Matthew 5:17 (NIV) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.
I am convinced that Christ stated this specifically for all those well intentioned people who are forever saying, "I’m not under law, I’m under grace." Somehow we seem to have gotten the idea that Christ stamped the Old Testament with big red letters that say "null & void." We have drawn the faulty conclusion that the Old Testament no longer matters, that it no longer applies, that it’s just a collection of historical books. Well except for the ten Commandments, most of us would let those stand at least the two biggies, murder and adultery. And yet Christ plainly said I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. Can these words really be coming from the mouth of Christ? The same Christ that Paul wrote of in Romans 10:4 (NIV) Christ is the end of the law
I mean after all Christ was executed for breaking the law, He didn’t follow the prescribed hand washing, he healed the sick and picked grain on the Sabbath. And yet here He speaks about the law with as much reverence as any Scribe or Pharisee. Christ tells us Matthew 5:18 (NIV) 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. Now the King James Version is a little more poetic because it says, not a jot or a tittle will pass away, it’s not as clear but it’s prettier. The jot was the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, the Iodah, it looked like an apostrophe. The tittle was a serif and it was a projection from an individual letter that changed the emphasis. And Christ said that not even something as small and insignificant as those two marks would disappear from the law.
Now there are those who have said that this sounds so unlike Christ that he could not have possibly have said it. Maybe Matthew simply invented this saying himself and attributed it to Christ. Well in order to properly understand what Christ said, it would help if we knew what Christ was saying. Firstly what was or what is the law. 1) The Ten Commandments 2) The first five books of the Bible, or as some call it the Pentateuch which means the five scrolls. 3) The Law and the Prophets refers to what we now call the Old Testament. That is what Christ said wouldn’t pass away, but there was also a fourth meaning of the law which was the oral law or the scribal law.
This last one is what Christ and Paul attacked. In the Old Testament there are very few rules and regulations but a many great principles. Well to the Rabbis that wasn’t enough, they would say that if it wasn’t there explicitly then it must be there implicitly. And so out of the law the Rabbi’s said it must be possible to deduce a rule for everything.
For example: A great Old Testament principle is "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" That is a principle not a detailed commandment. So the religious teachers asked "OK, Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, how do we keep the Sabbath holy? Well by not working. But what is work? To carry a burden. Well then what is a burden? I’m glad you asked." Here is a Rabbinical definition of a burden, "Less then a burden is food equal to a dried fig, enough wine to fill a goblet, milk enough for one swallow, honey enough to put on a wound and enough oil to anoint a small member." Now what doesn’t fall into that category and so is against the Scribal Law to carry on the Sabbath, an artificial limb, a broach, a wig or false teeth.
The scribal law, or Mishnah is eight hundred pages long in it’s English translation. The Talmud or book of the law encompasses seventy two volumes. That is not the law that Jesus was referring to. The Ten Commandments are a summation of the law in the Old Testament and those ten can be summed up by saying that they command us to respect and show reverence toward God and our fellow man. Christ said that he came not to destroy that law but to fulfil it. The Greek word used here means to level up to the top or to finish something. Christ did not come to destroy the law, God had been speaking to His people for four thousand years He wasn’t about to say "Opps, I’ve changed my mind" now. And that is why Christ said in, Matthew 5:19 (NIV) Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Christ wants us to know that he’s not changing the rules in the middle of the game.
Now the first thing that we need to recognize is that the law is necessary, the second thing is that the Christian is not exempt simply because he’s a Christian. Paul tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV) "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. We have power to do all things because Christ has the power to forgive all things but let’s not get into that mind set.
Now keeping the law applies to the laws of the land as well as the laws of God, and if you don’t agree with them then you have every right to break them, but society has every right to punish you for it. In the early days of the Wesleyan Church the founders disagreed with slavery and the laws surrounding slavery. Part of those laws said that it was illegal to help slaves escape, that would be on the same level today as someone who helped your car escape. But that didn’t prevent many Wesleyan Pastors and lay people in assisting slaves escape to the Northern States and Canada. And well they may well have been justified in doing so they were prepared to accept the consequences of their actions if they got caught. A hundred and twenty years later Martin Luther King Jr. said One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
In a word the Christian preserves the world order against decay by keeping the laws of the land. If the laws are unjust he may break them, but that doesn’t mean he is freed from paying the price for breaking them.
However being legal is not enough. The motive under which the scribes and Pharisees lived was to satisfy the law. Everything was aimed at doing what was specified in the law. Theoretically a person could say, I have done all that is required by the law" The difference is that with the Christian the motive is not the law, it’s love. We seek to satisfy God not so that we have fulfilled the law, but because we love God. For the religious leaders of Christ’s day their aim was to satisfy the law of God. The Christian’s aim is to show his gratitude for the love of God. Christ set before Christians not the law of God but the love of God. Augustine said "That we are to love God and do as we like." But the truth is that when you love God then you won’t do what you want, you’ll do what He wants. When we see the love that God sets before us then we seek to answer that love with reciprocal love. That’s why Jesus said in John 14:15 (NIV) "If you love me, you will obey what I command. If you what, if you respect me as a great teacher? No! If you acknowledge me as God? No! Jesus said, "You’ll obey me if you love me" respect and fear will only take you so far, it’ll be love that takes you the rest of the trip.
In verse 20 Christ states something that is pretty scary, because it’s here that he tells his followers, Matthew 5:20 (NIV) 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. That’s a pretty heavy trip, after all the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were committed to obeying every aspect of the law no matter how minute. I doubt very much if there are very many Christians who in practice come even close to the righteousness of these men. However I trust that in motive our righteousness will outshine even that of the Pharisees. You see again we need to go beyond the law and not just meet it but fulfil it, to cram it full of our love for God.
I hope that we see beyond "The Law" to see people and I hope we see beyond our own righteousness to our reason for trying to be righteous and that is our love for Christ. And so Christ gives examples of what he means. The law says, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce, you shall not lie, and you shall love your neighbours.
Each of these five statements in one way or another symbolizes the Jewish society in which Christ was raised. Each of these five statements was part of the mosaic law laid down to guide the people of Israel. There was behind each statement a purpose and that purpose was to hold together a civilization, to preserve it from deterioration, to prevent it from dissolving into chaos, and to allow it to govern itself.
What the basic five laws as laid down here did was to act as salt for society. the ten commandments and mosaic law was not intended for a redeemed society instead it was to prevent an unredeemed society from tearing itself apart. Often we think of the "Ten Commandments" as Christian principles, but the same guidelines can be found in most civilizations throughout the world, and throughout history. Without these principles society and everyone in it would destroy themselves. And Christ is saying that when we have been touched by his love and his grace then even more is expected of us then what is expected of everyone else. That we become salt and light when we go beyond the law.
Matthew 5:21 (NIV) "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.’ This particular law comes from Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17. One of the basic tenets of human society has to be the specialness of human life. And when we as a society lose respect for the sanctity of life then our society is on a slippery path downwards.
And that means life for the very young, who we call embryos to the very aged whom we put into that broad definition of geriatric, therefore removing both ends of the spectrum from the term people. Now I used to proudly bear the label pro-life, but I was questioned one day by a pro-abortion type person who wanted to know how I could be pro-life and pro capital punishment at the same time. Without getting into a great debate I conceded that I couldn’t so I stated calling myself, pro-innocent life. I have since moved into the anti capital punishment camp so I guess that I can go back to pro-life again. It’s interesting though to note that in 1969 abortion was legalized in Canada and in 1971 capital punishment was abolished and so within a two year span our then liberal government voted to execute the innocent and protect the guilty. Every few years the debate flares up again and I can never figure out why those people who seem to be the most anti capital punishment are the most pro-abortion, go figure.
That was free, in society we have an obligation to protect human life from the point of conception to the point of natural death, and when we take any one portion of the human life at any point on the time line and deem it to be less valuable then at any other point on the time line then we are opening doors that are better left closed.
What I’m saying is that the right to life battle is not a purely Christian concern, it has to be a concern for our society or we will destroy ourselves. It’s not a big step from parents destroying their unborn children because they’re inconvenient, to children returning the favour when their parents get old for the same reason.
But listen up folks just because the sanctity of life isn’t just a Christian concern doesn’t mean we have a right to ignore it. The law say Whoever murders will be in danger of judgement I wonder if that could also means that whoever condones murder by their silence is in danger of judgement. Remember the words of Edmund Burke "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" Let’s not try to determine how the other fellow should do the job while making excuses for why we’re not doing the job. He will be held accountable for what he did or didn’t do, you won’t. But in the same way you and you alone will be accountable for your actions, or lack of actions. And so Christ tells us the first is a law for society, You shall not murder.
And the Christian is not only to keep that law he is to fulfil it. Christ explains in Matthew 5:22 (NIV) But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. In other words, listen up people this is one of those profound Guptill thoughts, "It’s not enough to not poison your mother-in-laws strawberries, you can’t even think about poisoning your mother in laws strawberries. The Jewish law dealt with murder but it didn’t deal with anger and hatred which are the seeds that murder springs from. Christ is saying that he expects society, the unredeemed to refrain from killing each other from conception to natural death. But he expects the Christian, the redeemed members of society not only to refrain from physical homicide but also to refrain from emotional homicide, that is hatred, and verbal homicide, saying you fool.
Now you can’t expect a man not to hate when he has yet to experience the love of God, but once he has tasted that love hatred needs to become a thing of the past. And so Christ gives us three additional illustrations.
Matthew 5:22 (NIV) But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ’Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ’You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
1) If a Jew cursed a fellow Jewish man then he had to stand before the council, but it didn’t matter what he said about a woman or a Gentile. But Christ says if we say to anyone, anyone, man, woman, Jew, gentile, Christian, non-Christian, Wesleyan, Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican, Catholic, Moslem, Hindu or as my mother calls herself, nothingterian, something as mild as "You fool" that we are in danger of hell fire. You say "Pastor that isn’t what he meant" oh no, that’s what he said. In other words you can’t kill a man or his reputation.
Now I’d be quite happy just to stop the name calling among Christians. It’s been said that preachers are like warships cruising off the coast of a world that has shut them out. Instead of landing and infiltrating enemy territory we are content to fire occasional salvos ashore. But mostly they fire at each other.
Matthew 5:23-24 (NIV) "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
2) The Jews could be angry and still come to worship. Christ says we can’t have anything against a brother or sister and worship him. Do you hear that? Do you understand that? Often times when we seem spiritually dry and our worship times are flat we look for reasons within the church. The question that has to be asked is this, "Have we looked within?" Are we reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Are we preventing revival within ourselves and our church because of what we feel toward others? You say, "But Denn, he started it" Doesn’t matter, Christ isn’t nearly as interested in who started it as much as who ends it.
Matthew 5:25-26 (NIV) "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
3) This last principle is to settle our Christian quarrels in house. When we have a problem we need to settle it. We don’t need to spread our problems around, it shouldn’t go outside the family.
One of the biggest problems the church has had to face over the past fifty years is the public airing of our dirty laundry. You see Christians in the news and in the courts and it isn’t necessarily a great witness. Christ said, "Settle matters quickly with your adversary" Let’s keep those Christian disputes within the family and out of the courts.
