Fulfill the Law

Background to Remember

When we come to Jesus’ Manifesto (aka the Sermon on the Mount), there are a couple things that we need to keep reminding ourselves:

It is not for everyone (He separated from the multitude)

It is for Jesus’ disciples

Not just followers

students seeking to hear and understand the lessons of their teacher

adherents seeking to apply and live according to the teachings of their master

It presents Jesus’ ideals for living in a fallen, broken world

It challenges and frequently contradicts our natural thoughts, attitudes, actions, and responses

Jesus delivered this manifesto before He died for our sin, provided our salvation, and gave His Spirit as a permanently-indwelling beneficial presence. This means you do not have to be saved to follow what Jesus taught here, but you cannot truly fulfill it.

It raises the bar even for observant law-abiding Jewish citizens. Where the Law required obedience to its letter, Jesus required obedience to its spirit. If fulfills the law’s intent not by giving us a checklist to follow but by giving us a blueprint to become.

That seems like a lot to remember, but it underlies our reading and studying of this passage and really only requires a vague sense of remembering: it is not a list to memorize.

The Similitudes

Moving on from the introduction of the beattitudes or better attitudes, we run into the pericope of the similitudes (is there no end?)

I do know what simile is

A simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.

And you thought school didn’t start for a few weeks…

Matthew 5:13–16 NKJV

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Jesus compares His followers to two different things to emphasize our role in this world.

Salt

Salt not salty

It might be worth noting that He told us to be salt, not to be salty. Jesus’ followers sometimes seem to be genuinely confused on that point.

Seasoning not preservative

Salt in the ancient world was frequently used as a preservative, and we could explore that use, but Jesus went straight to how we still use salt: as a flavor enhancer. The earth and its people are dull, we should enhance its flavor. The life that Jesus proposed for His followers is appealing.

Light

Our world is dark because it increasingly separated from its source of light: God.

Lights in the dark

that’s when you need them

Lights in the open

Hidden lights are not particularly useful. There is no expectation that we would have our faith for ourselves.

Lights that are beneficial

not just philosophical light

good works are active

Lights that call attention to the light

Fulfill the Law

Jesus wants it to be abundantly clear what His intent is, both for us and Himself: fulfilling the law in a way that mere obedience cannot do.

Matthew 5:17–20 NKJV

17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Scripture Reveals God’s Character

We must understand the distinction between the law of God and the character of God that it enshrined and the law of Israel. Our Old Testament contains both, but both do not apply to us.

God’s Character is indestructible

Jesus came to fulfill and demonstrate God’s

The Sermon Preserves God’s Character

It requires adherence

It establishes reward and loss of reward

It specifies a target of behavior