Jesus and the Law

INTRODUCTION

SERVICE LEAD: Isaiah 61:3 - Oaks of Righteousness.

A couple of weeks ago I preached on Ephesians 4 and how Jesus grows his church. I said that passage is a pillar text in the New Testament when it comes to New Covenant ministry methods. It bears a lot of weight and informs how we do ministry.

This is another key pillar text in the New Testament. It bears a lot a weight. How we interpret Jesus’ words here will inform how we interpret 2/3 of the Bible - namely, the Old Testament Scriptures. What abiding relevance does the Old Testament have for God’s people today? Should we teach and obey the Old Testament Scriptures as the basis for all ethics?

Theologians have and continue to spill a lot of ink on this passage in particular. But it’s not just for professional theologians to figure out. Jesus is teaching his disciples - young, uneducated men - how to interpret and apply their Bible - the Law and the Prophets.

A few years ago Andy Stanley famously quipped that it’s time to “unhitch from the Old Testament”. In the early church, there was a leader named Marcion. He taught that the Old Testament portrayed God as a blood-thirsty, vengeful deity. But Jesus shows us a kinder, meeker version of God.

Right now many Christians in North America are trying to sort out their political theology and ethics. Christians have disagreements on what laws the government of Canada should follow. Should we codify in our law every jot and tittle of Old Testament instruction? Should we forbid eating shellfish or wearing clothes with mixed fabrics? If not, why not? The law and prophets taught God’s people to do that, don’t they?

In this passage, Jesus teaches us how to read and apply the Old Testament Scriptures in a way that centers on him. I’ll warn you up front: this sermon is a bit more “heady” and technical. But I think that’s necessary to a degree, since the argument Jesus is setting forth here uses technical and precise language.

Jesus has two clear aims in this section of his sermon:

to help us think clearly about the role and relvance of the Old Testament Scriptures in light of him as the fulfiller.

To urge us to do and teach others to pursue a righteousness that exceeds the Scribes and Pharisees.

To begin, Jesus wants us to THINK ABOUT THE LAW AND PROPHETS IN A CHRIST-CENTERED WAY

He came not to tear it down, but to finish it off by bringing in what the law and prophets prophesied: a New Kingdom founded upon a New Covenant.

The Old Testament ethical instructions remain relevant for us today, but we must apply them in light of Jesus’ work and his teaching. When we do, we see that he care not just about obedience to the obvious commands, but obedience to the small and easily overlooked commandments. Those who are called great have a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees because their righteousness is a righteousness from the heart.

Jesus fulfills the law by accomplishing the new exodus and bringing into force the New Covenant.

DO NOT THINK THIS WAY ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT

Before giving a positive statement about the role of the law and his relationship to it, Jesus tells us how not to think: “do not think that i have come to abolish the Law or the prophets.” Jesus gets to tell us how to think and how not to think. Jesus is Lord over our minds. He has the right to tell us: you need to stop thinking this way about something and start thinking this way. He starts by telling us what not to think about the law or the prophets.

That phrase - “the law or the prophets” - was a common Jewish way to summarize the Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. So we see that Jesus is determined to help us think rightly about the Old Testament and it’s use today.

He says don’t think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. To abolish is to do away with something. The word is used to describe the “destruction” or “demolition” of the temple in Matthew 26:61. It’s also used to describe making something invalid. Jesus is saying: don’t think that I came to tear down and destroy the Old Testament Scriptures. I’m not chucking them away. I’m not teaching that they have no abiding relevance for you. Don’t think: I need to “unhitch from the Old Testament” because Jesus does away with that.

Why does he need to state this? Because his ministry and teaching gave the appearance that he was “tearing down” the Old Testament Scriptures. If you listen to Jesus and look at what he did, you might think that he’s throwing out the Old Testament Scriptures, specifically doing away with the ethical instructions and making his own law. In the next part of Jesus’ sermon, we’re going to hear Jesus teach through six “antitheses”. He says “You have heard that it was said (then he quotes some teaching they heard from the Old Testament)…But I say to you.” It sounds like he’s teaching something contrary to the Old Testament Scriptures. But Jesus say, no - don’t think that way.

However we think about the Old Testament and apply it to us today, Jesus’ words must ring in our ears: I did not come to destroy or annul the Old Testament Scriptures. In other words, they have an abiding relevance for God’s people today.

But then how should we think about the law and prophets in light of his coming?

THINK THIS WAY ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT

Jesus reiterates his first point before going to his second: I have not come to abolish them. Get that lodged in your head. Ok, I hear you; but then how should we think about the law and prophets in relation to your coming as the promised Messiah? Central to Jesus’ incarnate mission is his mission to “fulfill” the law and the prophets. To understand what Jesus is saying, we need to understand what the word “fulfill” means.

THE USE OF FULFILL IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL: PROMISE-FULFILLMENT

The word fulfill has several different uses. At it’s most basic and concrete meaning, it’s used to describe the activity of “filling up” something like a jar.

In Matthew’s Gospel he uses the word “fulfill” 16 times. Matthew is focused on showing his readers that Jesus brings all the promises, prophecies and patterns predicted in the Old Testament to their fullness - or we could say, to their intended completion or goal. When we think of the law, we think primarily of “do’s and don’t” - of a list of commands. But the Law - the first 5 books of the Old Testament - included many promises, prophecies and patterns that Jesus fulfilled. Matthew tells us in Matthew 11:13 “For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.” The law had a forward pointing nature that was “fulfilled” by the the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Jesus “fills up” or brings to completion the prophecies made in the law and prophets.

But is that what Jesus means here when he says he came to “fulfill” the law and the prophets? I believe Jesus is using the word fulfill in a different way here. In this sermon, Jesus is focused more narrowly on the enduring ethical relevance of the law for his disciples. We must do and teach others to do “the least of these commandments” in the Old Testament Scriptures. But we must teach and do them in light of Jesus’ fulfillment of them.

So when looking at the Old Testament Scriptures and the commands we find there, we don’t say: well, we’re in the New Covenant - that doesn’t matter anymore. No, we approach it as Scripture and interpret it in light of what Jesus says about the law’s relationship to him. We obey every jot and tittle of the law, but not in the same way that Israel did under the Old Covenant. We obey it and teach others to obey it in light of what Jesus has done by his life, death and resurrection and how he teaches us to interpret it and apply it. Put another way, we need to intepret and apply the Old Testament Scriptures in a distinctly Christian way. We must interpret it and obey it and teach others to obey every detail in light of Jesus who came to fulfill it.

But it’s a compliance to the commandments of the Old Testament informed and shaped by his “fulfillment” of the law and prophets. As Scripture, every jot and tittle of the Old Testament applies to us and must be obeyed by us. But it must be obeyed in light of Christ’s work and his teachings.

So we must look back on the Old Testament with new Christian eyes. We do every command in the Old Testament, but we do it in different ways in view of Christ “fulfilling the Old Testament”.

So when Jesus says he came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and prophets, he’s saying that he came to make them fully known. Doing this he actually fulfills one of the key prophecies in the Old Testament - the prophecy that a prophet greater than Moses would be sent to teach God’s people how to apply the law in light of his work. This usage of the word “fulfill” is used in Colossians 1:25 “of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known”. Jesus isn’t talking here about fulfilling the law in terms of the promises, prophecies and patterns of the Old Testament being completed by him. He’s saying that he came to “make the ethical application of the law and prophets fully known” to his disciples as the final prophet greater than Moses.

One way you can think of what Jesus is saying here is that he came not to tear down or make the Old Testament Scriptures null and void but to give greater clarity as to what it means and how it applies to his people today. Jesus “fulfills” the law and prophets by making the original intent of the law more clear. In this sense, Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount can be compared to the move from Standard Definition to High Definition. What was perhaps blurry and less defined in the Old Testament is now more clear and defined by Jesus and his teachings as the final prophet. The Old Testament applies to us today. But it must be interpreted and applied as Jesus teaches us to apply it.

Let’s sum up verse 17: Jesus is saying that he came not to make the Old Testament’s ethical instructions null and void. He came to make their meaning and application “fully known” to his disciples. He came as the Divine Lawgiver and final prophet and is the final interpreter of the law.

So what does Jesus make more clear about the law and it’s application to us today?

He makes clear that every detail of the law will be accomplished before the end of the world happens (vs. 18).

Do and Teach the least of the commandments in the Old Testament. This verse is extremely challenging, especially in view of other teachings in the New Testament. We’re told that now that Christ has come and the New Covenant has been made, the Old Covenant is obsolete. Certain commandments are abolished - not longer binding on the believer in the way they were binding on Old Covenant Israelite. Food laws. Laws about clothing. It can be tempting to think that we just say: those commands no longer apply to us today. But that would go contrary to Jesus’ teaching, wouldn’t it? We’re to teach and do the little commandments if we’re going to be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

We teach obedience to every detail. But that obedience looks different in light of Jesus having fulfilled it. Some commands we now obey and teach others to obey by saying the way to obey that command is to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who finished that part off. For example, the sacrifices - you obey that by trusting in Jesus.

Other commands, we obey it in terms of obeying the key principle behind the command. For example, purity laws. Israel was called to purity, and their food laws were given for this reason. The call to be a distinct, pure people remains. So we teach people to obey that little detail by saying that the “least command” is really the command that seems “least important” in the eyes of self-righteous people, but is really the most important thing. I think by “least commandment” Jesus specifically has in mind the aspects of the law which were deemed “least important” and often ignored by the Pharisees. That fits with the context here. The “least of these commandments” are things like: mercy and justice. Jesus is bringing out the ethical elements that are regarded by the religious elites as “least” important and says these are vitally important.

The least of the commandments are summed up in the words: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself. In other words, the least commandments are the duties of a righteousness done with right motives.

How do we reconcile this? We reconcile it by going back to that word “fulfill”. We do and teach every little commandment in the Old Testament in light of Jesus works and his teaching.

We should teach and do what the Old Testament teaches unless Jesus teaches us to apply it in a different way.

Let’s look at some of the “least commands” and how we obey them and teach others to obey them.

Specifically there’s one very important prophecy in both the law and the prophets that relates directly to Jesus’ point here. Jesus brought the law and prophets to it’s intended completion by making a New Covenant with his people, wherein the law of God is written upon the hearts of his people. Both the law and the prophets predicted a coming day when God would make a “New Covenant” with the people of Israel. We see the prediction of the New Covenant in the Torah in Deuteronomy 30:6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

He is the prophet greater than Moses who leads his people out and makes a New Covenant and writes a New Law upon their hearts, which was predicted in the law and the prophets.

Jesus is saying we need to think about the law and the prophets as promises and patterns that point forward and are fulfilled or brought to completion by him.

This shapes how we interpret the relevance of the law’s ethical demands for us today. As Scripture, the Old Testament’s ethical commands have an abiding relevance and application for us. Even the “least” commands in the Old Testament are applicable to us. But they must be interpreted and applied in light of Jesus work and his words. Put another way: we must filter our intepretation and application of the Old Testament through the grid, asking ourselves: based on what Jesus has done and what he teaches, how does this “instruction” apply to us today?

The Old Testament was inspired revelation, but incomplete. I think a couple illustrations will help.

The Old Testament was like a house partially built. Jesus came not to tear down what had been built and taught in the Old Testament. He came to “finish it” - to bring it to it’s intended completion. He came to put the finishing touches on the house that was incomplete in the Old Testament. He came to make the relevance and application of every jot and tittle of the law in light of his works and his words.

Or we can think of the law and prophets this way. They were pregnant with prophecies and patterns that were repeated and continued to grow until Christ came and “fulfilled them”. The Old Testament Scriptures gave instructions to God’s people, but in embryonic form. All the DNA was there. But when the Messiah arrived and brought in his new kingdom through a new covenant in his blood, the law and prophets came to their intended end. It’s not that they are no longer relevant for Christian; it’s that their relevance and application must be intepreted in light of Jesus’ works and his teachings. D.A. Carson writes, “the nature of it’s valid continuity is established only with reference to Jesus and the kingdom.”

Every jot and tittle of the law - every last command and prohibition - must be interpreted, taught and applied today in light of what Jesus has done and how he teaches us to obey him as people of the New Covenant. So to the question: how should we apply the particular details of the Old Testament to us today? We must teach it and do it in light of what Jesus has done in making a New Covenant and what Jesus has taught as the final prophet greater than Moses.

The word “fulfill” - pleiroao - is used frequently in Matthew’s Gospel in this way. He uses this word more than any other biblical author. One of Matthew’s goals for writing his account of the life of Jesus is to convince readers that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Son of David who fulfills - brings their fullness or completion - all the promises and patterns written in the Law and Prophets.

For example, Matthew 1:22–23 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).” This was a a prophecy partially fulfilled in Isaiah’s day, but “filled up” and “completed” when Jesus was conceived of the Holy spirit in the virgin Mary’s womb. This was a direct promise-fulfillment.

Jesus also fulfills the patterns prefigured in the Old Tesatment. Not everything Jesus fulfills was a direct, literal prophecy or promise. The Old Testament had various patterns that got repeated throughout history and eventually escalate and are fulfilled - brought to completion - by Jesus. For example, in Matthew 2:15 “and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”” This was a prophecy that was first “fulfilled” when God called Israel, who was called God’s “son” out of Egypt. But that was a pattern that prefigured what Jesus would eventually ultimately fulfill in coming out of Egypt himself. So, we can say that Jesus is the true fulfillment of Israel.

In Matthew’s gospel, the word fulfill is used in term of promise & pattern fulfillment. Jesus intends for us to understand what he’s saying on a macro-scale. He’s saying that he came to bring the law and prophets to their God-ordained completion or goal. If we look at that on a macro scale, the law and prophets had a singular “goal” in view: the establishment of a New Kingdom ruled by a New King based on a New Covenant which gives New Hearts and Produces New Righteousness in a New People.

This is what Jesus has in mind when he says: “I came not to abolish the law or prophets, but to fulfill them”. He’s saying: I came to bring to completion the promises and patterns laid out in the Old Testament. Verse 18 provides further clarity on what Jesus means when he says he came to fulfill: “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.”

SPECIFICALLY, HE CAME TO BRING TO THEIR INTENDED COMPLETION THE ETHICAL INSTRUCTIONS AS THE PROPHET GREATER THAN MOSES.

This is a remarkable statement about the Old Testament Scripture. Jesus is teaching us a couple of very important truths about how we’re to view the Old Testament Scriptures. First, we need to trust what’s he’s telling us. For “truly I say to you”. Jesus is giving us the true interpretation of how to understand why he came and the abiding relevance of the Old Testament Scriptures for today. We can read commentaries. We can read scholarly papers. Lots of ink has been spilled over what exactly Jesus means here. It can be helpful to read other sources. But ultimately, Jesus statement must be trusted. This much is clear: until heaven and earth pass away - which refers to the return of Christ and creation of a new heaven and earth - every detail of the law will be accomplished. Look at Matthew 24. Literally, Jesus says: “until all the law is done”. Jesus is saying: every detail in the law will be done - accomplished - before he returns.

The law and prophets have an abiding relevance for God’s people until heaven and earth pass away - that is, until Jesus returns and makes a new heaven and new earth. An iota and dot were tiny little pen marks. They’d be like an apostrophe. Every detail of the law will be accomplished - it will be fulfilled - before Jesus returns.

We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Scriptures because Jesus does. Verbal - every word is breathed out by God. In the original autographs penned by the Prophets who wrote the Old Testament Scriptures, God ensured that every detail - down to the finest stroke of a pen - is true and what he intended to communicate. That’s what we mean by verbal plenary inspiration. Every word in the whole Bible is breathed out by the Holy Spirit, as he moved men to write exactly what he intended them to write. There may be variations and small grammatical differences in the translations. But in the original autographs, every detail in the text was perfect. Even in our translations, we have so many good manuscripts today that we can be confident that what we have is the very Word of God written, without error.

Jesus is saying: until he comes, every fine detail in the Old Testament will be accomplished.

HOW DOES THIS RECONCILE WITH OTHER TEACHINGS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?

How does Jesus’ statement fit with what he and later his apostles would teach about the law. For example, Jesus declared an end to things like the dietary laws and strict sabbath observance.

The apostles writes that after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the New Covenant was inaugurated and the Old Covenant (law and prophets) was obsolete (Heb 8:13). Paul seems to say the exact opposite of what Jesus says when he writes in Ephesians 2:15 “by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.” So which is it? Are the commandments in the law abolished and no longer binding or relevant? Or is every jot and tittle still relevant for us? If we say the former, then what need do we have of the Old Testament other than to help us see that Jesus fulfills the law? Do we need the Old Testament as a guide for moral instruction? Should we even look to it, or should we “unhitch” ourselves from it and look just to the New Testament for ethical instruction?

If we say that every jot and tittle of the law matters for us today, and that we must keep and teach others to the keep the “least” command in the Old Testament, then why aren’t we tithing our herbs - our mint and dill and cumin? Why aren’t we circumcising infants? Why aren’t we following the jot and tittles of the dietary laws in the Old Testament? Do you have clothing wi’th mixed fabrics? The Old Testament law commands that you’re not allowed to wear mixed fabrics. So how are we to understand Jesus words here in verse 19: Therfore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches other 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.”?

We need to reconcile different statements in Scripture. Synthesizing is the key to being good theologians. There are things in the Bible that appear contradictory. We may have troubles putting them together, but the problem is always with us, not with the Bible. Jesus and Paul are not at odds with eachother. They’re emphasizing different aspects of what it means for Jesus to fulfill the law and prophets.

In Ephesians 2, Paul emphasizes that the New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant, and specifically those ordinances - like circumcision - that were part of the Old Covenant structure. From one angle we can and must say that certain elements of the Old Covenant have been abolished; they’re no longer necessary for us to do. Why? Because Christ has fulfilled those “ordinances” in his work. Circumcision is fulfilled in true circumcision of the heart - which is a work done by the Holy Spirit.

In Matthew 5, Jesus is emphasizing that fulfilling the law and prophets doesn’t mean the “little commands” in the Old Testament no longer apply. He’s clear that his disciples must do and teach others to do them if they want to be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

DO AND TEACH THE OLD TESTAMENT COMMANDMENTS IN LIGHT OF JESUS WORK AND AUTHORITATIVE TEACHING

Some interpret Jesus’ words this way: He came to fulfill the law by obeying the law on our behalf. We failed to obey all the commands. Jesus obeyed. Through faith in him, all his obedience to the least of the Old Testament commands is counted as ours. This is the doctrine we call “justification by faith”. But this is not what Jesus is talking about. The focus of this sermon is not on the necessity of Jesus’ obedience for us, but on the necessity of our obedience as Jesus’ disciples.

But what does doing the “least” commandments in the law look like for us?

Law brought to it’s full realiziation and intended purpose by Jesus. Apply the hermeneutic of Christ’s person and work to the law and prophets. When understood in light of him, we see that certain aspects of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the sense that Jesus accomplished what they pointed to (ie. sacrifices).

Does Jesus abolish the ethical demands of the law and prophets? No he fulfills them. He confirms that they are still necessary requirements to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, he makes their meaning “fully known” - he “fills up” the ethical teaching of the Old Testament by his teaching. Moves from SD to HD. Puts in high definition what true righteousness looks like.

“He is the law’s authority; as God he does not stand under the law’s authority, but as man he does. The law came from him; he did not come from the law, though he submitted himself to the law in his flesh. Jesus’s double ontology means that he is both over the law and under the law - at the same time” (Patrick Schreiner, 140).

He is completing the law and prophets by being the final prophet. As the final prophet, he teaches with authority and makes it clear that every detail in the Old Testament has an application for us today. Those applications must be understood in light of Jesus’ work and his words. The work of Christ and the law of Christ are the lens through which we teach and keep the least things in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The function and application of the law for God’s people must be interpreted in light of Christ’s work and words.

I came not to abolish, but to fulfill (a general statement that includes him bringing the Old Testament to it’s intended completion).

Jesus teaches that the internal and external aspects of obedience must match.

He fills up and fills out the divinely intended meaning of the ethical instructions for the people of God. He’s the final teacher and prophet. All interpretation of the law and it’s ethical requirements and function for us must be interpreted in light of Jesus’ work and his words. When we look at the law, we realize that some aspects of it have been fulfilled and so obedience to that instruction means trusting in Christ who “finished off” that prophecy or pattern. But the Old Testament is chalk full of ethical instructions for the people of God. And even the smallest details of the law still have ethical bearing on the people of God today. But their function and application must be interpreted how Jesus teaches us to interpret the commands.

Jesus is not calling his disciples to less than what God called Israel to in the Old Testament. He’s calling them to more. He says that our righteousness must far exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees. Why? Because their righteousness was external. Jesus is saying that he fulfills law and prophets by making clear that righteousness is not a matter of merely keeping the externals and extra biblical traditions. True righteousness is obedience from the heart, which is what Jesus brings by inaugurating his new covenant.

Ultimately he fulfilled the law by preaching the ethical instructions in their fullness and producing a greater righteousness in his people, in keeping with the whole thrust of the Old Testament expectation.

FULFILL:

To make full/fill

To complete a period of time (bring a period to it’s end)

Bring something to completion. (Is Jesus saying he’s bringing the Old Testament Era to it’s intended completion?)

Finish

It should be interpreted: “bring to it’s full meaning”. This fits with the context with Jesus is fulfilling the law and prophets here by acting as the New Moses - the lawgiver and prophetic instructor and authoritative interpreter of the law.

When Jesus says he came to fulfill the law and the prophets, his focus is more narrowly on him fulfilling the law and the prophets as the final prophet and interpreter of the law.

Jesus is the great expositor of the law. He makes the full meaning and application of the law known to his disciples.

This is why in other places authors refer to believers not being under the “law” - as in under the Mosaic Law as a covenant - but under the “law of Christ”.

He is bringing out the ethical instructions of the law and prophets to their full meaning. Moving from SD to HD.