The New Lawgiver

Over the next three months leading up to the season advent, we’re going to be embarking on a journey through the gospels, exploring the way in which each of the evangelists offers a particular perspective on and understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In September our focus will be on Matthew, who reveals to us that Christ is The New Moses: the giver of laws, the provider of needs, the deliverer from slavery, judge of the people.

And it’s fitting that we begin with the new Moses, because the book of Exodus and the story of Moses is one of the most important and foundational books of scripture: it tells us the origin of God’s people Israel and sets the scene for the entirety of the Hebrew scriptures, and so sets up the message of good news that we find in the gospels.

Because it’s a revolutionary story of a prophet sent by God to set His people free from slavery and lead them to form a society where none are overlooked and the needs of all are met through the grace of God and a way of life that He dictates to them in holy laws.

And it foreshadows God sending His own son to free His people from slavery to sin and to death, and invite them to be part of a part of a kingdom in which all needs are met through the grace of God and a way of life that He revealed to them directly in teachings which fulfilled the old laws.

In today’s readings, we see Moses and Christ in their role of lawgiver. We see both ascend a mountain, we see both dispense God’s words to their people.

Or is it more complicated than that?

Let’s take a look at Exodus 19:16-20.

We see Moses bring the people out of the camp to meet God, and they take their stand at the foot of the mountain.

We see the Lord has descended upon the mountain, and he summons His prophet moses to ascend up to meet him.

And we see that the Lord speaks to Moses, giving him instructions to return and deliver to the people.

Now compare the first two verses of Matthew 5.

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And opening his mouth, he began to teach them”

We see large crowds gathering around Christ, the son of God.

We see that our Lord has ascended the mountain, and his disciples have come to him.

And we see the Lord speak and teach both the disciples and the crowds who have gathered below.

And so what we see here is that whilst Moses received the law on behalf of a people who were permitted only to come so close to God’s almighty presence, Christ the New Moses delivered directly the message to all the people who would listen. We see that in Christ we have direct access to God’s word, requiring no mediator on our behalf.

But what of the words that were delivered?

The Ten Commandments are a fascinating text: they aren’t the whole of the law by any means - in fact we see pages upon pages of further laws accompanying them, laying out the entire legal structure for the new nation.

We can however think of them more like the constitution of the Israelites. And I think this is a really interesting angle to look at.

Consider our own Constitution of the United States. Think about the opening words: “We the people”.

Those words are a major statement. A statement that in a time of kings and empires, when power was held by the individual at the top of the social structure and exercised in that person’s name, this country was the opposite: power is held by the people, and our leaders are empowered to exercise it on our behalf.

Now look at the opening of the commandments: “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt , from the house of slaves.”

Now there’s a statement: not only does it state that the power and authority of these laws come from God, it reminds the Israelites of who that God is. These laws come from Yahweh

The great I AM

The liberating God who freed them from slavery

Their God, and the God of their ancestors

The God who on their behalf defeated the Egyptians and who lead them to the land promised to them generations before.

This is the constitution of God’s covenant people.

And it lays out two sets of rules: one set on how God’s people are to relate to God, and one set on how they should relate to one-another.

And these rules form the basis of the nation that God created, just as our constitution forms the basis of a vast and complex system of laws and governments.

Now look at Matthew 5.

Where the laws given to Moses are a list of “thou shalt nots”, Christ offers a list of “blessed are”s. Or alternatively, “happy are”, or “fortunate are”.

And this list is one which offers promises. Promises that those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness will see their situation reversed and have their needs fulfilled.

Promises that those who are meek - or depending on your translation, gentle or humble - and those who are merciful and those who are pure in heart and those who make peace will recieve their reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.

But then he goes on to say,

Matthew 5:17–19 NRSV

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

In other words, this list of blessed are’s is not a new constitution to replace the old one. Christ isn’t here to create a new covenant people to replace Israel.

He’s here to fulfill, or to complete, that constitution by making clear to us what it means.

I said before that the ten commandments tell God’s people how to relate to God, and how to relate to one another. And if we look, we can see that they boil down to one thing: respect. We respect God by placing Him first and having no gods before him, by not worshipping idols, by not misusing his name, and by keeping the sabbath holy.

We respect our parents by honouring them, and we respect our friends and family and neighbours by living in peace with them and not stealing or killing or lying or covetting or commiting adultery.

The scribes and the Pharisees who Christ talks of in verse 20 were people who tried to take the law very seriously: they believed that because the law was divine and came from God, it therefore contained precise rules on how we should live every single aspect of our lives.

And so they created an entire tradition known as the mishnah, or oral laws, which attempted to provide a rule for how to live every single aspect. And this word righteousness, or in Greek Dikaiosyné, means a state of being approved of by God. So Christ is saying in essence that the oral law does not bring God’s approval in a way that is worthy of the Kigndom of Heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t just an abstract concept - it’s actually the subject that Christ talks about most in the gospels. It’s central to his teachings.

And if we think of the Kingdom in terms of membership of God’s covenant people, a clear message comes here. Just as Moses said “here is the constitution that you must follow to be part of God’s people”, Christ is saying “you’ve misunderstood this constitution. It’s not about finding a rule to govern everything you do and say. It’s not about earning God’s approval through following the rules. It’s about entering a relationship with God which is built on respect.

As we continue on over the next few months we’ll see more clearly how Christ’s teachings shows us what it means to follow this fulfilled law, how we as God’s covenant people are called to follow His laws and to obey Him, and what it means to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and to be called children of God.

But for now, the question to us is this: as Moses gave us a constitution which defines the expectations of righteousness given to God’s people, and as Christ revealed to us the true meaning at that heart of that constitution, are we living our relationship with God in that spirit of respect? Are we putting Him first in our lives, and striving to live respectfully with those around us?

Or do we fall into the trap of the scribes and pharisses of treating God’s word like a check list to follow - are we more concerned with living lives which give an appearance of following God than with striving for righteousness - the righteousness which, if we hunger and thirst for it, Christ promises us we will be granted.

As Christ reveals to us the completeness of the law and invites us to His kingdom, will we accept that invitation and live the lives he calls us to?

If so, then what Christ has promised, we can know we will receive.

We will receive mercy.

We will see God.

We will be called children of God

And we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven.