Christ and the Fulfillment of the Law

Please take your Bible and open it to . Today, we are going to look at only 4 verses. These verses, however, are some of the most controversial and problematic in all of the Sermon on the Mount, the book of Matthew, and even the whole NT. These verses are the source of many divides within the Christian church. They have created denominations and have divided religions.

And I want you to know that the divides and confusion that is experienced around these verses does not just impact some weird church that you’ve never heard of or will ever attend. Misunderstanding this passage has created divisions in Hastings, split churches, and has created within churches groups of people with misplaced emphases, misguided teachings, and in the worst of cases a false gospel. We know people that are impacted by a misunderstanding of these verses.

There’s only 4 of them, but they are weighty. I’ve entitled this message, “Christ and the Fulfillment of the Law”. Let’s read these verses together.

Read . Pray.

How are Christians supposed to relate to the OT? What do we do with the Law of Moses? If all of Scripture is inspired by God, are we still under the Law of the Old Covenant? Should Christians be embarrassed by the OT? Those weird rules and regulations, should we just dump those to the side and forget about them? Should you celebrate feasts and festivals of the OT? What role should the OT have in your life?

Now, you can see why these verses cause so much trouble. As you speak with non-Christian friends, I’m sure you get nervous when the OT is brought up. What do you say about laws for clothing? And no doubt some of you have wrestled, or may be wrestling now, with exactly the place of the OT in your life. Should you read the NT in light of the OT, or should you read the OT in light of the NT?

If you think that these questions are a challenge for us today, can you imagine what they were like for Jesus’ disciples? As Christ arrived on the earth, began his ministry, and announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, Jesus began teaching his disciples how to live in light of his coming. As he taught, questions were asked and assumptions were made: “Jesus is blaspheming against God! He’s contradicting the Scriptures! His followers have rebelled against God’s Law!”

But was this true? Did Jesus lead his followers to rebel against God’s Law? Did Jesus throw the Law in the trash so that he could introduce a new Law? Jesus knew that these questions were important questions. The challenges to his faithfulness to God’s Law were serious to Jesus. And they should be serious to us because your understanding of your relationship to the Law and the OT has implications for how you live your life.

This passage teaches us that Jesus has come as the goal of the OT and as the giver of a better righteousness.

This passage can be divided into two parts, the first part is verses 17-19 and the second part is verse 20. We will see how these two can be married together later on but to begin, let’s look at our first point:

Jesus Christ Came to FulFill the Old Testament

Let’s read verses 17-19 again:

Matthew 5:17–19 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 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. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others 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.

So far as we have looked at the sermon on the mount you have heard me say repeatedly that what Jesus is teaching us through this sermon is what it means to be a citizen in a kingdom where Jesus reigns. In his kingdom is the OT irrelevant? Many Christians live this way, don’t they?

Clearly, this is not what Jesus believed. You cannot find someone that had a higher view of the OT than Jesus. Think again about his words in verses 18-19, “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others 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.”

But what is Jesus speaking of here? In verse 18 Jesus says that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. This statement was a way for people in Jesus’ day to speak about the whole OT. What Jesus is saying in verse 18 is that he did not come to abolish or invalidate the OT. Instead, Jesus said that not one mark from a pencil or one dot from a pen will pass from relevancy. Not one mark of the OT has been or can be done away with. It, just like the NT, is authoritative.

Though separated from the OT by thousands of years, 2/3 of your Bible is still relevant for you. Heaven and earth will pass away before one dot of the OT passes away. Until all of the Law is accomplished, the OT will not pass away, not even one dot. But, if Jesus did not come to abolish or invalidate the OT, then what did he come to do? What was his life and death all about?

Jesus says in verse 17, “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Whatever familiarity you may have with this verse, put it out of your head for a second and think about the impact of a verse like this. For many who were saturated in the OT as a rule of life and religious practice, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the OT.

And our understanding of this passage (and really our understanding of the OT and NT) hangs on what Jesus meant by “fulfill”. What does it mean that Jesus came to fulfill? Some think of this very narrowly and say that Jesus fulfilled the OT by obeying it and never transgressing the Law. He fulfilled it by earning righteousness through it. Of course, it is true that Jesus obeyed the Law but the idea of fulfill that Jesus intends here is much deeper and broader than merely “keeping” the law.

What Jesus means by fulfill is that he reveals the true meaning of the OT. The Law and the prophets point to him. He is their fulfillment. The significance of the OT is found in Jesus.

Jesus fulfills the OT by perfectly obeying the Law of God revealed in the books of Moses.

Jesus fulfills the OT by being the fulfillment of predictive prophecies throughout the OT.

Jesus fulfills the OT as the true sacrifice pictured in the ceremonial and sacrificial rituals of the OT.

Jesus fulfills the OT through the events and people of the OT that foreshadow him.

This final way is important for us to see. It’s not that the other three are unimportant but this one is often missed. The events of the OT, as well as the people, the heroes, of the OT were all pointing toward and foreshadowing Jesus. Jesus is the true Adam who, unlike Adam, withstands Satan’s temptations. Jesus is the true Isaac, born through an impossible birth yet he was sacrificed by the hands of his Father. Jesus is the true Joseph, rejected by his brothers yet raised so that he could bless the nations. Jesus is the kinsmen redeemer of Ruth. Jesus is the true David, everlasting King of Israel. Jesus is the true bread of Israel, given in the wilderness so his people would never hunger or thirst. Jesus is the true lamb that was slain for sin so that the angel of death would passover us.

The people and events of the OT were foreshadowing something better that would come. They were foreshadowing a person, Jesus Christ. Today, we look at the OT in light of the NT and see, with remarkable glory, Christ on every page. As we learn about laws, regulations, ceremonies, and people, we don’t stop and stare at them but we look deeper. In every event, law, ceremony, and person we see Jesus Christ. Jesus is the goal of the OT.

If you want to read a book to help you see how Christ came as a fulfillment of the OT, to help you see how the OT was foreshadowing the Christ to come, read The Jesus Storybook Bible to your children.

He is teaching us here that fulfilling the law and prophets means that he has come as the goal and true revelation of the law. He is the true interpretation of the law. This is what he was telling his disciples after his resurrection on the road to Emmaus.

Luke 24:27 ESV

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

And now, as verse 19 says, none of the OT commands can be relaxed.

Matthew 5:17–19 ESV

Matthew

This means, however, that as Christ is the fulfillment of them, he is the interpreter of how we obey them. He, not a scribe or pharisee, tells us how the OT is intended to be obeyed. He will go on throughout this sermon on the mount to do just that, but he begins with the final verse of our passage where he delivers an astonishing message to his hearers.

In verse 20 Jesus is, in essence saying, that he gives us a better righteousness.

Through His Life and Death, Jesus Gives Us a Better Righteousness

Let’s read verse 20 again:

Luke 24:27 ESV

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

There was a saying that went around in Jesus’ time that said, “If only two men go to heaven, surely one of them will be a scribe and the other a Pharisee.” Why? because of their commitment to the Law. BUT Jesus says, “the righteousness of those in my kingdom will be better than theirs.” What does Jesus mean by this?

Jesus says that your righteousness must “exceed” that of the scribes and pharisees. Does this mean that your account better have more good deeds in it than scribes and pharisees? Does it mean that you need a point on the scoreboard higher than them? No, Jesus is talking more profoundly here.

When he says “exceeds” he doesn’t just mean a bit more. He means in considerable excess. There is a qualitative difference here, not just a quantitative difference. When I tell my kids “you’ve got to do better than this” I don’t just mean that they need to do a little bit better, but that their whole outlook must change. Their hearts must change. Everything needs to be different.

This is what Jesus is saying here. There must be a qualitative difference in your righteousness. You need a completely different kind of righteousness! Yes, the pharisees were obedient, at least in part, but their half-hearted obedience was condemning. Listen to :

Matthew

Matthew 23

Matthew 23:27–28 ESV

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Philippians 3:4–11 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

What Jesus demands is a righteousness that is not merely external but comes from the heart! This is the righteousness that Paul also taught us about.

Philippians 3:8–11 ESV

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Where is this righteousness found? It is in Jesus, the fulfillment of the entire OT. The qualitative righteousness that is necessary for the kingdom of heaven comes from Jesus Christ. Through his life, death, and resurrection he exchanges his righteousness for our sinfulness. Now, through regeneration and faith, our hearts have been changed. By clinging to Jesus Christ - and not the law - we receive this righteousness. A righteousness that fulfills the law and a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and pharisees.

Much of the rest of the sermon on the mount will be teaching us how a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and pharisees lis lived out but it comes by first trust in and believing in Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of the Law.

Far too many are walking around and trusting in their own goodness to be a Christian. If you are here and don’t consider yourself a Christian, maybe you look around and think that in order to be a Christian you need to start doing good things, at least as much as the Christians around you, in order to call yourself a Christian. That’s not true!

Believe in and trust in Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the OT and has given those who trust in him a better righteousness.

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