Better Than The Best Of Us

The New International Version Chapter 5

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 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. 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. 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.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do you want to know why I absolutely hated going to a Christian private school when I was younger? One word—rules.

Now, every school has rules, but Christian private schools? Oh, they take the cake. It’s on a whole other level.

I went to Evangel Christian School, a place where students went from nursery all the way to high school. You had high school sweethearts who had known each other since the diaper-changing stations. I mean seriously i kid you not, They had met each other’s tooth fairy. That’s how long they were going there.

Now Of course, there were the obvious rules—no fighting, no cursing, no bullying. You know, the basics. But they didn’t stop there. Oh no. They had rules about haircuts, rules against tattoos, and, believe it or not—rules against wearing jeans. Yes, you heard me right. Jeans. The fabric of the people. Instead, we had to wear uniforms—every. single. day.

Now, here’s whats crazy—I didn’t always go to this school. Before Evangel, I went to public school, where jeans and haircuts weren’t just allowed; they were part of the culture. But somehow, my life took a turn. And the irony?

I wasn’t sent to a Christian school because I was a rule-follower—I was sent there because I was a rule-breaker.

It was my parents last hope for me.

I had been kicked out of not one, but two public schools. So you can imagine my confusion. I remember sitting there thinking:

“If I couldn’t keep the rules in a regular New York City public school, what makes you think I can survive with all these extra rules at a Christian private school?”

And the truth is—I couldn’t. I was a natural-born rule-breaker. It was almost like I had a gift for doing the exact opposite of what was expected. And I won’t lie—I took pride in it. I wasn’t trying to follow the rules.

Now, full disclosure—I didn’t always hate that school. And, to be real, I still broke plenty of rules while I was there. But one day, I found myself sitting across from the dean, Andy Maldonado. And I’ll never forget what he said to me. He looked me dead in the eyes and said:

“Joaquin, you’ve broken almost every rule here. By all accounts, we should kick you out. But that’s not why we started this school. And something tells me… we need to keep you here.”

And then he said the sentence that changed everything—the one we need to focus on today:

“The purpose of this school is not to create kids who follow a list of rules… but to see kids transformed by the love of Christ.”

And thank God for Dean Maldonado, because shortly after that moment, I had an encounter with Jesus that changed me—not into a rule-keeper—but into a Christ-follower.

This is an important distinction that I have to make because the change didn’t start outwardly it started inwardly. I Didn’t automatically become a person who can keep a set of rules, but I definitely became someone who wanted to Love God and eventually Love others. (I said eventually because that one took time)

And that, my friends, is exactly what Jesus is getting at in today’s passage.

This Righteousness that Jesus is talking about is not an outwardly expression of piety and religion.

It’s not about how good you can keep a set of rules.

the Righteousness that he’s talking about is:

A transformation that starts from within!

And make no mistake—this passage? It’s a tough one. It’s weighty. It’s challenging. But let’s start here:

Jesus fulfills every requirement we could never meet.

At first glance, His words in Matthew 5:17 seem anything but encouraging:

“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.”

If we’re honest, that doesn’t sound like good news at all.

It sounds like more rules. More laws. More weight on our shoulders.

See if we don’t understand the context and If we don’t grasp the full picture, we might walk away from Christianity without ever truly understanding Christ.

We might miss the heart of the gospel altogether.

So we have to wrestle with this.

Because at the end if the day, Jesus said it. And He meant every single word.

now i believe, This passage is the key to unlocking not just the Sermon on the Mount but the very purpose of Jesus’ life and mission.

Look, what we first have to understand is:

When Jesus says “the Law and the Prophets,” and some other translation may read as “The Torah and the Prophets.” He’s talking about the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures—what we call the Old Testament.

So Jesus is saying I have not come to abolish or get rid of what you have read in the scriptures, i have come to fulfill them!

So now that we understand that

That means we need to step back and understand the story God is telling through the Scriptures.

It’s a story about God who created all things. Who’s original plan was to partner with Humanity to rule over creation in a way that brings Love, Justice, peace and harmony.

But humanity rebelled. We took matters into our own hands. We sinned.

Now sin broke the relationship that we once had with him. it caused this divide between us and God.

but the good news is that God doesn’t give up on his creation!

He set a plan in motion. A plan of renewal. Restoration. Reconciliation.

He chose a people—Israel—to lead the way. The Hope was To bring heaven and earth together.

And throughout the Old Testament, God raised up figures—leaders, prophets, kings—who carried pieces of this mission.

But here’s the pattern:

Every single one of them fell short.

• Adam was given dominion over creation—yet he disobeyed, bringing sin into the world.

• Noah was chosen to rescue humanity—but after the flood, he fell into shame.

• Abraham was called the father of faith—but he lied, doubted, and took matters into his own hands. and got his female servant pregnant because he was tired of waiting on God’s promised son.

• Moses delivered Israel—but disobeyed God and was kept from the Promised Land.

• David was a king after God’s own heart—but he fell into adultery and murder.

• Solomon had wisdom beyond measure—but he turned from God to idols.

• Jonah preached repentance—but he ran from God’s calling, he resisted, and he harbored hate and bitterness towards the people of Ninevah.

Time and time again, the story if the bible shows us that humanity fails.

No leader. No prophet. No king could bear the weight of God’s mission.

Until Jesus.

So here’s why Matthew 5:17—despite how it reads—is actually good news.

Jesus is saying:

I haven’t come to erase the Scriptures.

I haven’t come to undo what God has spoken.

I have come to fulfill it all.

Every law. Every prophecy. Every promise.

He is the completion of the story.

He is the only One who could live the perfect life. The only One who could bear the weight. The only One who could bridge the gap between God and humanity.

and in turn bring heaven and earth together!

And here’s the hard truth:

We could never meet the standard.

Perfection? It’s impossible for us.

But the good news is that Jesus already did it.

So the Sermon on the Mount—it’s not a burden of more rules.

It’s an invitation to trust the work Jesus already accomplished.

Jesus fulfills every requirement we could never meet.

This is why Isaiah 64:6

The New International Version Chapter 64

All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

Now New City Church i don’t know about you but i have to stop here and say Lord thank you!

Because i know Im not perfect i know i can never meet that standard but yet Jesus loved us so much that he still made it possible for us to be in relationship with him!

2. Jesus Interprets the heart of God perfectly.

Why did Jesus even need to say, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law”?

Because people were already accusing Him of doing just that.

Rumors swirled. Religious leaders gossiped.

He doesn’t care about the Law.

He’s changing the Scriptures.

He’s breaking God’s commands.

 Healing on the Sabbath

• Accusation: Jesus was accused of violating the Sabbath by healing people.

• Example:

• Matthew 12:9-14 – Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees plotted to kill Him.

• Luke 13:10-17 – Jesus healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath, and the synagogue leader was outraged.

• John 5:8-18 – Jesus healed a paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda, and the Jews sought to kill Him for breaking the Sabbath.

Jesus’ Response: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). He showed that acts of mercy and healing were always lawful.

Eating with Sinners and Tax Collectors

• Accusation: Jesus was criticized for associating with sinners.

• Example:

• Luke 5:29-32 – The Pharisees complained when Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners at Levi’s house.

• Luke 15:1-2 – They murmured, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Jesus’ Response: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). He revealed that His mission was to save the lost, not exclude them.

Not Following Ritual Handwashing

• Accusation: Jesus’ disciples didn’t follow ceremonial handwashing before meals.

• Example:

• Mark 7:1-8 – The Pharisees confronted Jesus about why His disciples didn’t follow the “tradition of the elders.”

Jesus’ Response: “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions” (Mark 7:8). He exposed their hypocrisy—focusing on rituals while neglecting the heart.

and ladies and gentleman that is what happens when we try to interpret the bible with our own preferences and desires.

We miss the heart of God!.

we cannot ever come to the text of scripture with our own preferences and desires and force onto it what we want it to say. that path leads to a dangerous place! Instead we must humble ourselves and ask God what is he really saying. what does he really want us to see.

The moment we try to fit Jesus into our own box—our traditions, our politics, our personal comforts—we start misinterpreting Jesus Himself.

And that’s exactly what the Pharisees did.

and that was the problem of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law it was a problem of misinterpretation.

But here’s why love reading the Old Testament and preaching from the Old Testament what I love about reading the Old Testament:

In light of Jesus, I can now understand God’s true intention.

I can now see His heart clearly.

Because Jesus interprets the heart of God perfectly.

And the heart of God is wrapped in grace and mercy and justice.

The heart of God brings peace to chaos.

The heart of God extends grace to sinners.

The heart of God is love and justice in perfect harmony.

There are no contradictions between the Old Testament God and the New Testament God.

It’s One God. One heart. One mission.

But if we don’t see God through the lens of Jesus, we will misinterpret His heart.

3. Righteousness is not a list of rules - It’s a REforming of the Heart.

The New International Version Chapter 5

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.

To original audience, this statement was terrifying.

The Teachers of the law were the ones that taught and defined the law for people.

The Pharisees were set apart from a young age to keep all 613 commands.

The people heard this and thought: If they can’t make it, what hope do I have?

Those are the guys that do it right, those are the holy ones, those are the chosen ones. How can I live a life of righteousness that surpasses theirs!?

again: We have to let Jesus define righteousness.

we already covered that although they may have been looked as the standard of that time. Jesus made it clear that they were not the standard. They didn’t even come close.

look at what Jesus says in

Matthew 23:27 ““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.”

Ouch!

What Jesus is making clear is that “Anyone can look holy. Anyone can play church.”

But unless whats happening on the inside of a person resembles the heart of Christ and the heart of the Gospel you’re just pretty on the outside but inwardly you need facelift.

in other words, Jesus is calling the Pharisees Ugly. because sin is ugly, hate is ugly, self righteousness - a righteousness that comes from my own standards and not from God’s transformative work of his spirit is ugly!!!

and he was just calling it how he saw it; Yall are just some pretty ugly people.

Jesus is saying these are men who have spent there Entire lives explaining God to people and and living in a way that seems Holy yet they have completely missed God!

This is why verse 20 now makes sense

A Righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees.

Imagine always going to church:

having perfect church attendance

knowing all the church songs,

knowing the right moments to clap the right moments to shout.

imagine your church resume looks perfect:

you joined a small group every single season

you serve on the welcome team every week.

Jesus is saying you may LOOK like you’re doing the right things but you may still be missing GOD!

Because all of that can be acted out and used as a badge of honor.

“I don’t miss church! During worship I clap on beat! “

thats my badge of honor!

There are churches all through out the world that are filled with people that seem to be doing all the right things but there hearts remain unchanged!

my friends, What is happening in here? (The heart)

Have you truly allowed God through his spirit to transform your heart?

too do the deep work of Reforming your desires?

That’s why true righteousness isn’t about a list of rules—it’s about a transformed heart.

God doesn’t just want good behavior—He wants a new creation.

People get frustrated with a verse like

Psalm 37:4 says:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

They get frustrated with the LORD when they are coming to him like a Genie in a bottle, asking the Lord to fulfill all of their wishes, but then not seeing it happen.

My friends that’s because you’re missing the first half of that verse. It says delight yourself in the Lord.

That’s what Reforming looks like.

It doesn’t mean God gives you whatever you want.

It means when you delight in Him, your desires change!

You don’t just want what you want—you want what God wants.

That’s true righteousness.

So what do we do with the Ten Commandments? Throw them out? No!

God’s commands are perfect.

But Jesus summed them up in two:

1. Love God.

2. Love others.

Because every command ever given by God comes down to love.

A radical love that puts others first.

A radical love that forgives the worst offenses because God forgave you all of yours!

A radical love that seeks God’s glory over personal comfort.

That’s the heart of God.

St. Augustine said:

“Love God and do what you like.”

Why? Because if you truly love God, you don’t want to sin.

If you truly love God, you don’t need a rulebook to force you into obedience—your heart naturally longs to please Him.

Legalism has driven people away from God.

But so has lawlessness.

There seems to be this tension in christian circles of Grace vs Holiness.

This again is a man made tension. Not from God!

I want to be so clear here today Jesus is not contradicting himself here. The Lord wants us to live a Holy life uplifting all his ideals for the world.

but Before Jesus this was impossible to do!

but because he didn’t come to abolish but to fulfill we are now able to freely live a life empowered by the grace of God to live this holy life.

So for all my people who are scared of people running wild in the church sinning and doing whatever they want taking advantage of God’s grace..

Grace is not a license to sin.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it “cheap grace”—the idea that because God forgives, we can do whatever we want.

But true grace—the grace of Jesus—empowers us to live holy.

Galatians 5:16:

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Grace doesn’t lower the standard—it raises us up to meet it.

now here is some more good news,

God promised us that there would be a day where we don’t have to carry his laws in hand anymore because he going to do something deeper in us:

Hebrews 10:16–17 ““This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.””

The only way to be righteous is if your sins are not counted against you.

And that’s why Jesus came.

The Sermon on the Mount isn’t just a great sermon—it’s the roadmap to salvation.

It shows us that righteousness isn’t something we can achieve…

It’s something Jesus fulfilled for us.

And now, through His Spirit, He writes His law on our hearts.

That’s the good news of the gospel.

So I ask you today:

Has God truly transformed your heart?

Or are you just trying to look holy on the outside?

Surrender to Jesus today.

Let Him change your desires.

Let Him make you new.

Because righteousness isn’t about what you can do for God—

It’s about what God has done for you.

And today, that invitation is open.

Will you accept it?