THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part six)
Matt. 5:17-18
Up until now in our series we've covered topics that were somewhat familiar and perhaps more practically applicable than what we'll be looking at today. Today I'll be talking about the law. If you've read through the OT, there may be two sections you breeze through-genealogies and sections on the law. You may not focus very much on the law because you feel that was for the Jewish people, not Christians. That was OT stuff; we're NT Christians so why do we need to pay attention to the law? As Christians what's our relation to the law?
1) Jesus didn't come to abolish, but fulfill (17).
Matt. 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
When you read this verse you have two questions. The first one is: what does he mean? When Jesus says, 'the law and the prophets', he's basically saying the whole OT. It was commonly referred to as the law and the prophets.
To abolish means to do away with or get rid of. Jesus is saying, 'don't think my intention is to remove or replace the scriptures. My purpose is to uphold them, teach them and fulfill them'.
One of the synonyms for fulfill is satisfy. That's what Jesus came to do-satisfy the requirements of the law as well as satisfy the prophecies made about the coming Messiah.
The law required payments and penalties for breaking it. When people sinned they had to make sacrifices to make it right. Jesus came as the final sacrifice for sins; satisfying God's requirements. When we trust in Christ for salvation, that satisfaction is transferred to us and we no longer have to pay the penalty for our sin.
When Jesus died on the cross he said, "it is finished". What was finished? Meeting the requirements of the law. Gal. 3:13 says that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us when he was crucified. Jesus delivered us from the curse of the consequences from being a lawbreaker because he kept the law perfectly and was the final sacrifice for sin.
The other question Matt. 5:17 prompts is: why would Jesus need to say this? One reason is because his teaching was radical and unprecedented. So in some regards it may have sounded like he was countering the law. But what he countered was the lack of knowledge or understanding about the law which stemmed from the religious leaders who either twisted it or added to it or focused more heavily on all their non-biblical traditions.
The next passage in Matthew starts with Jesus saying, "You have heard that it was said"; to which he follows up with "but...". This continues throughout the sermon on the mount. Jesus saying but wasn't to counter the law, but to expound on it.
Some of the things Jesus mentions after the, "you have heard it said" were commandments from God, like 'do not murder' and 'do not commit adultery'. However, some were not commands from God, like 6:43, "you have heard that it was said, 'love your neighbor and hate your enemy'". 'Love your neighbor' is a command of God, but 'hate your enemy' is not. Yet this was the teaching the people received.
It's understood there are 613 OT laws, 365 negative commands (don't do this) and 248 positive ones (do this). By the time Christ came the Pharisees had made many additions and traditions to the existing law. This produced a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness. Since the true essence of the law had not been correctly explained or taught, Jesus came to clarify and explain what the laws meant as God intended them.
In doing so, at times it may have seemed like he was going against the law, like in the case of the woman caught in adultery where the religious leaders tried to trap him. But Jesus was bringing the law back to what it was in the beginning before it became inadequately represented in the present day.
He wanted the people to hear the truth and understand the true nature of God's law and his grace. Grace was not something the Pharisees focused on. Their focus was the law and its consequences without implementing God's Spirit of patience, understanding, mercy, and forgiveness.
And with that the people could easily develop a view of God as a tyrant who was there to punish the lawbreaker. So Jesus came to represent the fullness of God. But as Jesus taught about love, grace and mercy, it may have seemed like he was going against the essence of the disciplinary law. But that wasn't the case.
Throughout Jesus' ministry, the religious leaders tried to paint Jesus in a negative light. They said he had a demon when he healed people. They chastised him for going against the traditions of the elders. The Pharisees' accused Jesus of violating the Law of Moses or trying to nullify or minimize the Law of Moses. In Matt. 5:17, Jesus refutes those charges.
Why does that matter to us today? This is important for how we look at the Old Testament as well as the role it plays in our lives. It might be relatively easy to ignore the OT, thinking the OT is for the Jews and the NT is for Christians. But even if we understand the benefit of the OT, we might still be apt to ignore the sections that talk about the law since, as Christians, we're not under the law, but grace, as Paul said in Romans 6:14.
But we can misunderstand Paul in thinking the law is insignificant. In the beginning of Romans 7, Paul talks about how sinful passions are aroused by the law. Seeing that would make it seem as if the law is not only insignificant, but bad. But Paul clarifies this misconception in Rom. 7:7, "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
Paul goes on to say in vs. 12, "So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." One could try to say, "if not for the law, I wouldn't be guilty of sin". We can say passions were aroused by the law but that's not a problem with the law; that's a problem with us. It's in our sinful nature to want to do what we're told not to do. Is the rule the problem? No; we are.
Construction workers use what's called a plumb line to check if a wall is straight. If a wall is crooked is that the plumb line's fault? No. Would it be better if the plumb line wasn't there? No. If you start with a crooked wall then your whole structure will be out of whack. So, the plumb line is not only good; it's necessary.
However, a plumb line can only prove that a wall is crooked; it can't make the crooked wall straight. The law is God's plumb line. It's designed to show that we are all 'crooked'. It was never intended make us 'straight'.
Although the law is good, it cannot save me. God's law shows me what's wrong but it doesn't give me the power to change. That's why year after year there were animal sacrifices for the sins of the people. The law reveals how imperfect we are and how we cannot keep it of our own power. Jesus came to do what we couldn't.
Heb. 10:1-7, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”
The law reveals how much we need a savior. No one has ever kept God's law perfectly except Jesus. So, by me trusting in what he did I can have his perfect obedience transferred to me. When I am born again, I receive the Spirit of Christ, giving me the power to obey God's commands.
And notice what it says in vs. 2-no longer felt guilty for their sins. Having to make endless sacrifices keeps the guilt alive. But with Jesus dying for my sins, once and for all has enabled me to be free from guilt. I am released not only from the penalty of my sins but also the weight of guilt for my sins. I still need to be convicted by my sins but I no longer have to feel the burden of guilt from them because Jesus paid the ultimate price to release me from my guilt and shame.
2) The law remains (18).
Matt. 5:18, "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
We might think that Jesus came to abolish the law by fulfilling it, but that's not the case. He fulfilled the requirements of the law but that doesn't mean the law has been done away with.
"Least stroke of a pen". Your translation may have jot and tittle. Jesus is saying that not one mark of one letter will disappear. It's like saying not one dot of an 'i' or a cross of a 't' will disappear. If you take it away from the synagogue, even if you burn every manuscript, you won't get rid of it.
This is true today. People can remove the bible and its representation from places but that doesn't mean it's gone. You can't remove the bible from society and think it's no longer true or relevant. The truth is still true even if no one follows it. The law hasn't been erased; it's been fulfilled.
According to CARM (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry), President and Founder Matt Slick writes, "There are three main divisions within the Old Testament law (civil, ceremonial and moral). The main differences between the aspects of the Law are in their purposes. The civil law deals mainly with relationships between individuals, the settling of disputes, and the description of proper behavior.
The ceremonial law deals with the priesthood initiation and the priestly procedures as they related to the various sacrifices through which the people of the Old Testament were cleansed of their sins. The moral law is based on the character of God and extends from the OT into the NT. Therefore, as it was wrong to lie in the Old Testament, it is still wrong to lie in the New Testament.
The civil law expired with the demise of the Jewish civil government. The ceremonial law expired with the fulfillment of priestly work of Christ. The moral law has no expiration because it is based on God's character. "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy". We still follow the ten commandments because they have to do with honoring and loving God and our fellow man. The moral law and the law of love remain for us today.
"Until everything is accomplished". Does this mean when Jesus went to the cross or the end of time? I think both are implied. Jesus came to fulfill the obligations of the law and he accomplished everything requiring payment for sin and fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. However, some prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, the law and the prophets remain until the end of time when every prophecy will be fulfilled.
Not only that, the law remains until the end of time because there are those who are still under the curse of the law because they have not come to Christ and they will be judged by the law.
Galatians 3:10-14, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
If you reject Christ then you are bound to the law; the law that has declared you to be guilty of sin. And, since the law identifies your problem but doesn't give you the ability to correct the problem, you are left with the stain of sin come judgment day. And you incur the curse of the consequence for sin-spiritual death.
If you don't want to put your faith in what Christ did for you then you will be judged by the law, and therefore be found guilty because no one is justified by keeping the law because no one can keep it. The law shows us how much we need Jesus.
However, the moral law remains as the standard of right and wrong. God's commands are full of wisdom and purity. They are ethical and valuable and worthy of our attention. Psalm 112:1, "Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands."
We can find great delight in the commands of God when we view them as beneficial, not burdensome. When we see that God's commands are meant to provide structure and protection from harm and when we see that they can bring blessings into my life then I will embrace them. God's commands are meant to bless us; not oppress us.
"Freedom does not mean the absence of constraints or moral absolutes. Suppose a skydiver at 10,000 feet announces to the group, "I'm not using a parachute this time; I want to be free." The fact is that a skydiver is constrained by a greater law-the law of gravity. but when he chooses the 'constraint' of the parachute, he is free to enjoy the exhilaration. God's moral laws are the same way: they restrain, but they are absolutely necessary to enjoy the exhilaration of real freedom." We need God's laws.
