Matthew 5:17-18

Christ and the Law

We come to a new section here after we read about Christians being the “salt and light” and now we come to a section from verse 17 to verse 20 where Christ defends and upholds the Word of God.

And it would be safe to say that whatever Christ thinks of the Word of God is good enough for me and you right? What he thinks ought to be solid proof for us to believe the same.

How we believe about God’s Word is extremely important for us today. So many people attack the Bible and say that the Bible isn’t inspired, or it isn’t inerrant, or it isn’t infallible, or it isn’t sufficient. And Jesus is here to uphold it all.

There has been an attack on the Bible since the first century and there continues to be. But yet, it remains to be the absolute authority and stands above all scrutiny that comes against it.

Matthew 5:17–20 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. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Law and the Prophets?

Several times the “law and the prophets” are referred to in the New Testament and it literally means the whole of the Old Testament. So when Jesus says here that he didn’t come to destroy or abolish the Law and the Prophets he means that He didn’t come to destroy or abolish the Old Testament.

Why would they think that?

Jesus’ life and his teaching was opposite much of the scribes and Pharisee’s teaching and way of life. The Jews had distorted the law and twisted it to serve their own purposes and Jesus was raising it back up to where it should have been in the first place.

Another thing that really bothered the religious leaders of that day was that Jesus frequently associated with sinners. This totally blew the minds of the religious leaders of that day because they were above associating with the low-life crowd of sinners.

Because of these 2 primary reasons, they thought that Jesus might not believe in the sacred writings of scripture. They thought that this messiah might come and totally wipe that law away and create something totally new and do away with the old stuff.

You know that’s not that far off today either. I know alot of people that don’t read the Old Testament at all. They say it’s boring, it’s outdated, it’s not important, they say it doesn’t really mean anything for Christians today.

It really is a shame when someone says they don’t read or spend much time in the Old Testament. Because it’s not boring, it is not outdated, and it is important. Jesus knew what He was about to do might cause some to think that He didn’t care anything about the Old Testament - that He was going to totally do away with it.

But that wasn’t the case. Did you know that Jesus, in the few words that we have recorded that He said in the New Testament - quoted the Old Testament 78 times? He upheld the importance and the relevance of the Word of God.