A couple of years ago there was a school principal in West Virginia who banned Valentines day at his school –it was too disrupting. He refused all deliveries of candy and flowers, not even any of the faculty could give or receive cards or gifts. People could complain, but he made the rules…He was the Grinch Who Stole Valentines Day.
We traveled to Texas for Thanksgiving and again we endured the new rules by the TSA. Now you can bring limited amounts of liquids or gels on the plane, limited means a travel size – about three oz. They must be in a quart size zip lock bag. If you have the same amount in a larger zip lock, your out of luck – they will take it away - so I found out. My sister in law was told she could not bring a bottle of 12 oz of Gatorade through. So she poured the 12ozs of Gatorade into 4, 3 oz bottles. That was ok.
I sat by a lady on the plane who told me that she tried to ask the clerk at the gate a question, “I’m not ready for questions – you’ll have to wait” she looked around, she was the only one at the counter, the clerk wasn’t on the phone, typing, or working otherwise. She tried to ask again, but the clerk would not budge, “I’m not ready for questions”.
So she sat down, a moment later the clerk announced – “I’m now ready for questions”, the lady shot back…..“I’m not ready for your answers – you’ll have to wait”
We live in a time where we have silly rules imposed on us, by a controlling authority. There’s always a controlling authority, no matter how big or small the situation, and, you know, isn’t it just easier to follow the silly rules and move on with your day? The rules around us try you tell us what is wrong and what is right, what is correct and what is incorrect.
If I ever go into a Starbucks for coffee, I always ask for a medium coffee…and inevitably the coffee clerk condescendingly corrects me -
Tall, Grande, or Venti -I say, “no thanks, I’ll just have a medium”.
Our age is not unique, there always has been people who add rules to our lives. In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees where the controlling authority. They along with the Scribes determined what was right and wrong, correct and incorrect – by looking at Scripture, and by doing so, by living well, one could be righteous before God -A fairly important thing.
The Pharisees (the separated ones) were a religious political party in Jesus time. They were known for insisting the law be observed as the Scribe had interpreted it. (The Law also known as the Mosaic Law, given through Moses) The Scribes were members of the educated class
who studied the Scriptures, copied them and served as teachers.
One command from the mosaic law is Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Now, there are not a lot of details there, are there? I mean, how do I know when I am keeping this commandment? I‘m glad you asked.
The Scribes and the Pharisees had an answer to how to keep all the commandments, two whole books of them. Scribal Law, or the Mishnah is 800 pages long. The Talmud or book of the Law is seventy two volumes. These are not the Mosaic Law , but are interpretations of the Mosaic Law. Every possible detail was worked out on every detail of the law. The Scribes and Pharisees knew this immense pile of information well, and applied it to their lives obsessively. They were able to fulfill every obligation of the law to a tee. The Scribes and the Pharisees could, but everyone else, pretty much could not.It was like a burden that weighed people down.It was like a spiritual darkness was placed upon everyone. The Word of God, fairly simply laid out was clouded with details, and in fact, people paid more attention to the interpretation of the Word, than to the Word of God itself.
Our first Scripture read this morning during the advent candle lighting from Isa 9:2. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
The people are living in a land of Spiritual Darkness, because the true meaning of the Word of God has been clouded by tiny things .
Years ago a man was hired by a pharmaceutical company to be an area salesman. He was smart, a quick thinker, people oriented – perfect for the job. He was given a territory, training and all he needed to get the job done. On his first day his manager called to see how his visits went
“no visits yet, I’m getting organized” Three days later his manager called to see how his visits went “I’m almost there…getting organized”
A week later his manager shows up - he hasn’t seen a customer yet
”just a few more details and I’ll be out and about”. He got lost in the details and never got to his mission
The Pharisees allowed their rules to become the center and forgot about their real mission. Jesus doesn’t live the way they do and so there is an insinuation that not only are they more righteous than Jesus, but that Jesus acts in a way that he treats the law with lower importance. So we come to verse 17….In verse 17 Jesus speaks:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets;
Jesus refers to the Prophets as well as the law. Jesus is referring to further stipulations contained in the Scriptures that the Pharisees weren’t primarily concerned with. Jesus is referring to the entire OT
which can be called the Law and the Prophets. So Jesus is saying that he had not come to get rid of anything in the OT. This is a radical thought! For in the NT times the Law was considered greater than the rest of the OT. So Jesus shocks them –saying it all has authority.
Now when we read, he came not to break the law – but to abolish the law, this implies that Jesus had the power to destroy the law. Jesus implies that he can abolish the law – but that is not what he is all about. Jesus was a leader who went against the culture and people may have thought, he is going to create his own rules…
But Jesus came not to change or correct the law but to fulfill it. Again the rest of 17 - I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
The word used here is plhrw?sai. it means to fill to the full. It is from the Aramaic MELA - fulfill. This hardly means to do - that Jesus came to live out the details of the law. It means more fully – to complete, or accomplish to bring to its intended meaning. Jesus has come in this land of darkness to bring the laws full meaning, and the full meaning is found in Jesus.
This is consistent with the Jewish expectation that not only would the messiah preserve the Torah (law and prophets) but being a definitive meaning to it as well.
The details. Jesus is the details, he defines the details…verse 18
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.
Jesus is using a bit of hyperbole here speaking about the smallest letter the iota or the Hebrew smallest letter the yod and the tittle. A little, tiny horn that distinguishes several very similar Hebrew letters
He is emphasizing that the whole OT is sound – he will not change it
Heaven and earth passing away does not mean - never ever ever. Jesus is referring to the end of time when we all are before God. So the law is valid until the close of this age. The words of Jesus are elevated above the law for they are eternal. Jesus is trying to show what is valid for all time not just the details.
So Jesus now breaks through the murky stack of interpretations
With this scary statement: 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.
Holy smokes thought everyone – who could do that? The disciples could not imagine anyone more righteous than the Pharisees – so it seemed like impossible righteousness, they must have thought, we’ll never be able to be like that, were doomed!
Jesus looked at those who were thought to be righteous in his day. Who by all outward appearances looked righteous and by saying that our righteousness needed to exceed theirs, he made the attainment of righteousness look impossible…..at first glance. The Scribes and the Pharisees were able to live the law, at least their interpretation of the law, at least their interpretation of keeping the Sabbath.
What does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy if I don’t keep it out of love? It means one is not obedient to God’s word, they are just being legalistic. Fulfilling the obligations of the law out of legalism, not out of obedience is not what God wants, he wants our hearts. Being legal is not enough
Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about taking the words of Jesus Seriously. When he says give to the poor – he means give to the poor, when he says give to the poor in secret, he tells us that to guard our hearts, so that we will not succumb to intending to give out of obedience, but end up giving because it makes us look generous, it makes us "look" – righteous.
By the way – awesome response helping out the poor here in Anchorage. Folks filled the bins up with stuff…whoever you are. That’s right, taking the words of Jesus seriously.
Here he is warning us that obsessing over the details of looking righteous, will place us in the same place as the Scribes and Pharisees.
Ouch.
Through obedience to Jesus Christ, not legalism our righteousness will exceed the Pharisees. To obey, or willingness to obey, our motives are what make the difference. The rules laid down in Scripture are important – very important. But an external display….that lacks a depth of love for God…will get us nowhere.
Some practical thoughts: We may stand firm and not lie – because that’s wrong and them we give intentionally misleading information, or don’t give direct answers and say “I haven’t lied….” We may not outwardly respond with anger or harsh words when we are crossed by another, but we may consider what we could have said or we may tell a friend in detail how ignorant the person is….We can keep the outward rules, and remain the same inside. No wonder we are miserable.
There was a man who was very loyal to the church. There every Sunday he could make it, involved in almost every activity available always there to lend a helping hand. At work, he was very successful - He was harsh, foul mouthed, and some say abusive to his employees...Hey wait a moment, could he be fooling himself?
Some ways to be more righteous than the Scribes and Pharisees. First understand you cannot be more righteous on your own, but through the Lord Jesus Christ you can. Rom. 3:21-22 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
Jesus gives us our righteousness when we accept him as Lord and savior.
Second, don’t seek approval from others. Matt. 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
When we follow God’s rules it is not for us to be elevated. It is so that Jesus Christ will be elevated.
Finally, be a lover of God, not a lover of rules. When we love God we are more interested in pleasing him, than externally giving attention to his rules. Jesus has come to the land of darkness, let him be our light.
Special thanks to the following who gave me some good stuff for the sermon: David Salisbury, Denn Guptill, Matthew Rogers
