The end of the Law?
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Title: The end of the law?
Text: Matthew 5:17-20
D.T The purpose of the Law is woven into the personhood of Jesus.
Introduction: When I was writing the message this week, I wanted to start by talking about the frustration of hearing or receiving mixed messages. However despite my best efforts I could not find a good example, I couldn’t really think of a time when I was frustrated by mixed messages. Then I realized that many of us are experiencing the frustration of receiving mixed signals in how those in authority tell us how to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
You might see or hear someone mention the crisis will be over by the summer, while others say things will be as they are 18 months. Mixed messages right
It seems the definition of what is considered essential has been one huge mixed bag of a mixed message.
Some say masks are worthless, while others say masks are helpful and necessary.
Some say COVID-19 fatalities are underreported, while others say the numbers are overblown.
Some say that if we relax social distancing recommendations we will all be fine and nothing will be wrong, while others say that if we relax these guidelines we are all going to die!
How did I respond to these mixed messages? I disengaged. If it was a Facebook post I’d scroll past. If it was a suggested video on you tube, I'd remove it and report it. If it was on T.V I’d change the channel. I’m sure you can agree, because I’m sure many of you acted in a similar fashion. This illustrates a problem that churches can experience. On the surface, it may seem the bible at times sends mixed messages. If people believe they are receiving mixed messages, what are they going to do? People will disengage with the bible if they believe it sends contradicting messages. So it becomes imperative that Christians bring clarity to passages which people may believe to contradict each other. Today we are going to study one of these scriptures. The passage of scripture I am referring to is Matthew 5:17-20
“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. 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. 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. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So where is the alleged contradiction? We find it in other scriptures.
Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Paul seems to suggest that we should completely separate ourselves from the law. However Jesus says that not one Iota of the law will pass and anyone who relaxes any of these laws will be least in the kingdom of heaven. How do we reconcile this? Let’s start by examining the purpose of the law.
Purpose of the Law According to St. Thomas Aquinas the purpose of the O.T Law was three fold. It highlights and displays the holiness of God, it exposes the sinfulness of humanity, and it gives clear guidelines for Social behavior. There is absolutely a place for all of these in our lives. We need to be reminded of God’s holiness, our sinful nature, and how we should act in light of following Christ. It’s also important to note what Jesus believed to be the heart and purpose of the law, because it will shape who Jesus would be as our savior. This is what Jesus says the heart and purpose of the law is READ Matthew 7:12
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
When it comes down to it Jesus said the law and prophets are summed by loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and spirit. And to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus displayed all these qualities in his life, you could say that Jesus was the embodiment of the heart of the Old Testament. Due to this, the importance and relevance of the Old Testament law will never fade or pass away. So why did Paul seem to insist on severing the law from us? Because Jesus and Paul were basically making the same point. They both acknowledge that Jesus changes our relationship to the law.
In the Old Testament this law defined who you were. People would often be judged on their ability to keep this law. The goal of the Jew was to make their lives a mirror of the law. A perfect reflection if you will.
We are no longer defined by the law. We are defined by Christ. It’s no coincidence that Christ is the perfect reflection of what the law was meant to be. We have a new covenant in Jesus. However we still need the Old covenant to fuel, elevate and confirm the truth of the new covenant. Hence the reason why it will never pass away, even though we are no longer bound to it.
We’ve established the purpose of the law, now let’s examine how Jesus fulfills the law.
Jesus fulfills the law
The Old Testament law has never provided salvation. The law instead pointed us to salvation.
The means of obtaining salvation was the same. A blood atonement was required. The law made this perfectly clear.
However in the O.T the atonement was never perfect, as it required multiple sacrifices for sin.
Jesus however was the perfect atonement which the Old Testament law testified that we needed.
Since Jesus is the perfect atonement for sin by becoming a perfect example of the law, the purpose of the law is fulfilled within him.
After much discussion we’ve learned this, Jesus is the embodiment of the heart of the Old Testament, and the Christ serving as the perfect atonement for our sins is the fulfillment of the law. So to conclude and summarize, the importance of the Old Testament will never fade because The purpose of the Law and prophets is woven into the person of Jesus. In order to better understand Jesus, we must study both law and gospel. (Seth Wilson analogy apple blossom analogy.)