High Achiever

1. The Hook

**Do you ever feel like people are telling you to do one thing and then they don’t do it in their own lives?

Leaders who preach integrity but act dishonestly

Public figures who promote “family values” but live differently in private

Financial voices who warn against risk but secretly take big risks

What do we call these people? Hypocrites. They say to do one thing but they do another.

— Parents sometimes fall into this category. We tell our kids to do one thing but then we do the thing we tell them not to do.

— Then we hit them with the famous line of “Do as I say not as I do”

Honestly it is tough for me some times to get up and preach and teach. Because there have been times where I have not fully implemented in my own life what I am encouraging you to do. Maybe you have been able to see that. Maybe you haven’t but I really try to let the text change me before I ever try to encourage you to be changed. I want to be like Ezra who states in Ezra 7:10 “10 …heart to study the law of Yahweh and to practice it, and to teach His statute and judgment in Israel.”

My question for us to ponder this morning as we dive into this text is

“Are you pursuing righteousness, or are you just pursuing the reputation of righteousness?"

2. The Context

Jesus mentions that same idea here in Matthew 5:17–20

So far in this sermon, Jesus has been calling His followers to be different. A difference that doesn’t blend in—but stands out.

And He makes it clear—that kind of life will bring pressure. It will bring opposition.

In fact, He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”

Now think about that for a moment.

It seems that the people Jesus describes in verses 3–9—the poor in spirit, the meek, the pure in heart—are the very ones striving for that righteousness in verse 10.

And those same people are the ones He just called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

In other words, this isn’t random teaching—it’s all connected. Jesus is describing a kind of person… and then calling that person to live it out in the world.

Now as we come to this next section, Jesus is about to do something important.

He’s going to clarify His intentions.

He’s going to help them understand exactly what He is—and is not—teaching.

Because what He’s about to say next will shape everything that follows in the rest of this sermon.

3. The Text

Matthew 5:17 “17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

2 definitions

Abolish - To end the effect or validity of something (BDAG)

The accusation likely floating around Jesus was that his teaching was doing exactly this — that by challenging the religious establishment, he was undermining the authority of the Law and the Prophets.

Fulfill - to bring to a designed end.

Prophetic fulfillment — Jesus is the one the Law and Prophets were pointing to all along. He doesn't erase them; he is their destination.

Completing the full meaning — He brings out the deepest intent of the Law, not just its surface rules. This is why in verses 21-48 he says "You have heard it said… but I say to you" — he's not contradicting the Law, he's filling it out to its full weight.

Living it perfectly — He is the only one who fully kept the Law, which is what it was always demanding.

With these definitions in mind I want you to think with me as Jesus is really starting to entire into the meat of his sermon he wanted to make sure these people knew that His goal was not to loosen or hurt the validity of the OT scripture, but rather to live them out completely.

Matthew 5:18 “18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

“For” - Connecting where explaining the why to the previous verse.

You will also notice that he connects the idea of fulfill and accomplish together to help these people listening to him understand what his intentions are with the the Law.

Jesus came to live the law perfectly and accomplish the prophecies that are in it pertaining to the seed of the Abraham that would come and bless all the nations. But to be the seed that would bless all nations He would need to become the perfect spotless lamb for sacrifice.

The only way for him to do that would be to live according to every word of the Law.

Jesus even says that he would not leave out any letter or stroke of the Law. What a high view of Scripture our savior had.

SPIRITUAL APPLICATION -

Have you ever heard of cherry picking before?

While i was at Bear Valley Bible Institute, we put together a rec league Bball team. Now I was 30 years old and this prior to be have TKR surgery. So I didn’t move all that well. Sometimes I would forgo running to the other side of the court to play defense so I could stay at our goal and be passed the ball down the court and score and easy basket. In Basketball we call that cherry picking. I was being lazy and and choosing the easy route.

We also use that same phrase in relation to Scripture. People who cherry pick verses ultimately pick the verses that are convenient for them to live by. They don’t want to try and hold to the hard texts or even try to figure out the difficult passages. So instead they decide to live the verses they chose to live by.

Jesus was not concerned with Cherry Picking veses. He was concerned with ALL of it. Every command that able to be lived out by Him he was going to live it. Every prophecy he was going to fulfill.

What about you?

Matthew 5:19 “19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, 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.”

This verse is starting to get to the heart of the matter.

annuls - to loosen. People were loosening the commands of God and teaching others to do the same.

The reward for doing such things would be that they would be least in the Kingdom on Heaven

The Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel Theme: The Children of the Kingdom in the Righteousness that Is Theirs

“so his true disciples will cling to its entire contents and to their fulfillment by Jesus, setting aside not even the least part”

Matthew 5:20 “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

This is the launch point for the rest of the sermon. Jesus is now going to the move through these next chapters helping the people have this exceeding righteousness.

Notice chapter 5 he is going to discuss how they have heard it taught this way but now he is helping it understand it more fully.

Chapter 6 he helps them understand how to live out their righteousness to be seen by God

In chapter 7 we start to see Jesus press this idea again of living righteously and how that is a hard / narrow road to walk down and that it requires us living by the fathers will and to build our house on the rock.

All of that is going to help us have righteousness that is surpassing that of the Scribes and Pharisees.

Again when you think about these men who served as leaders of the Jewish religion, you have to understand that these men were seen as the picturesque righteous person. But Jesus helps

4. The Application

You've been sitting with this question the whole time we've been in this text —

"Are you pursuing righteousness, or are you just pursuing the reputation of righteousness?"

And I want to be honest with you — that question is uncomfortable for me too. Because it's easy to be a High-Achiever in all the wrong categories.

You can achieve a perfect attendance record at church and still have a hard heart.

You can achieve a reputation as a good person in your community and still be full of bitterness behind closed doors.

You can achieve the appearance of a strong marriage, a solid family, a faithful life — and God still sees what nobody else sees.

The scribes and Pharisees were the High-Achievers of their day. Nobody outworked them. Nobody out-performed them. Nobody out-religioned them. And Jesus looked at all of that achievement and said —

It's not enough.

5. The Invitation

You can fool people with a reputation—

but you can’t fool God with your heart.