Matthew 5:17-18
“I Am Come To Fulfill…”
Woodlawn Baptist Church
June 19, 2005
Introduction
Why did Jesus come to earth? For the next few weeks, I would like to examine seven passages of Scripture that will answer that question. In each passage, Jesus made a statement that clearly says, “I have come for this purpose.” Each is worded quite differently; each gives us a different angle from which to view His coming, but all point to that one glorious work Jesus performed in redemption. Read with me the words of Christ in Matthew 5:17-18.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Our text is couched in the early part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a sermon He most likely preached about a year into His earthly ministry. By now He has been baptized, has called His disciples, been to Galilee two or three times, and has performed many miracles. He has already driven the money changers out of the temple, has spoken with Nicodemus, the woman at the well in Samaria, and has been communicating with people throughout the land.
While there have been many positive results and responses to His ministry, by the time Jesus preaches this Sermon on the Mount He has already had several run-ins with the Pharisees, particularly over His observance of the Sabbaths. The Scriptures indicate that they argued over the Sabbath as many as four times before preaching this sermon, and He has had to defend the disciples for feasting instead of fasting like others were doing, and Jesus’ practice of beginning His teachings with “You have heard it said…but I say…” had a way of getting under the skin of these religious leaders.
Matthew 5:1 indicates that Jesus was preaching to a mixed crowd. The disciples were present, as were probably other of His followers by now. The multitudes could have meant believers, unbelievers, those who were genuinely searching for the truth, and of course those religious leaders of the day who were out to find fault with what Christ was doing and saying. Who was Jesus anyway? And what did He stand for? Why had He come?
The Pharisees and scribes thought Him to be a heretic who had no regard for the Law of Moses or the work of the prophets. Jesus was a law-breaker, a radical who didn’t care about rules and regulations. He had no formal synagogue training; no schooling that declared Him to be a Rabbi or teacher. He continually broke ranks with the Jewish leaders by healing on the Sabbath, by disrupting the temple and by teaching things that were contrary to what they themselves had been teaching the people. To the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus had come to destroy, or to overthrow their entire religious system.
On the other hand, in the crowd that day were many people who witnessed Jesus’ same actions, but came to entirely different conclusions. When they saw Him breaking rank with the Jewish leaders or debating the Pharisees, they saw someone who had come to liberate them from that same religious system. The Pharisees and scribes kept people bound with all their rules and traditions and the Law. Was Jesus going to release them from all of that? Was there some other purpose?
Regardless of the listener, as Jesus ascended the hill that day to preach this message, He knew that there were all sorts of misconceptions about who and what He was, and those misconceptions were centered around His relation to the Scriptures.
There are still many misconceptions today about Christ, about His relation to the Old Testament and about our own relation to the Old Testament Scriptures. On the one hand are the “spiritually elite.” These are those who pride themselves in their form of religion: in their law-keeping. You come to church four times a week, read your Bible every day, witness to someone every week, pray through the prayer list consistently, dress appropriately and wish that others would take their faith so seriously as you. The Old Testament provides a list of dos and don’ts for you to live by and you don’t understand why other Christians don’t live by them also.
There are others who have little or no regard for the Old Testament. After all, we live by the New Testament now, so we don’t even need the Old Testament. Many of your first Bibles didn’t even contain Old Testaments; you got a little red New Testament with some happy thoughts from the Psalms and Proverbs. Numbers and Haggai and Malachi? They don’t have anything to do with us today, so we dismiss them as unimportant. And all those laws? Jesus freed us from those, so now they are more like general guidelines, not the absolutes that so many religious fanatics make them out to be.
In any given crowd today there are going to be both of these groups of people, and even others in between. Today, just as in Jesus’ day, God wants to shatter the misconceptions that exist about Jesus and the Old Testament. Look at the first two words again. Jesus said, “Think not…” In other words, whatever they had been thinking, or whatever preconceived ideas they had had to go. So many people, them as well as us miss so much because we cannot see the truth. We don’t follow Jesus’ line of thinking, and because we’ve already made up our minds we miss out on the real intent of the Savior. In light of this, I want to give you three certainties you can’t afford to miss.
Don’t Miss the Direction of the Old Testament
Do you remember the old sing-along-song cartoons? Just follow the bouncing ball…No matter whether you knew the words or not, if you just followed the bouncing ball you could figure out where the song was taking you. There are plenty of things in life like that bouncing ball – but they all have this in common – they provide direction: they give you path or a line to follow.
That’s exactly what the Old Testament does – every bit of it points in the direction of Jesus Christ. Jesus specifically mentioned the Law and the prophets. Of course the law refers to the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses is generally divided into three categories. There was the ceremonial law with the offerings and sacrifices and all the ritual and ceremonial that was connected with worship in the temple and tabernacle. There was the judicial law that had to do with the legislative law given for the nation of Israel that indicated how men were to order their behavior in regard to their relationships with others. Finally there was the moral law, which consisted of the Ten Commandments and the moral principles contained throughout the law.
The ceremonial law pointed to Jesus. So many people look at the burnt offerings and peace offerings and feasts and all they see is ritual, but every bit of it beautifully pictures Jesus Christ. Jesus is our Passover lamb. When you walked into the temple, on your left was a lampstand. Jesus said “I am the light of the world…” On your right was the table of showbread. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Directly in front of you was the altar of incense, lit twice a day by the priest. Incense in the Scripture is a picture of prayer. Jesus is our great intercessor – in fact, Hebrews 7:25 says that “he ever lives to make intercession for us.”
Beyond the altar of incense was the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The veil symbolized the enmity that stood between God and man, but that veil was torn in two when Christ was crucified, from top to bottom. Jesus’ death on the cross removed the enmity that stood between us and God, and now through faith in Him we have access to the throne of God.
Listen, we could go on and on. When Moses held up the brass serpent in the wilderness, all those who looked were healed from their snake bites. If men today will only look upon Jesus with eyes of faith they can be healed from the curse of sin they bear.
Jesus didn’t come to do away with the law – it all pointed in His direction. He fulfilled the Law in every way. He fulfilled the ceremonial law. There’s no more need for sacrifices and offerings. He fulfilled the judicial law. The law condemns sin to death – and that is why He died. He fulfilled the moral law. Galatians 4:4 says
“But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law…”
Jesus Christ fulfilled the moral law by living in complete and perfect obedience to it. He was placed under it just like every other human being had to live under it. He didn’t break it in any way, which is why His accusers could find no fault in Him. He took a human body just like yours and forced it into obedience.
Not only does the entire Old Testament Law point in the direction of Jesus Christ, the prophets pointed to Him. They foretold His birth. They told about His sinlessness. Jesus fulfilled prophecy after prophecy, from His birth to His ascension, and the only way that the law and prophets have not been fulfilled has only to do with what lies in the future.
Listen to me – don’t miss the direction of the Old Testament. Every time you read it you are looking at another picture of Jesus Christ. Each picture only shows you a different angle, gives you another look at the one and only Son of God. The Pharisees and scribes missed it. They saw a man with no regard for the Scriptures. Others missed it, hoping that Jesus would do away with the law and prophets, but both were wrong. They could not see the direction in which it all pointed, but you don’t have to.
Don’t Miss the Permanency of the Old Testament
“Till heaven and earth pass” represent the end of time as we know it, or the end of earthly history. As God’s Word, the law would outlast the universe, which someday will cease to exist.” Jesus said that not “one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law…” A jot is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and a tittle is something that you might think of as the smallest mark of punctuation. In other words, not one part of the Old Testament, not even the smallest part would pass away before it was all fulfilled.
Now, the ceremonial law has been fulfilled and set aside, just as the judicial aspect of the law has been.
“That leaves us with the moral law. The position with regard to this is different, because here God is laying down something which is permanent and perpetual, the relationship with much always subsist between Himself and man…It is a permanent condition and part of our perpetual relationship to God. Thus the moral law, as interpreted by the New Testament, stands now as much as it has ever done, and will do so until the end of time and until we are perfected. In 1 John 3 the apostle is very careful to remind his readers that sin in Christian people is still “a transgression of the law.”…The law is still there, and when I sin I am breaking that law, though I am a Christian and though I have never been a Jew…”
Listen, whether we like it or not, the standard to which God holds us is found in His law. That is the standard to which the lost will be held, and the standard to which we who believe are held. Think about the rest of His Sermon on the Mount. Look at Matthew 5:27. Jesus did not say, “The Old Testament said Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you that we’re going to change that.” Jesus didn’t abandon the law – He defined what it really meant. He raised the bar. The Pharisees and scribes knew they couldn’t obey the law, so through their traditions and interpretations they simply reduced it to something more manageable. If anyone had destroyed it, they had, and when we dismiss it as unnecessary or inapplicable we do the same thing.
You see, there are two common misunderstandings that many people have concerning the Old Testament. Number one is that we are not under it when in fact we are. Look with me at Matthew 7:12. Jesus said in this same sermon,
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
Read with me in Romans 8:1ff.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
What is it that would condemn a man who is without Christ? It is the law – the moral law to be exact. You cannot keep it. By your own inability to be obedient it declares you to be a law-breaker. Verse 2 continues…
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
What I want you to see is in verse 4. God still desires that the righteousness of the law, the moral law be fulfilled, or lived out in our lives. That can only be done through the Spirit of God that dwells in the believer.
The second misunderstanding is that we will not be held to the standards contained in the Old Testament, to which I will simply say before moving on that not only will we be held to those standards, they are the very standards to which God holds us today if we are to maintain right fellowship with Him.
Don’t Miss the Purpose of the Old Testament
Okay, so the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ. It directs us all to Him. Not one part of it is going to be done away with until it is fulfilled in every way. It is permanent and enduring. We are to live by its moral principles and we will answer one day for how we regarded it. Let me now offer you two final thoughts.
When Jesus addressed the multitude that day long ago, there were those in the crowd who believed that through their law-keeping they could earn favor with God. It is this crowd that even today says that they hope when they die their good works will outweigh their bad works. They’ve lived good, clean, honest lives and haven’t hurt anyone. If that is you today, I want you to listen to the words of Galatians 2:21 and following.
“…if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
I want you to listen to me very carefully. I don’t care how good a life you’ve lived, no amount of good living can give you life. God will only accept perfect righteousness into His heaven, and it does not come through law-keeping or clean living. It only comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
Why all this talk about the Old Testament? The purpose of it the law is to teach you about Jesus Christ and your need for Him. Think of it this way: The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean. God gave you the Old Testament to show you that you need a Savior.
I want to plead with you today to put your trust in Him, not in anything else. The Holy Spirit is convicting you of your sin. You know you’ve never confessed your sin to God; you’ve never repented and put your faith in Him. You can do that today.
Many of you have trusted Christ as your Savior, but Jesus intends for you to know that you cannot simply cast off the Old Testament like an old shirt. It still has great value for you today. Jesus calls you to live a life of holiness and righteousness before Him, a righteousness that is defined in the Old Testament, not for the keeping of your salvation. You are not under the law in that regard because you can’t lose your salvation. You’ve been delivered from the curse of the law, but that doesn’t release you from it as a rule of life.
The righteousness that Christ has imputed to you must now be fleshed out in you. Because of your love relationship with Christ your desire ought to be to live a life that reflects His nature in you. Is the life of Christ being formed in you? Is your life being transformed into His likeness? If it is not, it is not because He has not made it possible, but because you have not allowed it.
To live the righteous life that Christ desires and that glorifies God is to allow Christ to dwell in you. It is to no longer live for yourself and for your own attainments. It means that you cannot be self-righteous or self-satisfied.
Do you know God? Can you say honestly that the biggest and the first thing in your life is to glorify God regardless of the personal cost in your life? If that desire is not there, then today I ask you to examine your heart before God, who knows all hearts, and allow Him to perform His work in you.
Works Cited
MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-7 (The Moody Bible Institute: Chicago, Ill. 1985)
Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, MI 1959-60)
www.sermonillustrations.com (Phil Williams DTS 1976)
