Kyle Ryan, Matthew 5:17-20 (The Law Fulfilled)
Notes
Transcript
Matthew 5:17-20 Sermon
Intro
When I turned 16, my Dad promised that I would get his 1999 Ford Ranger. It was the truck I learned to drive on. As the next few years passed, he kept reassuring me that when he got something else, I would get the truck. Each year that passed, I began to doubt this reality. At the end of 3 years since that promise, I began to think my dad’s promise would never happen. I doubted that he would ever keep his word. Then, 4 years after the promise was made, I finally got the truck. A promise that had long been awaited, became fulfilled.
Now, if I felt that way after only 4 years, imagine how Israel felt as they waited on God’s promises to come true? They continually were looking to the fulfillment of God’s promises. Many of them must have struggled as they waited for the Messiah to come. And if we are honest with ourselves, we too often struggle as we await on the Lord to bring completion to all that he has promised. Therefore, in the midst of waiting and doubt, we must look to the faithfulness of God. We must look at how God has continued to prove himself faithful in fulfilling his word. This is what I would like us to look at this morning as we open up God’s word in Matthew 5:17-20.
Text Setting
Matthew’s gospel is a gospel account that focuses on how Jesus is the fulfillment of all the old. Matthew 2:14-15 says, “And he (being Joseph) rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Then in Matthew 3:15, as John is reluctant to baptize Jesus, Jesus says, “But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”” By the time we roll around to our text this morning, the word fulfilled is used 6 times in 4 ½ chapters. Matthew’s gospel can be summed up by this word fulfillment. Jesus has come as the yes and Amen to all of God’s promises.
Text
Matthew 5:17-20 (read the text)
Main Point (Idea/Thesis)
Jesus is the fulfillment of all the law and prophets. Therefore, our righteousness is found in him.
Points
Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets.
Jesus is our greater righteousness.
Point #1: Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets
Being a newer parent, I have already come to the conclusion that grandparents are both great and terrible for the parents. And what I mean by that, my wife and I try and set rules and boundaries for our daughter, even as a 1 year old. However, what happens to those rules when the grandparents are around? Those rules go bye bye. The grandparents get to relax and have fun with their grandkids. I am sure none of you grandparents out there are guilty of spoiling your grandkids in this way.
And while this is perfectly normal and fine for grandparents to spoil their grandchildren, imagine if Jesus had come to do away with all that His Father had previously said? What if Jesus undid everything the Old Testament had taught? Or maybe he just let some of the rules slide?
This is exactly what many have thought Jesus came to do. Even today, there is much confusion about who Jesus is and what he came to do. Was Jesus just a good teacher? Did he come to overturn the ways of old and bring a new set of rules? It is important for us to think about who Jesus is and what he said his mission and purpose was.
And in Matthew 5:17 we read, “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.”
The Law and The Prophets
Let’s pause to understand this phrase, the Law and the Prophets. It is referring to the whole of the Old Testament. This means that Genesis to Malachi are summed up here in this phrase. The first five books of the Bible are known as the Torah, the Law. Then the Prophets would have summed up the other 34 books of the Old Testament. For in each of the prophets, the writings, the historical narratives, and wisdom literature, God’s law was being proclaimed and applied to the nation of Israel and those who would draw near to God, including Ruth a Moabite and Rahab a prostitute.
In the Law and the Prophets, God continually revealed to Israel, and ultimately to us, who he is and how to be in relationship with him. And in the law, we see God’s standard for drawing near to him. We see God’s character and nature. We see that God is holy and alone is worthy of worship. The prophets and other writings point us back to God’s given word, what he has done for his people, and how he continues to pursue them, and again us to turn from sin and find our refuge in him.
And it is this law and these prophets that Jesus is saying he has come to fulfill. Now to say that Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets, means that he brought them to completion.
For example, the business term order fulfillment is the phrase used when an order has been brought from sales inquiry to delivery to the customer. The order is then complete and closed. In the same way then, Jesus is saying he is bringing all the law and the prophets to completion and being answered in him. For Jesus is the fulfillment of it all!
Hear just a few of the promises that Jesus has come to fulfill:
Hear the very first promise from Genesis 3:15 – “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
This promise is then seen as fulfilled in Hebrews 2:14-15 – “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
Jesus is the seed or offspring of the woman who has come to defeat Satan and deliver God’s people from his power.
Another example, Isaiah 53:4-7– “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – everyone – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”
Then we look to the cross. You can read the gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus. But I think Philippians 2:8 summarizes this work well, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the final sacrifice who was stricken, smitten, and afflicted to cover the sins of the world. All we need to do is come to him!
You see, these are the things that Jesus has come to fulfill. He has come to fulfill God’s promise of salvation for the nations! God’s promise to Isaac that his descendants would be a blessing to the nations in Genesis 26:4 – “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
God the Father fulfills his word through Jesus, the Son of God so that, he can redeem sinners such as us. Our God is a faithful God, who keeps his word!
Two quick applications from this before we press on. First, as we read our Bibles and sit under the preached word of God, may we constantly be reminded of God’s faithfulness to his word. May we be strengthened in our faith as we are pointed back to the cross. Second, knowing now that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, we need to ensure that we are studying the whole of God’s word from Genesis to Revelation. For all of the Bible is pointing to Jesus and how he fulfills God’s word. And as we study and learn more of all that Jesus came to fulfill, our faith can continue to deepen, therefore strengthening us to stand firm, leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus!
Not an Iota, not a dot
But the fulfillment of God’s promises isn’t just for our initial salvation, it is also futuristic. And this is where Jesus turns as he says in verse 18, “that until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
The word iota is simply referring to the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. It falls under consonants and is more about the part of speech a word is acting as than anything else. And Jesus is saying that even this small tiny letter will not pass away until it is all accomplished.
In other words, all the things we see Jesus promise in his teachings and the promises we see through the rest of the New Testament will be fulfilled in Jesus when he comes again. Victory belongs to Jesus. And we can rest firmly in that!
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is extremely encouraging to my heart and I trust it is to your hearts as well. And while I currently do not know the things most of you might be struggling with this morning, I want to point you back to the hope we have in Jesus. My guess is that in a group this size, there are some who are possibly struggling to remember God’s faithfulness this morning. Maybe others are facing trials and suffering. Or maybe others who just need a gospel booster to stir their hearts to continue growing in love for Jesus. And we all have been battling the challenges and uncertainties of a global pandemic in COVID-19.
So here are a few ongoing reminders of all that Jesus will accomplish that we can cling to in the midst of all of these moments:
Jesus will be gentle and lowly in heart, bringing rest for those who would draw near to him (Matthew 11:28-30)
Dane Ortlund in his recent book, Gentle and Lowly says, “The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible...You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come.”
Jesus is our advocate before the Father (1 John 2:1)
The gates of hell will not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18).
Jesus will always be with his disciples (Matthew 28:20)
Jesus will return as the victorious king (Revelation 19:11-21).
And these are but a handful of the promises that we have in Jesus! The life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus is the fulfillment of that which God had been promising from the beginning, a cure for the curse. And his name is Jesus! So, as we continue in our fight for faith, we must look constantly back to the cross and see that God has been faithful to his word and therefore, we should continually trust him as we await the coming day when our King will come again to fully establish His Kingdom, defeating death and sorrow forevermore.
Therefore, in the midst of this waiting, Christian, we can trust that his plans will not be stopped, even when the world seems in complete chaos in the midst of a pandemic, racial tensions continuing to rise, and a nation filled with hate for those who would disagree with them. We can rest in the King of Kings and that his rule is advancing through the faithful witness of his church around the world. We can be sure that the gates of hell will not prevail! We have victory in Jesus!
Point #2: Jesus is our greater righteousness.
But that brings us to how can we rest in this. We rest in this, because “Jesus is our greater righteousness,” which is our second point this morning. Let's first look at what verse 20 means, then come back to verse 19. “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Charles Quarles, a Bible commentator notes, “The scribes and Pharisees were recognized as those who scrupulously followed the OT commands and even added to the commands to “build a fence around the Torah” so that they would not creep toward disobedience or come close to transgression. When Jesus called for a righteousness that surpassed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, His hearers would likely have gasped and wondered if it were possible to achieve such righteousness.”
And I think this is Jesus’ point, the righteousness of God is not about moralism and outward obedience. It is about an inner heart transformation to love the things that God loves and hate the things God hates.
This claim is backed up in what Jesus goes onto say in Matthew 5:21-48. Jesus makes clear claims that our righteousness isn’t a righteousness of outward actions. The thoughts of the heart matter. And the reality of this is, we cannot manufacture this righteous heart on our own. Left to ourselves we cannot have a righteous heart. And yet, it is in Jesus that we have this righteousness.
We see this as we look at Galatians 2:19-21, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Jesus died that his righteousness would cover all who would come to faith in him.
If you are here this morning and you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, I want to talk to you for a moment. Some of you might think you are too far gone in sin for salvation. My friend, you are deeply mistaken. Jesus made a way for sinners to be redeemed from sin, and live in him! We have all fallen short of the glory of God. And it is by God’s grace that any of us are saved. Don’t delay! Today is the day of salvation. Turn from your sin and come to Jesus! Come find me during the closing song or talk with me afterward. Talk with the person who brought you this morning. Don’t put off Jesus another day. Come and rest in him and let his righteousness be your righteousness! For Christ died for the ungodly, so that they could find salvation in Him!
The flip side of the coin to those who know they are broken, is that others think that they are good of their own accord. These can be identified by how they boast in their good standing because of their good works or always being present in every church activity. Friend, if this describes you, I plead with you to humble yourself. We are not righteous from anything we do. Even our best works are nothing more than filthy rags. The way the gospel becomes glorious is not by how good we are, but by seeing how great a savior we have in Jesus. That it is his righteousness that makes us whole again.
And still for others, you might be struggling with where you stand in your faith. You are battling sin in your life and doubting your salvation. As you see the righteousness of Jesus, know that it is by His righteousness that you are worthy. He is before the Father, interceding on your behalf. You are purchased by His blood, rest in this sweet assurance and keep fighting for the obedience of faith as you set your eyes on Jesus!
The Least and Greatest
Now, one last part we need to look at this morning, this phrase, the least and the greatest in the kingdom. And my guess is that all of us want to be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
I love football. I worked in college athletics for 8 years. And I can tell you, not a single player in that span ever wanted to be called the least of these. How much more should this be the case as we pursue after Jesus? Since we have seen that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but fulfill, how then can we make less of any part of God’s word?
Christian, it is not our job to relax any of the Scripture as we labor to help others follow Jesus. How we help others follow Jesus is by pointing them to Jesus who fulfills the Law and the Prophets by laying down his life, that we might live in Him! As we go and help others follow Jesus in making disciples we need to keep both the Great Commission in mind from Matthew 28:19-20 which says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As well as what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Therefore, as we go out into the world this week, may we be a people who are about proclaiming the whole of God’s word to a lost and dying world. Teaching them how Jesus fulfills the sacrificial system in being the final sacrifice for our sins. We help others follow Jesus as we point them to the hope of salvation in Jesus! We help others follow Jesus by using the whole of the Bible to teach them who God is and the beauty of our savior, Jesus!
Conclusion
It is my prayer this morning that our eyes have been refocused back to the beauty of our savior! For it is Jesus who fulfills God’s law, so that his righteousness could be made ours. Jesus came and bled and died for our sins. He defeated death and rose from the grave, that we might live in him! As we continue to wait on the King to return in glory, we only need to look back to the cross for assurance that he will come again.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, go rejoicing in Jesus this week! Boast of all that he has done for you!
And those who have not come to trust in the savior, come and follow Jesus. (Invitation????)
Let’s pray...
Scripture Readings and Prayers
Scripture Reading
Galatians 2:17-21 (ESV)
A Prayer of Praise
Pastoral Prayer
Praise for this local church
Testimonies heard yesterday
God’s faithfulness to this church 130 years
Pray for Mike Hall as he preaches at ____________________________________ this morning.
Praying for IMB missionaries in North Africa and the Middle East
For our missionaries to continue being a light in the midst of darkness, so that evangelism can continue to spread like wildfire there.
Discipleship for new believers
Faithful churches and pastors
Lord your word tells us to pray for those in authority over us, so this morning we want to pray for Mayor (Herb) Williams of Centralia, IL. Father, may he have wisdom to make decisions and lead in his role as mayor that will benefit the people of Centralia, IL economically, socially, and for the good of all who live here.
Pray for our time in the word…