The Law Fulfiller
The Gospel of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Intro
Dismiss for children’s ministry.
Good morning church! Would you please take your Bible and open with me to Matthew 5. We are continuing to walk through The Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we saw Jesus call for believers to be salt of the earth and light of the world. Now, He moves into teaching about the Law.
Let’s pray and then we will read the Word together.
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. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
This is the Word of the Lord.
For centuries, the church has debated what we are to do with the Law. Specifically, the church has wrestled with the Old Testament and its bearing upon the believers life. In history, men such as Marcion advocated that the Old Testament should be disregarded. Likewise, even modern day pastors have made statements such as, “The Old Testament should be unhitched from the New Testament.” Such thoughts are wrong and heretical. Paul gave Timothy a strong exhortation regarding God’s Word.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Paul wrote that all Scripture, meaning every word of Scripture, is given or breathed out by God. In understanding such truth, we know that the Old Testament is God’s Word just like the New Testament is as well. The Old Testament points to the future hope of Jesus Christ while the New Testament details the coming of Jesus with the promise of His final return. Furthermore, Jesus came to fulfill the Law as we will see today. Therefore, the Old Testament is vital to the Christian life and so is the Law of God.
Main idea: Jesus fulfilled the law to save lawbreaking sinners.
We will examine three aspects of Jesus Christ in relation to the Law of God. We will seek to answer the chief question of this text of Scripture, “Why did Jesus come to fulfill the Law?”
First...
Jesus came to fulfill the Law.
Jesus came to fulfill the Law.
Jesus continues His instruction to the crowd and His disciples. In doing so, He now turns His attention to the Law. Jesus being the very Son of God knew the Law and its requirements. Many in the crowd, maybe even the disciples, thought that Jesus was coming to do away with the Law. However, Jesus makes known here that He did not come to destroy the Law.
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.
Notice, Jesus begins by addressing the thought. He gives a command for those listening to His instruction not to think He came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. Specifically, Jesus urges them to stop their thoughts and listen. He uses the term in English which is abolish. It is the greek word, kataluo, which means to destroy. Jesus makes clear that He did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets.
Now, we must understand what is the Law and the Prophets. The Law was the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch or Torah. These were the first five books written by Moses and contained within them the Law of God, the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. Then, Jesus mentions the Prophets. These would be the prophetic books such as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and the minor prophets. In the broad sense, Jesus is making sure that the crowd knows He is referring to the Old Testament Scriptures.
John MacArthur writes, “The foundation of the Old Testament is the law given in the Pentateuch, which the prophets, psalmists, and other inspired writers preached, expounded, and applied.”
Jesus is saying that He has not come to destroy the Old Testament. He has come to fulfill the Old Testament. The greek word fulfilled signifies completion. Jesus has come to complete the Old Testament. He has not come to remove or do away with the Old Covenant but to fulfill or complete it. Meaning, everything written in the Old Testament will be completed by Jesus Christ Himself.
Jesus is sure to make known that He is talking about the Law and the Prophets, the Old Testament. Because some could have assumed He was speaking about the hundreds of manmade laws that the Jewish religious leaders had made up. These were made up to make themselves look righteous before men. They could not uphold God’s Law, so they made their own that they could uphold. In doing so, they were only upholding external righteousness instead of inward holiness.
In fulfilling or completing the Law and Prophets, Jesus was fulfilling all of the Law. Jesus lived completely up to the standard of God’s Law. He never once broke God’s Law. He lived perfecting in accordance with the Ten Commandments and every requirement of the Law. Likewise, Jesus fulfilled the Law of God by being our perfect sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. He went to the cross to shed His blood in order that the sins of believers would be atoned for.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Jesus’s death on the cross was the sacrifice made for our sins to be forgiven. In dying on the cross, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. He lived according to the Law of God to pay for our sins. He came to fulfill the Law.
Likewise, Jesus continues to point to the reality of His fulfillment.
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Jesus begins teaching. His teaching is different from the other rabbis or teachers during this time. Instead of appealing to another source or teacher, Jesus says, “I say to you.” Jesus is teaching with authority and it is His own authority. He has the authorities to speak the truth of God’s Word. He states “until heaven and earth pass away.” What He is meaning there is this: until the appointed time for the heavens and earth to be brought to nothing, Christ’s fulfillment of the Law will be accomplished.
Jesus says that every iota and dot within the Old Testament will be fulfilled by Him, meaning the smallest stoke of the pen will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
Application: Does this mean that we can disregard the Old Testament? NOT IN THE LEAST.
J. C. Ryle points out,
“The religion of the Old Testament is the germ of Christianity. The Old Testament is the Gospel in the bud. The New Testament is the Gospel in full flower.”
This passage points to the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Old Testament as God’s Word. We will not understand the whole of redemption history if we do not have the Old Testament. The Old Testament tells of our sinful condition from the Fall. Reveals our sin in the giving of the Law. The Old Testament points to the Messiah to come in order that we recognize Jesus as the Messiah when He did come. The Old Testament reveals to us the truth of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment.
He fulfilled the moral law by living in accordance with the 10 Commandment. He fulfilled the ceremonial law by becoming a sacrifice for sinners. He fulfilled the judicial law by being the faithful Son of God. He fulfilled the Law for the sake of saving law-breaking sinners.
Does this mean that we can disregard the Law?
Antinomianism: (anti-law) Explain.
15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Christ fulfilled the law in order that we would be able to be obedient to the law through grace.
Point out the way in which we still honor God through redemption (new heart Jer. 31:31-34).
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
The law is now within us and written on our hearts. Those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ will have a new heart. Our new heart changes us to desire obedience to God’s law above sinfulness.
Secondly...
Jesus came to fortify the Law.
Jesus came to fortify the Law.
After teaching and revealing that He is the fulfillment of the Law, Jesus now teaches regarding the importance of the Law. Because Jesus fulfilled the Law, that does not mean that the Law can now be disregarded. He fortifies the law pointing out that it is still important for the Christian life. Notice what Jesus says:
19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
As Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament, the precepts and teachings of the Old Testament are still God’s Word to man that should be read and applied to life. Jesus makes clear here that if one person relaxes or pushes aside the importance of a commandment he will be treated the same. The one who has little regard for God’s Law will be the one who God has little regard for. That person will be least in the kingdom.
However, the one who hears God’s Law and follows God’s Law will be great in the Kingdom of God. They will be regarded kindly in the kingdom. This harkens us back to James and the call to be a doer of the Word.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
The believer must be obedient to the Word of God. This is not just obedience to the New Testament this is obedience to all of God’s Word, the Old Testament and the New Testament. God did not give us His commandment simply that we would know what not to do. He gave us His commandments in order that we would know Him and honor Him through obedience to the Word.
Jesus is calling out the Jewish religious leaders here. They had sought to make additional manmade laws and esteem them as more important that the one found in the Word. Therefore, they were relaxing or seeking annul the commandments. However, Jesus teaches that such relaxing of the Law results in eternal consequences. That person will be least in the kingdom. Now, for the one who holds to the Word, he or she will be great in the kingdom.
Application: We cannot relax upon the Word.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Word of God does the work in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ. While Jesus teaches that He came to fulfill the Law, He also teaches the authority of Scripture. In Jesus’s day, they had the Old Testament. That was the portion of God’s Word that had been completed at that time. They were called to live according to it and not to relax in obedience. Now, we have the entirety of God’s Word.
We understand from Scripture that it is written by God through men. We hold to the verbal-plenary inspiration of Scripture. What that means is that every single word in the Bible is given to us by God. Every word of Scripture is God’s Word. That is why we cannot relax on one verse or another verse because we do not like it.
We see this happen all the time. Some want to relax or push aside verses that talk about the sinfulness of man because it is offensive. Likewise, some do not want to acknowledge that God would send down fire from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. Or, a flood that wipes out all of humanity. Many push aside passages of Scripture such as 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
These verses point to the various sins. Many want to take such verses out of the Bible because it lists certain practices such as greediness, being drunk, and homosexuality. They do not like it because it calls their lifestyle wrong. However, they miss out on the immense grace of God in that He saves us from such sins.
Furthermore, men such as Thomas Jefferson did not find the miracles of Jesus to be true. In his sinful thought, he removed every miracle from his wicked version of the Bible.
Even today, there are those who want to push aside the sovereignty of God in salvation advocating that man alone has a choice and freewill. Please understand man does not have freewill. Man’s will is either in bondage to satan apart from Jesus Christ. Or, his will is in bondage to Christ through salvation. We have responsibility to submit to Jesus Christ, but our will is bound either to satan or to Jesus Christ.
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
God is sovereign and He alone has the power to save. Man can do nothing to save himself.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
God does all the work to save us.
He has given us His Word by His grace. In giving us the Word, He shows us the truth about Himself. God reveals Himself in the Word. We neither get to add anything to the Word nor take anything away from the Word.
The Word of God tells us what to believe instead of us telling God what we will believe. It is His Word given to us. We must live in submission to it.
Jesus came to fasten the requirement of the Law.
Jesus came to fasten the requirement of the Law.
This last point may require a bit of explanation given that Jesus does not speak highly of the Pharisees and scribes through Scripture. This is the only verse in which He says something seemingly positive about them.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
He continues instructing using the first person pronoun “I.” He tell them that they must have righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees and scribes in order to enter into the kingdom of God.
Why would Jesus even mention the Pharisees and scribes?
Jesus uses the Pharisees and scribes as an illustration here. The righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes was superficial. It was external only. Their righteousness was fake. They simply looked righteous on the outside by wearing long robes, praying long prayers, and making themselves appear as though they had fasted regularly. However, their righteousness or right standing before God was a sham. Jesus compared them to whitewashed tombs.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
They look righteous on the outside, but inwardly they have absolutely zero holiness.
That is why Jesus said righteousness worthy of the kingdom of heaven must exceed or surpass that of the Pharisees and scribes. It must be more than external righteousness. It must be inward righteousness. True righteousness is that found in Jesus Christ and Him alone. That is the righteousness that surpasses the Pharisees and scribes. Righteousness from Christ Jesus.
You may say, how can we who are desperate sinners be righteous before God?
We can only be righteous before God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to fulfill the law of God. In doing so, He was able to bring about the salvation of sinners. He plants His Holy Spirit within us. He then declares us righteous before God.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The requirement of the law is righteousness. The only way in which we can have righteousness is through faith in the One who is righteous. The One who fulfilled the Law. Jesus Christ and Him alone. Jesus fastened the requirement of the Law which is righteousness and provided that righteousness to us through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Conclusion
John Calvin summarizes this entire text very clearly:
“Christ, therefore, now declares, that his doctrine is so far from being at variance with the law, that it agrees perfectly with the law and the prophets, and not only so, but brings the complete fulfillment of them.”
So, why did Jesus come to fulfill the Law?
It was to glorify His Father in heaven and to save sinners.
What must we do?
Christian: Let us hold fast to the Word of God with unwavering devotion. This is a call to read and apply the Word of God to your life. I encourage you, please open your Bible and read. God speaks to us through His Word. Be sure to read His Word.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Non-Christian: For you today, understand that Jesus Christ did what you could not. We are desperately sinful. We needed a Savior because we could not live according to God’s perfect standard. Jesus Christ lived according to the standard in order to save us from our sins. Will you place your faith in Him today?
Pray.