"Christ and the Scriptures"
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
The question before us today is did Jesus Come to Change the Bible?
There was tremendous confusion about Jesus when He came to earth.
Many people thought Jesus was a revolutionary who had come to overthrow Judaism. Yet others thought He (Jesus) was simply another teacher. The religious leaders of the time were watching Him (Jesus) carefully because Jesus taught with an authority unlike anyone they had ever heard.
And Jesus who is God incarnate knew exactly what the people were thinking.
So He (Jesus) makes an absolutely clear statement:
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 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. 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 keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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.
Jesus’ public ministry began when He was 30 years old. Now, get this for the first 30 years He (Jesus was essentially quiet). When Jesus began His public Ministry -
He did not come to erase the Old Testament -
He did not come to correct God's Word -
He did not come to give mankind a more convenient religion -
He came to fulfill what God had already revealed in the OT -
This is extremely important because Christianity is not a religion where we choose which parts of the Bible we like. We choose to accept the Scriptures as the inherent, infallible, verbal plenary inspired life changing Word of God.
The same God who spoke in Genesis spoke through the prophets. The same God who gave the Law sent His Son. The Old Testament points forward to Christ, and Christ brings the promises and purposes of Scripture to their fulfillment.
Jesus Christ did not come to the earth to destroy God's Word rather, He came to fulfill it, and Christ’s righteousness demands a righteousness that is real, inward, and greater than all religious performances.
Proposition: Because Christ fulfilled God's Word perfectly, believers must submit to the Scriptures, believers must understand the Scriptures, and believers must pursue genuine righteousness through Christ because of the Scriptures.
Interrogative Question - How can we develop a deeper understanding of Scripture to guide our pursuit of genuine righteousness?
I. The Scriptures are Fulfilled - vs. 17
I. The Scriptures are Fulfilled - vs. 17
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
A. “The Law or the Prophets” refers to the Old Testament -
An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount Chapter 6: Christ and the Law
Before proceeding farther we must next inquire, Exactly what did Christ here signify by “the law?” We answer, unhesitatingly, The whole Jewish Law, which was threefold: ceremonial, judicial, and moral. The ceremonial described rules and ordinances to be observed in the worship of God; the judicial described ordinances for the government of the Jewish commonwealth and the punishment of offenders: the former was for the Jews only; the latter primarily for them, yet concerned all people in all times so far as it tended to establish the moral Law. The moral Law is contained in the Ten Commandments.
Jesus is speaking about the Scriptures that had already been given.
The Old Testament was not an outdated book of mistakes -
Matthew, Vols. 1–4: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Authored by God
The foundation of the Old Testament is the law given in the Pentateuch, which the prophets, psalmists, and other inspired writers preached, expounded, and applied. That law of God was composed of three parts: the moral, the judicial, and the ceremonial. The moral law was to regulate behavior for all men; the judicial law was for Israel’s operation as a unique nation; and the ceremonial law was prescribed to structure Israel’s worship of God. The moral law was based on the Ten Commandments, and the judicial and ceremonial laws were the subsequent legislation given to Moses. On the plains of Moab Moses reminded Israel that “He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it” (Deut. 4:13–14). Because Matthew does not qualify his use of Law, we are safe to say that it was God’s whole law—the commandments, statutes, and judgments; the moral, judicial, and ceremonial—that Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill. It was also the other Old Testament teachings based on the law, and all their types, patterns, symbols, and pictures that He came to fulfill. Jesus Christ came to accomplish every aspect and every dimension of the divinely authored Word (cf. Luke 24:44).
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, (Matthew 1–17), Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary Jesus and the Old Testament
3. Christ himself is the fulfillment of the law. The best explanation is that we should understand “fulfill” in the same sense it had earlier, when it was used of Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus’ coming: Matthew 1:22; 2:15, 17; 4:14, for example. This means that the Bible is about Jesus and that he is its fulfillment in all ways. He fulfills the moral law by his obedience, the prophecies by the specifics of life, and the sacrificial system by his once-and-for-all atonement. This is a part of what Paul means in Romans 10:4 when he calls Christ “the end of the law.” This is how D. A. Carson sees it: “The best interpretation of these … verses says that Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets in that they point to him, and he is their fulfillment. The antithesis is not between ‘abolish’ and ‘keep’ but between ‘abolish’ and ‘fulfill.’ ”3 Jesus is thus “not primarily engaged … in extending, annulling or intensifying the OT law, but in showing the direction in which it points.”
It was God's divine revelation -
89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
Matthew, Vols. 1–4: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Negative Consequence
The Jews of Jesus’ day had divided the Old Testament laws into two categories. Two hundred forty-eight were positive commands, and three hundred sixty-five—one for each day of the year—were negative. The scribes and Pharisees would have long, heated debates about which laws in each category were the most important and which were the least.
The Bible does not become true because people agree with it.
It is true because God spoke it.
Historical Background
The Jewish religious world of Jesus' day had developed extensive traditions surrounding the Old Testament Law.
The Pharisees had become particularly influential. They were deeply concerned about religious observance, but over time human traditions became intertwined with God's commands.
Jesus would later confront this problem directly:
“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
— Mark 7:8
8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
Jesus was not against God's Law.
He was against man's distortion of God's Law.
B. Jesus fulfilled the Law prophetically -
The Old Testament repeatedly pointed toward Christ.
44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Jesus fulfilled the prophecies concerning:
His birth — Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22–23
His birthplace — Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:5–6
His ministry — Isaiah 9:1–2; Matthew 4:14–16
His suffering — Isaiah 53
His rejection — Psalm 118:22
His resurrection — Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:25–32
Illustration: A Blueprint
Imagine an architect gives a builder a detailed blueprint.
When the building is finished, you don't say:
“The blueprint was wrong because the building is here now.”
The building demonstrates what the blueprint was pointing toward.
In a similar way, the Old Testament anticipates Christ, and Christ fulfills what it anticipated.
The Old Testament is not discarded because Christ came. Christ is the fulfillment toward which the Old Testament was pointing.
II. The Scriptures are Permanent - vs. 18
II. The Scriptures are Permanent - vs. 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.
Jesus moves from fulfillment to the permanence of God's Word.
Notice His language:
“not the smallest letter or stroke.”
The point is that God's revelation is not careless or disposable.
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, (Matthew 1–17), Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary The Authority of the Bible
This is because the jot (Hebrew, yodh) is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It resembles a comma, though it is written near the top of the letters rather than near the bottom. The tittle is a serif, the small projection on letters that distinguishes a Roman typeface from a more modern one. In many Bibles, Psalm 119 is divided into twenty-two sections, each preceded by a Hebrew letter. The reader of such a Bible can discover what a tittle is by comparing the letter before verse 9 with the letter before verse 81. The first is a beth. The second is a kaph. The only difference between them is a tittle. The same feature distinguishes daleth from resh and waw from zayin (the letters before verses 25 and 153, and 41 and 49).
A. God's Word is authoritative -
Jesus believed the Old Testament was authoritative down to its smallest details.
35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
“The Scripture cannot be broken.”
That is an extraordinary statement.
Jesus did not treat Scripture as man's opinion about God.
He treated Scripture as God's authoritative Word.
B. God's Word will accomplish God's purposes -
11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Everything around us changes -
Culture changes -
Political opinions change -
Technology changes -
Public opinion changes -
But God's Word does not change -
Historical Theology
The historic Christian church has consistently affirmed the authority of Scripture.
The Reformers famously emphasized sola Scriptura — Scripture alone as the final authoritative standard for faith and practice.
This did not mean the Reformers believed Christians should ignore history, teachers, or the church.
It meant that no church tradition, religious leader, council, or human opinion possesses authority equal to God's inspired Word.
Scripture stands above us.
We do not sit in judgment over Scripture.
Scripture sits in judgment over us.
Illustration: The Standard
A carpenter does not determine whether a measuring tape is accurate by comparing the tape to his opinion.
He uses the standard to evaluate his work.
God's Word is the standard.
We don't change the standard because our lives don't measure up.
We change our lives because God's standard is true.
III. The Scriptures are Life Changing - vs. 19-20
III. The Scriptures are Life Changing - vs. 19-20
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 keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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.
Jesus now applies His teaching.
If Scripture is God's Word, then we must take it seriously.
A. We must not minimize God's commands -
There is a dangerous tendency in every generation:
“Surely God didn't really mean that.”
That was the temptation in the Garden of Eden.
God had spoken clearly.
Satan's strategy was to create doubt about God's Word:
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The battle has not changed.
The question remains:
Will I believe God or will I believe myself?
B. We must not merely hear Scripture — we must obey it -
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
Biblical Christianity is not merely knowing Bible facts.
You can know verses and still refuse to obey God.
You can sit in church every week and still have a heart that is far from God.
Jesus is calling His followers to genuine righteousness.
Matthew The Righteousness of the Kingdom
Salvation is not only by grace and through faith, it is also according to works. For more on the last point see Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 25:35–45; Rom. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:10; and Rev. 20:12, 13. In degree of faithfulness God’s children differ even here. Therefore, in degree of glory they will differ in heaven and at the time of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:41, 42).
IV. The Scriptures change from the inside out - vs. 20
IV. The Scriptures change from the inside out - vs. 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 verse would have shocked Jesus' audience.
The scribes and Pharisees were viewed as extremely religious.
Matthew The Righteousness of the Kingdom
It is natural that Jesus groups together a profession (the scribes) and a sect (the Pharisees). The scribes were the acknowledged expounders and teachers of the Old Testament. The Pharisees were those who tried very hard to make everybody believe that they were adhering to this teaching.
They knew the Scriptures.
They fasted.
They prayed.
They gave.
They appeared righteous.
Yet Jesus says their righteousness was insufficient.
Why?
Because their righteousness was fundamentally external.
They were concerned about what people could see.
Jesus was concerned about the heart.
Compare:
Pharisaical religion says:
Look righteous.
Sound righteous.
Be respected.
Follow external rules.
Impress people.
Biblical Christianity says:
Be transformed.
Love God.
Obey from the heart.
Repent of sin.
Trust Christ.
Pursue holiness.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
V. The Scriptures Reveal the foundation of Righteousness - vs. 20
V. The Scriptures Reveal the foundation of Righteousness - vs. 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.
Here is the great theological truth behind this passage:
Matthew 5:20 does not mean we can work hard enough to become righteous enough to enter heaven.
The rest of the New Testament makes clear that sinners need a righteousness they cannot produce themselves.
10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
So how can a sinful person have the righteousness God requires?
Through Jesus Christ.
Christ perfectly obeyed God's Law.
Christ lived the righteous life we could never live.
Christ died as the substitute for sinners.
Christ rose from the grave.
And those who repent and believe in Him are justified before God.
Illustration: The Courtroom
Imagine standing before a perfectly righteous judge.
Every sin is known.
Every selfish thought.
Every dishonest word.
Every act of rebellion.
You cannot argue that your good deeds erase your sin.
Then imagine that the penalty has been paid by an innocent substitute, and the judge declares you righteous—not because you earned it, but because the payment has been made and the righteousness of another has been credited to you.
That is a small illustration of the gospel.
Our hope is not, “I am good enough.”
Our hope is:
“Christ is righteous, and I belong to Him.”
VI. God’s Grace produces Holiness -
VI. God’s Grace produces Holiness -
Some people misunderstand grace.
They say:
“If salvation is by grace, then obedience doesn't matter.”
Paul answers that thinking in Romans 6.
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
Grace does not give us permission to love sin.
Grace changes our relationship with sin.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
Illustration: A Rescue
Suppose someone is drowning and a lifeguard pulls him from the water.
After being rescued, the person doesn't say:
“Because I was rescued, I should go back into the water and try to drown myself again.”
Being rescued changes everything.
Likewise, God's grace does not make holiness unnecessary.
Grace makes holiness possible and desirable.
SO WHAT?
1. HAVE A HIGH VIEW OF SCRIPTURE -
Don't treat your Bible like a collection of suggestions.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Read it -
Study it -
Believe it -
Obey it -
2. DON'T REPLACE SCRIPTURE WITH CULTURE -
Culture changes -
God's Word does not change -
8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.
3. DON'T CONFUSE RELIGION WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS -
The Pharisees were religious.
Jesus still condemned their hypocrisy.
You can attend church and not know Christ.
You can know Bible facts and not love God.
You can look righteous outwardly while your heart is rebellious.
God wants your heart.
4. PURSUE HOLINESS FROM A HEART CHANGED BY CHRIST -
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
The life a believer is not -
“I obey so God will love me.”
On the other hand it is:
“God has loved me in Christ, therefore I want to obey Him.”
Are you submitting to God's Word, or are you editing God's Word to fit my life?
Are you trusting Christ's righteousness, or are you depending upon your own religious performance?
Does your outward Christianity reflect an inward work of grace?
17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Christ fulfilled the Law -
Christ fulfilled the prophets -
Christ fulfilled God's promises -
And Christ alone is sufficient for your Salvation -
How can understanding Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law influence our view of the Old Testament?
In what ways can we demonstrate that we believe in the authority and permanence of Scripture in our daily lives?
What practices can we incorporate to deepen our understanding of Scripture and its application to our lives?
How does recognizing that Christ fulfills the moral law shape our approach to righteousness?
What steps can we take to make sure that getting to know Christ leads us toward a genuine internal change rather than mere external observance?
In what specific situations can we apply the principle of not minimizing God's commands in our lives?
How can the distinction between religion and genuine righteousness affect our actions within the church community?
What are practical ways we can encourage each other to pursue holiness from a heart changed by Christ?
How can we guard against the tendency to replace Scripture with cultural values in our decision-making?
What does it look like to actively obey God’s Word in our careers, relationships, and community interactions?
The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 5
fulfill. This speaks of fulfillment in the same sense that prophecy is fulfilled. Christ was indicating that He is the fulfillment of the law in all its aspects. He fulfilled the moral law by keeping it perfectly. He fulfilled the ceremonial law by being the embodiment of everything the law’s types and symbols pointed to. And he fulfilled the judicial law by personifying God’s perfect justice (cf. 12:18, 20).
Matthew, Vols. 1–4: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Authored by God
The foundation of the Old Testament is the law given in the Pentateuch, which the prophets, psalmists, and other inspired writers preached, expounded, and applied. That law of God was composed of three parts: the moral, the judicial, and the ceremonial. The moral law was to regulate behavior for all men; the judicial law was for Israel’s operation as a unique nation; and the ceremonial law was prescribed to structure Israel’s worship of God. The moral law was based on the Ten Commandments, and the judicial and ceremonial laws were the subsequent legislation given to Moses. On the plains of Moab Moses reminded Israel that “He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, that is, the ten commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might perform them in the land where you are going over to possess it” (
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, (Matthew 1–17), Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary Jesus and the Old Testament
3. Christ himself is the fulfillment of the law. The best explanation is that we should understand “fulfill” in the same sense it had earlier, when it was used of Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus’ coming:
The Gospel of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, (Matthew 1–17), Volume 1: An Expositional Commentary The Authority of the Bible
This is because the jot (Hebrew, yodh) is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It resembles a comma, though it is written near the top of the letters rather than near the bottom. The tittle is a serif, the small projection on letters that distinguishes a Roman typeface from a more modern one. In many Bibles,
Matthew The Righteousness of the Kingdom
Salvation is not only by grace and through faith, it is also according to works. For more on the last point see
Matthew The Righteousness of the Kingdom
It is natural that Jesus groups together a profession (the scribes) and a sect (the Pharisees). The scribes were the acknowledged expounders and teachers of the Old Testament. The Pharisees were those who tried very hard to make everybody believe that they were adhering to this teaching.
