Matthew 5:17

We will be continuing in the Sermon on the Mount this evening. We have barely gotten started. It is the longest recorded talk that Jesus gave.

In this sermon Jesus describes the kingdom. Having preached about how the kingdom was at hand, Jesus now describes what it looks like for the people of God to live in the kingdom of God. Jesus starts with the Beatitudes that we’re looking at on Sunday mornings where Jesus sets the kingdom values. The world tells us who it thinks are the blessed, happy, and cheerful people are. The list Jesus gives is completely opposite. The world thinks the blessed people are the ones whose lives are filled with stuff while Jesus says it’s the life filled with God.

In the passage we looked at last Wednesday Jesus talks about who we are as residents of the kingdom – we are salt and light. What we value determines what we become and who we become determines how we behave. That’s what Jesus will discuss for the rest of the sermon.

Before we get into our text tonight I want to remind you of a few things from the Old Testament. God lived in relationship with people in the Old Testament. We’re told that Enoch walked so close with God that one day God just took him to heaven. God lived in relationship with Noah. In fact, we’re told that in his day Noah was the only one on earth that lived in a relationship with God. Following the flood God called Abraham and lived in relationship with him. But it wasn’t until after God delivered Abraham’s descendants from Egypt that he gave them his law.

In his law, and especially in the Ten Commandments, God tells his people how they are to live as his people. The Ten Commandments are not burdensome. The first four deal with our relationship with God. God says that because he created us we owe him our allegiance. We are not to have other gods or to worship idols. We are not to misuse his name and we are to take one day a week to rest and honor him. The last six deal with how relate to each other. We should honor our parents. We shouldn’t take the lives of others. We should honor our marriage vows. We should take what belongs to others whether it is their physical property of their honor by saying things about them that aren’t true. And lastly, we shouldn’t so desire what God has given someone else that we don’t want them to have it and become dissatisfied with what God has given us. This last command – do not covet – also leads to others. It’s what leads to lying, cheating, stealing, and murder.

God gives these commands and the rest of his law to his people not because he doesn’t like them and doesn’t want them to have any fun. God gives them because he knows what is best for his people. He also gives them so that the Israelites will be able to show all the other nations what it looks like to live in a relationship with God. Again, these laws are not meant to be burdensome.

But by the time we get to the New Testament that’s what they have become. The law has become a burden that no one was able to carry. The experts of the law and the Pharisees were emphasizing the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of the law. So when Jesus started teaching the spirit of the law the Pharisees accused him of breaking the law. But Jesus didn’t break God’s laws, he broke man’s traditions. In our passage tonight Jesus is going to address these accusations. What Jesus wants to show us – and we’ll see more of this next week – is that it’s not just what we do that matters but why we do it.

It’s like that little boy I like to tell about who was standing in the pew. His mother kept telling him to sit down and he wouldn’t. When she finally just pulled him down he muttered, “I may be sitting on the outside but I’m still standing on the inside.”

It’s not just what we do but our attitude and intentions that matter as well.

I’ve never built or remodeled a house, but I’ve been told that one of the hardest aspects of the job is following all the building codes. Not only are there a lot codes, but the codes vary from town to town. So you have to know the codes that apply to where you are working. The codes can end up costing you more money than you originally planned to spend or they may prevent you from doing what you want to do.

I remember several years ago how the heat and air system in the dorms I stayed in at Johnson needed to be replaced. Because of the local building codes it was going to be as expensive to replace them as it would be to tear them down and build new buildings. As much as I liked those old dorms (which were less than thirty years old at the time), it made more sense to tear them down.

There are several ways you can deal with the codes. First, you can ignore them. You can pretend they don’t exist and do whatever you want. But if it’s ever discovered that you’re building and the inspector comes by you would be in big trouble. Second, you could make everything look good on the outside. You post your building permit at the street where it is easily visible. You make sure everything noticeable is taken care of and then cut corners on what can’t be seen. Or you could diligently keep every code.

We might view the Sermon on the Mount as a blue print for what life looks like in the kingdom of God. Like any building project there is a code. In this case the code is the Old Testament scriptures which Jesus refers to as the law and the prophets. Which strategy does Jesus take when it comes to the code? Does he ignore it? Does he skirt around it? Or does he keep it? Let’s watch the video.

VIDEO

So what are Jesus’ thoughts about the law? Jesus makes four interesting comments regarding the law.

He didn’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them

None of them with be done away with until the final day

Anyone who tries to do away with them will be dealt with

We must do better than the Pharisees and teachers of the law

Jesus anticipates the religious leaders showing up like building inspectors to examine his building plans and see how they line up with the code. After all, they had their own building project going on and they didn’t want Jesus interfering with it.

That was their question – “Does it line up with the code?” Today the question is – “Does the code even matter?” Do we need the Old Testament law? Should we bother with it? It’s is outdated, inconvenient, and a little embarrassing when we deal with unbelievers. Do they even matter anymore?

Jesus tells us that the Old Testament code does matter. Jesus said that:

He didn’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them

None of them with be done away with until the final day

Anyone who tries to do away with them will be dealt with

We must do better with the code than the Pharisees and teachers of the law did

The code matters. Some ignore and many neglect it, but we need to understand that the code still maters.

For us the code is very strange. Other than the Ten Commandments, we aren’t very familiar with it.

I remember the first time I visited Vanderbilt Hospital. I’ve gone to Sycamore Shoals and the Johnson City Medical Center often enough that I can find my way around easily. Last week Luther and I were over at the Sycamore Shoals in front of the old pharmacy window when we saw a couple of hospital workers that stopped us and asked us for directions. It’s a little odd having employees asking for directions, but they said it was their first day and they were trying to find the lobby. That building is small enough it doesn’t really matter which way you go you’ll eventually end up at the lobby. The Medical Center is larger and laid out a little strange, but I’ve been here long enough to have lived through a lot of their remodeling so I understand where and why things are the way they are. So I can get around there easily as well.

But the first time I visited Vanderbilt I couldn’t find anything. I had gone when Lindsay was there. I remember us wandering around looking for a place to eat and having to ask for directions. I’m sure it would be the same if I went back today. I don’t go there often enough to learn my way around so it feels uncomfortable and strange.

Many Christians feel the same way about the Old Testament. We spend so much time in the New Testament that the Old feels uncomfortable and odd. There are some who read through it regularly so they feel a little more at home, but aren’t sure they like what they find. It’s still filled with some strange and difficult teachings. And then there are some who just stay away from it. They don’t really care to venture into the Old Testament and don’t see why we should bother with it.

What we need to remember is that what we call the Old Testament is Holy Scripture. It too is the word of God just as the New Testament is. It is the same scripture that Paul is talking about when he writes to Timothy and says:

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

There was no New Testament when Paul wrote those words. It’s was God’s word long before the Old Testament was written and it remains God’s word today. In the Old Testament God laid the foundation for everything that follows. God reveals himself to us in the Old Testament. We learn so much about God’s character. For example, in Exodus 34 Moses proclaims:

6b The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6b-7)

This passage, which is quoted at least nine times, sets the ground work for so much of the Old Testament. Back in the Fall I preached ten sermons that all came from the Old Testament on God’s character. God reveals himself in the Old Testament and that truth remains today.

God not only reveals himself in the Old Testament, God also reveals his holy standard for his people in the Old Testament. There is a way that God calls us to live. Just as God is holy, he calls us to be holy. Just as he is love, he calls us to love him and to love our neighbors. We think of Jesus when we hear that, but both commands – to God and love your neighbor – are first found in the Old Testament. Jesus wasn’t saying anything new when he said them. What was new was the priority he gave them. No longer were these just two more commands in a list of hundreds, they are now numbers one and two in importance.

In the law he gave to the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai, God sets the standard he expected his people to live up to. However, because he knew they could never live up to that standard he also reveals his ultimate plan of salvation in the Old Testament. When we come to the New Testament it is not God finally trying something new when everything else he’d tried had failed. The events recorded for us in the New Testament are the fulfillment of what God had been saying all along in the Old Testament.

So the Old Testament tells us who God is, what he expects of us, and what he promised to do. And what does Jesus say about all of this?

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. (Matthew 5:18)

Therefore, it is important that when Jesus builds his kingdom that he build it according to code.

However, notice that Jesus doesn’t say that he is going to build the kingdom according to the code. Jesus says the purpose of the entire code was the building of the kingdom. The reason there was a code was to point to the kingdom Jesus is building.

Can you imagine how that would have been received? If Jesus had just said, “I am going to live out and keep the Old Testament law like no one has ever done,” he might have only received a few head scratches. But Jesus went further and said the Old Testament law was all about him. That would eventually get him crucified.

So how did Jesus fulfill the law? While there are hundreds of ways, here are two specific ways.

First, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament plan for redemption.

Jesus is the son of Abraham who brings God’s blessing to all nations.

Jesus is the son of David who sits on the throne.

Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, who has come to save us through his life, death, and resurrection.

So first, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament by completing the plan of redemption.

Second, Jesus fulfills it by fulfilling its moral purpose. Remember the Old Testament establishes God standard of holiness showing people how they are supposed to live. It has a moral purpose that no one was able to live up to. Jesus does. One commentator said:

Jesus did not come to do away with the law and the prophets but to bring out in and deed the quality of life they were intended to produce.

Think about some of the laws passed by towns and states around the country. These laws are intended to improve life. Some of them may be misguided, but their intent is to make things better. There’s a law against spitting on the sidewalk for a reason. There’s a law against driving on the wrong side of the road for a reason. People write these laws with good intentions, but we are flawed, our reasoning is flawed, and so our laws are going to be flawed. But God is perfect. Therefore, God’s laws are perfect. We just haven’t been able to live them out. Jesus did. Jesus was able to show us how God’s laws are supposed to be lived. But when the way he lived went against the religious leader’s flawed interpretations there was conflict.

The application for us is that holiness still matters. The way we live still matters. Jesus dies for our sins. Our sins are forgiven. But the way we live still matters.

Maybe you read this prayer by a little boy.

Dear God if you can’t make me into a better boy don’t worry about it. I’m having a good time like I am.

How many Christians live like that? It’s one thing when unbelievers live like that. They don’t claim to believe in God or believe the Bible to be his inspired word. It saddens God, but they’re just being consistent. However, when professed Christians who love God and who claim the Bible live like that they are being hypocrites. God’s word calls us to a higher standard of living. We know that we are not going to be saved by being good enough. However, that doesn’t mean that we no longer need to be concerned about how we live. Holiness still matters to God. We don’t want to be legalist, bus holiness matters. We are saved from sin that we might live holy lives.

Jesus means what he says in verse 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. (Matthew 5:19)

This is the importance Jesus placed on the law.

There were several religious groups that wanted power in the Jesus’ day. We discussed them last month when introducing the book of Matthew. Jesus mentions a couple of them in this passage. The scribes were the experts and teachers of the law. They spent their time studying and learning the law. The Pharisees claimed to be the ones who best kept the code. They added new code to prevent them from breaking God’s code and then expected everyone else to keep their code. The law said to fast once a year, they fasted twice a week. Whatever the law said they did more.

Both of these groups saw themselves as the building inspectors everyone else had to answer to. Jesus not only challenged their authority as building inspectors but whether they even kept the code themselves. That’s why he said in verse 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. (Matthew 5:20)

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were the super religious people. How could your righteousness surpass the righteousness of these guys?

As I mentioned earlier, by the time of Jesus the teachers of the law had added to God’s law. It was done in an effort to explain and apply the law, but over time their additions and traditions became more important to them than God’s law. The Pharisees and teachers of the law became the standard. In essence they were saying, “If you want to keep the law, do what we do.” So you can understand their anxiety when Jesus said, “If you want to enter the kingdom you have to be more righteous than the Pharisees.” How could they ever surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? What was wrong with what they were doing? They weren’t breaking any of God’s laws. If God said not to take his name in vain they weren’t even going to say God’s name. If God said don’t work on the Sabbath they going to make sure they didn’t do anything that might even look like work. The problem though, was they were more interested in outward appearances. They were sitting on the outside, but they were still standing on the inside. On more than one occasion Jesus will call these guys hypocrites. They were keeping the laws but they were doing it for all the wrong reasons.

I discussed this recently. The world says the church is full of hypocrites while ignoring the hypocrites. But the truth is that left to our own human nature we easily follow the example of Pharisees. We do things to be seen and praised by others or we do them grudgingly like the little boy made to sit down. It’s not necessarily wrong to care what others think about us, but when we care more about what others think than what God thinks it is a problem.

So what we need is a heart that is surrendered to God. The next part of the sermon is going to cover that. Jesus will say, “You have heard it said, but I tell you.” Jesus is showing what it looks like to live out the law as a heart level and not just at an obedience level like the Pharisees. And this is what the law and the prophets were after. Listen to Samuel talking to Saul after his rebellion.

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22)

God is more interested in the heart. And David wrote:

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

That sounds a little like the first beatitude: blessed are the poor in spirit.

In Jeremiah 31, God talks about making a new covenant with his people. He says:

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

It is a covenant of the heart, not just outward actions.

Because Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament there are some laws we should not keep any longer. We should not make sacrifices to God because Jesus is the perfect and final sacrifice. But the law of God still stands. There is some discussion about which of the other laws we need to obey, but the law of holiness is undisputable. God still calls us to live holy lives. Again, Jesus does not come to do away with the law; he comes to do the law the right way.

We can’t build our lives any way we want. Nor is it enough to just look good from the outside. We must obey from the heart and show the world what it means to live in relationship with God. Jesus warns:

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. (Matthew 5:17)