Jesus & The Law

Matthew 5:17-20 New King James Version

Jesus & Moses

1. Law given on a mountain & the Sermon on the mount:

a. Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.

2. Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and Matthew’s five teaching segments of Jesus:

a. Matthew groups many of Jesus’ teachings into five large blocks of material[1]

i. 5:1–7:27—the Sermon on the Mount;

ii. 10:5–42—instructions for sending out the Twelve;

iii. 13:1–52—the parables of the kingdom;

iv. 18:1–35—teachings on humility and forgiveness;

v. 24:1–25:46—the apocalyptic discourse on the Mount of Olives.[2]

What is the relationship between the Law and Jesus for followers of Christ?

1.) Jesus did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets (Matthew 5:17).

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

1. Destroy - to annul v. — to officially declare invalid or inapplicable.

a. to completely invalidate something which has been in force—‘to do away with, to invalidate, to make invalid.’[3]

2.) Jesus had a high view of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:18).

a. Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

i. Assuredly Amen - strong affirmation of what is declared—‘truly, indeed, it is true that.’ ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ‘for I tell you the truth’ [4]

ii. Jot – Gr. iota, Heb. yod, the smallest letter[5]

1. iota (letter) n. — the letter “Iota” of the Greek alphabet; especially as understood as a simple and small letter.

iii. Tittle - The smallest stroke in a Heb. letter[6]

1. tittle n. — a short line at the end of the main strokes of a character; especially any that resemble a small horn-like appendage.

a. ‘horn’, then anything that projects like a horn, projection, hook as part of a letter, a serif[7]

b. a part of a letter of the alphabet—‘stroke, short mark, short line of a letter, part of a letter.’[8]

c. The reference of ἰῶτα (33.36) and κεραία is to the small details of the Law, and therefore it may be appropriate in many languages to translate Mt 5:18 as ‘not one of the smallest parts of the Law will be done away with’ or ‘… will become null and void.’[9]

b. Fulfilled - to happen (come about) v. — to come to pass.

3.) Jesus’ followers should also have a high view of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:19).

a. Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, 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.

i. Breaks – to annul ⇔ unbind v. — to annul, conceived of untying or unfastening an obligation.

1. the failure to conform to a law or regulation, with a possible implication of regarding it as invalid—‘to break (a law), to transgress.’[10]

ii. Least - pertaining to being of the least importance—‘of least importance, of very little importance.’[11]

1. Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

2. Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

a. Weightier - important ⇔ weighty adjs. — of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought.

iii. Great - pertaining to being great in terms of status—‘great, important.’[12]

iv. As Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets, some commands:

1. Cease - dietary laws

2. Continue – tithing

3. Change – circumcision to baptism

4.) Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17).

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

i. To fulfill - to satisfy ⇔ fill up v. — to satisfy, conceived of as if filling a container completely.

b. to give the true or complete meaning to something—‘to give the true meaning to, to provide the real significance of.[13]

c. ‘for the whole Law has its true meaning in one expression, Love your neighbor as yourself’ Ga 5:14. In speaking of ‘true meaning,’ it may be useful in some languages to use a phrase meaning ‘real intent’ or ‘real purpose.’[14]

d. to bring to a designed end, fulfill[15]

e. Mt 5:17; depending on how one prefers to interpret the context, πληρόω is understood here either as fulfill=do, carry out, or as bring to full expression=show it forth in its true mng., or as fill up=complete [16]

i. Mathew 1:22-23

1. Matthew 1:22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

2. Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

ii. Matthew 4:13-16

1. Matthew 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,

2. Matthew 4:14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

3. Matthew 4:15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:

4. Matthew 4:16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”

5.) Jesus provides a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

a. Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

i. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-3)

1. Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,

2. Matthew 23:2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

3. Matthew 23:3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

ii. A righteousness that surpasses the scribes and Pharisees:

1. What Jesus demanded is the righteousness to which the law truly points, exemplified in the antitheses that follow (vv. 21–48). [17]

a. Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’

b. Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

c. Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

d. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

2. The law pointed forward to Jesus and his teaching; so it is properly obeyed by conforming to his word. As it points to him, so he, in fulfilling it, establishes what continuity it has, the true direction to which it points and the way it is to be obeyed. Thus ranking in the kingdom turns on the degree of conformity to Jesus’ teaching as that teaching fulfills OT revelation. His teaching, toward which the OT pointed, must be obeyed.[18]

3. The verb “surpasses” suggests that the new righteousness outstrips the old both qualitatively and quantitatively[19]

a. Philippians 3:9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

[1] Cate, J. (2016). Matthew, Gospel of. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[2] Cate, J. (2016). Matthew, Gospel of. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[3] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 681). New York: United Bible Societies.

[4] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 672). New York: United Bible Societies.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 540). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

[8] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 392). New York: United Bible Societies.

[9] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 392). New York: United Bible Societies.

[10] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 469). New York: United Bible Societies.

[11] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 626). New York: United Bible Societies.

[12] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 735). New York: United Bible Societies.

[13] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 404). New York: United Bible Societies.

[14] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 404). New York: United Bible Societies.

[15] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 828). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

mng. mng. = meaning(s)

[16] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 829). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

[17] Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 147). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[18] Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 146). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[19] Carson, D. A. (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 147). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.