. It will smash all the other kingdoms and put an end to them. But it will be established forever.
It also foretold the establishment of a new and different covenant, an new and different law, for God’s people.
Jeremiah prophesied about this in:
Jeremiah 31:31-34 KJV
(31) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
(32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
(33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(34) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Then Jesus brought this New Covenant according to the follow scripture:
Galatians 3:23-25 GW
(23) We were kept under control by Moses' laws until this faith came. We were under their control until this faith which was about to come would be revealed.
(24) Before Christ came, Moses' laws served as our guardian. Christ came so that we could receive God's approval by faith.
(25) But now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the control of a guardian.
DID JESUS FULFILL THE LAW?
The question we need to answer is this: Did Jesus fulfilled the Law?
IF NO
If the answer is no then Jesus have failed with regards to His purpose of coming to earth.
If the answer is no then we have to uphold the law in its entirety.
Then we have to uphold the law of circumcision and regarding the eating of unclean meats and stoning our kids if they rebel and all the other laws.
IF YES
If the answer is yes then He accomplished His purpose.
Then we can believe Jesus’ words He said to the Father:
John 17:4 GW
(4) On earth I have given you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do.
If the answer is yes then we should not be surprised to find a new Law or Covenant governing God’s people today.
Jesus must have fulfilled the Old Covenant
Why do I say that?
What proof have I got?
Firstly there has been a change in the priesthood.
There was a law and tradition governing the priest.
A priest only lost his position as a priest when he died.
Therefore there were many priests in the priesthood office.
However, when Jesus fulfilled the law He took over the position.
He became the only priest we will ever need.
He became the only priest anyone will ever need, because He is forever.
He will never die.
One of the responsibilities of a priest was to be a mediator between God and God’s people.
Jesus, when He fulfilled the law, became the only mediator we will ever need.
He became the one and only priest we will ever need.
Listen to the following piece of scripture:
Hebrews 7:11-14 GW
(11) The people established the Levitical priesthood based on instructions they received. If the work of the Levitical priests had been perfect, we wouldn't need to speak about another kind of priest. However, we speak about another kind of priest, a priest like Melchizedek, not a Levitical priest like Aaron.
(12) When a different kind of priesthood is established, the regulations for those priests are different.
(13) The priest whom we are talking about was a member of a different tribe. No one from that tribe ever served as a priest at the altar.
(14) Everyone knows that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah. Moses never said anything about priests coming from that tribe.
Secondly there has been in change in the law itself
Hebrews 7:18-19 GW
(18) The former requirements are rejected because they are weak and useless.
(19) Moses' Teachings couldn't accomplish everything that God required. But we have something else that gives us greater confidence and allows us to approach God.
(22) In this way Jesus has become the guarantee of a better promise.
Thirdly the Law itself predicted, as we have read in Jeremiah 31:31-34, that a change will come in the law and that it would be replaced with a New Law:
Hebrews 8:6-13 GW
(6) Jesus has been given a priestly work that is superior to the Levitical priests' work. He also brings a better promise from God that is based on better guarantees.
(7) If nothing had been wrong with the first promise, no one would look for another one.
(8) But God found something wrong with his people and said to them, "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new promise to Israel and Judah.
(9) It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, so I ignored them, says the Lord.
(10) But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
(11) No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, 'Know the Lord.' All of them from the least important to the most important will all know me
(12) because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them."
(13) God made this new promise and showed that the first promise was outdated. What is outdated and aging will soon disappear.
How did Jesus fulfill the Law?
When Jesus gave this sermon the Law was not yet fulfilled
That is why, He told His disciples the following in verse 19:
Matthew 5:19 GW
(19) So whoever sets aside any command that seems unimportant and teaches others to do the same will be unimportant in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches what the commands say will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
So when did Jesus fulfill the law?
Firstly Jesus fulfilled the law by fulfilling the prophesies.
Then we have said that, to be able to fulfill the law, it must be upheld perfectly.
Only Jesus could do this.
Only Jesus ever did this.
He was the only one that never ever sinned.
Thirdly, we need to look at the second part of any law:
There must be a punishment.
There must be a consequence.
So Jesus fulfilled the law by fulfilling the prophesies.
Jesus fulfilled the law by upholding it perfectly.
Thirdly, Jesus had to endure the consequences of the law.
He had to endure the full punishment of the law.
The only punishment that would be able to act as punishment for all the laws was death.
Jesus died for our sins and He also died for the law to be fulfilled.
The law was partially fulfilled when the prophesies regarding the Messiah came true; it was partially fulfilled when Jesus upheld all the requirements of the law, but it was completed when Jesus died upon that cross.
Listen to His last words:
John 19:30 KJV
(30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Jesus said it is what?
It is finished.
It is complete.
This is the same meaning that we can give to the word fulfilled.
It is finished…
It is complete
That was the moment Jesus became the curse for us, as I have read to you earlier in:
Galatians 3:13 GW
(13) Christ paid the price to free us from the curse that God's laws bring by becoming cursed instead of us. Scripture says, "Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed."
That moment, when He breathed out His last breath, was the moment He became the one and only priest.
That was the moment He redeemed us.
That was the moment He bought us back from slavery.
That was the moment that we did not need a bunch of written rules and regulations anymore, because the law, through Jesus Christ, has been written on our hearts.
The moment you become a child of God; the moment you accept Jesus as your savior; that is the moment you realize the difference between right and wrong.
That is the moments the Holy Spirit starts showing you your sins and where you are breaking the law.
No one has to tell you that you are doing something wrong.
You will know.
You will know when you are not acting in accordance to His perfect will for your life.
The law is not destroyed.
It is written on your heart.
And it is a New Law…
Jesus fulfilled the law Himself, but died under its curse on our behalf and thereby He destroyed its power.
Colossians 2:13-14 GW
(13) You were once dead because of your failures and your uncircumcised corrupt nature. But God made you alive with Christ when he forgave all our failures.
(14) He did this by erasing the charges that were brought against us by the written laws God had established. He took the charges away by nailing them to the cross.
CONCLUSION
The Old Covenant had a purpose, but it wasn’t perfect.
It was temporary.
Something else, something perfect was needed.
This meant that a New Covenant was need.
A new contract was needed.
The first contract was between God and man, and man failed miserably.
The second contract was between God and Jesus, with man being the beneficiary of the estate.
That meant that the second contract is unfailing.
The first contract was written.
The second contract was Jesus Himself.
Jesus became the New Contract.
Jesus became the New Covenant.
You can become a co-inheritor of that covenant if you accept Him as your Lord and savior.
If you come to the one and only priest and accept Him and repent of your sins.
The law was made perfect so that we could be free.
