From the Mouth of the Master- Part 5- Matthew 5:17-20
From the Mouth of the Master • Sermon • Submitted
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· 2 viewsJesus now turns His attention to the law and to righteousness. He speaks of the fulfilment of the law in Himself.
Notes
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Introduction
Jesus now turns His attention to the Mosaic Law and begins to instruct His disciples regarding His fulfilment of the law and the place of the law in the present.
Many of the religious leaders of the Jesus’ day harbored animosity towards Jesus because they felt that He was destroying the law and yet in reality Jesus did not come to destroy it, but to fulfil it.
Those steeped in religion had come to believe that they could by the keeping of the law find salvation and someday enter the kingdom of heaven.
The law could never bring righteousness for it was only intended to reveal the unrighteousness of men.
In this passage we find how the law relates first of all to...
Jesus (Vs. 17-18)
Jesus (Vs. 17-18)
Jesus came not to destroy the law but to fulfil (literally to complete or to finish) the law.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
That which man could never do (keep the whole law) Jesus Christ came as God incarnate to do. Jesus literally lived out every jot and every tittle of the law not erring in any area.
Jesus did not come to do away with the law as some of the religious leaders imagined when He confronted their interpretations and additions to the law.
Jesus instead came as the embodiment of the law revealing the true nature and character of the law as it was originally intended. He came in reality to confront the misuse and abuse of the law by the religious leaders of the day who were guilty of teaching the law but not actually doing as they taught.
Matthew 23:1-4- they say and do not.
Jesus came to reclaim and restore the law to its original state and to help men to understand that the keeping of the letter of the law was not sufficient for the spirit of the law went much deeper.
This will become even more evident in the next several verses as Jesus moves beyond the letter of the law to communicate its true depth and meaning.
There are many who believe that Jesus coming lowered the bar and that because we are under grace, we have liberty to live now with no regard for God’s law, but this could not be further from the truth.
Those who come to Christ actually have the greater responsibility now being instructed to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God which dwells within us.
Jesus Christ was the ultimate fulfilment of the law and of the prophets as the very embodiment of the Word of God.
Jesus fulfilled the rituals of the law in becoming the sacrificial Lamb of God dying in our place, He fulfilled the moral obligations of the law by living a life free from sin. He also fulfilled all the prophecy concerning Himself. In Him, the law and the prophets reached their fullest expression.
Knowing now how the law relates to Jesus, we must consider how the law relates to...
Believers (Vs. 19)
Believers (Vs. 19)
Break- to untie or loosen, destroy, to ruin, to dismiss or do away with. Examples:
Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
It is significant that the Pharisees actually accuse Jesus of doing exactly this when He healed on the Sabbath day.
God’s law is not something that is to be done away with now that Christ has come. The law of God is still the standard, and in it is revealed the very character and nature of God.
We do not offer sacrifices today or celebrate passover or the other feasts which the law prescribed because Jesus Christ was the ultimate fulfilment of these, for they were but a “shadow of things to come.”
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Because Jesus Christ fulfilled the moral obligations of the law, we are now under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He guides and directs us as we yield ourselves to His control.
Romans 6:14-16- we are no longer under the law but we are now under grace, however this does not give us a license to sin.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
The primary responsibility of the believer is now to yield himself to the leadership of the Spirit of God which dwells within him and he can be sure that the Spirit of God will not lead him contrary to the Word of God.
Romans 8:1-4- the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us when we walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
The true emphasis of this passage however is not only our personal activity but our impact upon others related to the commandments of God. We must be careful that we do not teach others to ignore or minimize the commandments of God.
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The problem that Jesus is addressing is that tendency toward minimizing the standards which God has set forth and teaching others to do the same and He contrasts this with those who respect and uphold God’s standards and teach others to do the same.
Those who yield to the Spirit of God’s control will have a great respect for the law of God and will adhere to its standards and teach others to do the same.
Ultimately Jesus then moves to show how the law relates to...
Unbelievers (Vs. 20)
Unbelievers (Vs. 20)
The intent of this statement from Jesus is to communicate the fact that righteousness is not to be found in the keeping of the law.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
The attainment of righteousness before God is not by the keeping of the law, rather it is by faith in Jesus Christ.
The scribes and Pharisees were considered to be the most righteous people of the day and Jesus states that your righteousness must exceed their righteousness if you are to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This ultimately must have provoked a hopelessness in the minds of many who heard Jesus speak for they must have thought to themselves “How can I possibly achieve a greater righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees?”
This is exactly what the law as a standard of righteousness was intended to do, to reveal the unrighteousness of men.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Jesus intent was to reveal to all that heard Him their lost and hopeless condition that they might ultimately place their faith in Him for salvation rather than placing their hope in the law.
How can you be righteous? Righteousness is the product of faith in Jesus Christ. The righteousness we need will never be found in our works and can only be found in Jesus.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
You must be made righteous if you are to enter the kingdom of heaven and Christ came to make this possible.
Conclusion
There have been a wide variety of misunderstandings regarding the law and Jesus Christ, but Jesus clearly states that He did not come to destroy the law but rather to fulfil it.
God was not correcting some mistake which He had made when He sent Jesus Christ, rather He was bringing about the ultimate fulfilment of the law and the prophets.
The believer has been set free from the law but is now given a greater responsibility, to yield to the leadership of the Spirit of God.
The law only offers condemnation for the unbeliever, it only serves to show him his own unrighteousness. No one will find attain righteousness in the sight of God by the works of the law.
The only hope that he has is to turn to Jesus Christ is faith so that he may be made righteous through faith in Him.