Jesus condemned whoever sets aside the least of God’s commands. What does that mean? Let’s learn what our relationship to the law is. Let’s examine salt, light and the law in Matthew 5:13-20.
You ARE Salt
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
How can salt lose its flavor? Good Bible study involves historical research, in order to make informed conclusions. We must be open to ancient definitions of things. Their definition of “salt” was most probably a mixture of gypsum and what we call salt today. This mingling could lose its “saltiness.”
You ARE Light
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Jesus said, his disciples are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This was encouragement to be what they already were. We too are the salt that gives the world a good taste and the light that brightens this dark planet. Salt preserves. Let’s be ourselves.
Lamps Give Light
Matthew 5:15 “Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”
Some Christians hide their faith. Being a closet Christian contradicts what Jesus taught. A city on a hill cannot be hid. A light is meant to be seen, not hidden away in secret. What must be seen? Our good deeds must shine, not to boast, but so that others may glorify God.
Good Works
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Jesus encouraged his disciples to do good deeds. We don’t do good works in order to be saved, but because we are saved. “Do-nothing” Christianity is incomplete and weak. Faith without works is dead. One of the most effective forms of letting our light shine is by our good deeds.
Law not Abolished
Matthew 5:17 “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.”
The law of Moses (the Torah) is the first 5 books of the Old Testament. The rest of the Old Testament is often called the writings. Jesus endorsed the entire Old Testament for Christians. Jesus did not do away with the Old Testament but fulfilled it. How? Let’s keep reading.
Letter or Spirit?
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I tell you, 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.”
Has the Old Testament been handed down to us faithfully? Jesus claims that no part of it is missing, not the smallest letter. Jesus endorses of every part of the Old Testament, even those parts that moderns don’t like. The Bible is the most historically accurate document in all history.
613 Commandments
Matthew 5:19 “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
In an age when some pick and choose which parts of the Bible they agree with or not, Jesus endorses the entire Old Testament, all its 613 commandments. After this Jesus began to teach how Christians obey the law better than the Pharisees did, in the spirit of the law.
A Better Righteousness
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Deuteronomy expounds the Ten Commandments (#1 6-11; #2 12; #3 13:1-14:21; #4 14:22-16:17; #5 16:18-18:22; #6 19-21; #7 22:1-23:14; #8 23:15-24:7; #9 24:8-16; #10 24:17-26:15).[1] However, the letter of the law kills (2 Corinthians 3:6) and there is a righteousness by faith that is superior to the righteousness of the law.
[1] Hill, Andrew E. & Walton, John H. “A Survey of the Old Testament.” Zondervan Publishing House. 1991. 58.
The only option left is keeping the law in spirit. For example, circumcision is not of the flesh but the heart (Romans 2:29); there remains a Sabbath rest in Jesus for eternity (Matthew 11:28; Hebrews 4) and love fulfills the whole law (Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14).
The letter of the law is not righteous enough. It’s the way to cultish legalism. We fulfill the law via Jesus’ law of love. The law can teach us, but it is only a shadow of things to come. The cross is the reality. Love in action fulfills the law, all of it.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Readings
Isaiah 58:1-12
1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness a will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
And that was God’s word through Isaiah.
True religion is more than outward rites. It includes a change of heart evidenced by good works.
Psalm 112
1 Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands. 2 Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. 4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. 5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.
6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. 7 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. 8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. 9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor. 10 The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.
Thus ends the reading from Psalm 112.
This psalm praises God for blessings in this life, for spiritual wealth, consolation and a blessed life.
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him — 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us
The word of God for the people of God.
Spiritual wisdom is higher than worldly wisdom. The gospel is both milk for babes and meat for adults. Are we ready for the meat yet?
Matthew 5:13-20 in Rhyme
You all are the salt of the earth
But if the salt has lost its worth
Can you make it salty again?
No, it will just be ditched by men
You all are light the world to fill
You can’t hide a town on a hill
Nor hide lamps under basket domes
Lamps are meant to light up our homes
Let good deeds shine for all to see
They’ll praise your Father heavenly
The law or prophets, I’ll not kill
No, I came the law to fulfill
Till heaven and earth pass away
The law’s smallest details will stay
So don’t annul the least command
Teaching the same to those at hand
You’ll be the least in the Kingdom
So obey God’s laws and teach them
You’ll be great in the Kingdom
Unless your righteousness exceeds
That of the scribes and Pharisees
You’ll never be there guaranteed!
