Jesus Elevates the Law

Sermon on the Mount - 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17–20 ““Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Who is Jesus talking to in this context? Well, he is in front of a group who would revere the Torah and hold the teachings of the prophets in the highest regard.

Jesus is saying that he does not intend to take away or minimize the significance and absolute truth of the law — but that he came to fulfill the law.

He is directly addressing the importance of the Old Testament scriptures, and He intends for us to take to heart the importance of, and even understand the Old Testament scripture from a new heart perspective.

There are three division of Old Testament law, and they are:

Ceremonial*

Dietary*

Moral

*No longer binding

The Jewish mindset is not this way. The Jewish man or woman would look at this division and simply say that all three of these divisions are the law of God, and there is some truth to that statement; and this is exactly why we need to bring some distinction to this situation.

In essence, Jesus is sharing that He is here to fulfill the law, and that judgement is coming to those who do away with the law — especially for those who claim to be teachers (James 3:1)

James 3:1 “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

Jesus is also getting to the heart issue. He challenges the perspective of these religious, devout followers of Yahweh, with an even more challenging reality.

“Murder begins in the heart...”

“Adultery begins in the heart...”

Why does the moral code of God matter? Because it’s either a part of Who He is, or it’s not. God created life, therefore, He doesn’t want you to murder and end His creation.

There has been a cultural divide on this issue — of subtracting from the word of God for the sake of people’s emotions, lack of moral integrity, and devotion to God — and rather, the devotion to the opinions and flesh of man.

The process our country has been in is the abandonment of the moral code of God.

God has hard-wired a moral compass because we were created in His likeness. There are certain things that we innately know— something moral code that is intuitive, rather than taught.

John 5:39