Matthew 5:17-20

Last Time

Jesus Taught His Followers that They are to Be the Salt and Light of the World

They are to Purify, Preserve, and Improve the World

They are to Shine the Light of Jesus in the World, Exposing Sin and Inviting People to the Kingdom

We are the Salt and Light of the World Through Doing Good Works

Good Works Include the Beatitudes

When We Do Good Works in the World, We are to Make Sure that God is the One Receiving the Glory, Not Ourselves

Matthew 5:17-20

It May Not Seem Like it, But this is a Very Important Passage in the Sermon on the Mount

This Passage Set Up the Rest of the Sermon

The Rest of the Sermon is an Answer to a Question that this Passage Forces Us to Ask

We’ll Get to that Question in a Few Minutes

Matthew 5:17 (NASB)

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

Jesus Begins By Addressing How Some Believe He was Trying to Abolish (Destroy) the Old Testament

As We Follow Jesus in Matthew’s Account, There are Going to Be Times When That Doesn’t Seem So Crazy

But He Tells His Followers that Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth

Rather, He Came to Fulfill (to Fill Up/Complete) the Old Testament

Matthew has Already Shown Us Several Times How Jesus was Fulfilling the OT

Jesus was Living Out Israel’s History

He is the New Moses, New David, New Elijah

The OT is the Word of God

And John Tells Us that the Word Became Flesh

Jesus Embodies the OT

The Entire OT Points to Jesus

He Fulfills its Specific Predictions of the Messiah

He Fulfills its Sacrificial System, Becoming the Perfect Sacrifice

He Fulfills Many of the Events in Israel’s History Which Foreshadowed His Life as God’s True Faithful Son

He Fulfills the Laws By Perfectly Obeying Every Single One

So Jesus Wasn’t Anti-Old Testament

He was the Only One to Faithfully Follow it and Fulfill it

Matthew 5:18 (NASB)

“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.”

Truly = amēn = “I Tell You the Truth”

This Told His Listeners to Listen Closely

But What are We to Make of What Jesus Said in this Verse?

Many False Teachings and Beliefs Have Come from this Verse

Because of That, We Need to Be Very Careful When Trying to Interpret it

Jesus Seems to Be Saying that the Old Law Will Continue to Be the Law of God’s People Until the End of Time

Luke’s Account Makes this Passage Easier to Understand

Luke 16:16–17 (NASB)

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.”

“Until Heaven and Earth Pass Away” is Not a Statement to Be Taken Literally

Jesus Used this as a Way of Saying, “Don’t You Worry, There’s Not a Chance that Even the Tiniest Letter or Mark of the Law is Going Anywhere!”

And the Part We Need to Focus On is “Until All is Accomplished”

The Law Isn’t Going Anywhere Until Jesus Has Accomplished Everything that He was Meant to Accomplish

Jesus Said, “Listen Up, Because this is the Absolute Truth! There’s Not Even a 0% Chance that Any Part of the OT is Going Anywhere Until it is Fulfilled.”

Jesus Isn’t Saying the OT is Going to Last Until the End of Time

Matthew 5:19 (NASB)

“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.”

“Annuls” in the Greek is Related to the Word “Abolish” in Verse 17

It Means to “Loose, Untie, Set Free, Destroy”

Anyone Who Breaks Even the Least of the Commands of the Law or Teaches Others to Do So, is in the Wrong

We Believe, Live, and Teach that the Old Law is Done Done Away With and the New Law is Our Authority

Are We in the Wrong?

No, Remember Who Jesus’ Audience was

He was Speaking to Jewish People Who are Living Under the OT System

Jesus Wasn’t Breaking or Teaching Others to Break the Law and None of the People Following Him Were to Do So Either

But Those Who Did Disobey and Taught Others to Disobey the Old Law Shall Be Called (Future Tense) Least in the Kingdom of Heaven

And Those Who Keep and Teach Others to Keep the Old Law Shall Be Called (Future Tense) Greatest in the Kingodm of Heaven

What Does it Mean to Be Least in the Kingdom?

Some Believe it Refers to a Lower Ranking of Honor

Some Believe it Refers to Being Lost

Some Believe it Refers to One Who Treats the OT with Contempt will Also Treat the Kingdom Laws with Contempt

Regardless of What Exactly Jesus Means By Being Least or Greatest in the Kingdom…

Being Least Was/Is Not a Desirable Position

So Jesus’ Jewish Audience Needed to Do and Teach the OT if They Wanted to Be Great in His Kingdom

Matthew 5:20 (NASB)

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

As People Who are Following the Messianic King in Order to Be Citizens of His Kingdom…

This was the Worst Thing He Could Have Told Them

The Scribes and Pharisees Were Considered to Be the Pinnacle of Righteousness in Jewish Society

That Leads Us to the Question this Passage Forces Us to Ask

“How are We Supposed to Be More Righteous Than Them?”

The Answer to that Question is What the Rest of the Sermon on the Mount is All About

Later in Matthew’s Account, Jesus Shows His Jewish Followers How They Are to Respond to These Jewish Leaders

Matthew 23:2–3 (NAS)

“The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

Jesus Just Said that if You Want to Be Great in the Kingdom, Do and Teach the Commandments of God

The Scribes and Pharisees Knew the Law Better than Anyone Else…

But They Didn’t Practice it

To Be Great in Christ’s Kingdom, You’ve Got to Do Both

For the Rest of Chapter 5, You’ll See that Each Section Starts with “You Have Heard that it was Said” and “But I Say”

Jesus is Going to Show How the Law has Been Understood and Practiced by the Pharisees

And Then He is Going to Show How the Law Should Have Been Practiced All Along

The Pharisees Had the Letter of the Law Figured Out, But They Never Understood or Followed the Spirit/Heart of the Law

To Be a Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom, We Must Obey the Law from the Heart

Applications

Jesus Fulfilled the Old Covenant

He Completed it and Satisfied All of its Requirements

When a Covenant is Fulfilled, it is Then Nullified and Made Obsolete

The Writer of Hebrews Makes this Abundantly Clear

Hebrews 8:7–13 (NASB)

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.

And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

The First Covenant Wasn’t Perfect Because the People it was Given to Weren’t Perfect

They Couldn’t Keep it Perfectly and it Couldn’t Offer Perfection to Them

Hebrews 10:1 (NASB)

For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

So God was Going to Establish a New Covenant Where Sin Would Be Forgiven and Taken Away Completely

In Doing So “He Made the First Obsolete”

Jesus Didn’t Come to Destroy the Old Covenant

He Came to Complete it so that He Could Establish a Better One

He Abolished the Old and Established the New in His Death

Ephesians 2:14–16 (NASB)

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace,

and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

Many People Today Believe that Christians are Still Under the Old Law as Well as Christ

Paul Uses a Marriage Analogy is Romans 7 to Call Living Under the Old Law and Under Christ as Adultery

But This Doesn’t Mean We Throw Out Our Old Testaments

We Still Need Our Old Testaments to Learn, Grow, and Know God

But We are No Longer Under that Old Covenant System

When Paul Told Timothy that All Scripture is Profitable for Teaching, Reproving, Correcting, and Training in Righteousness

Paul was Talking About the OT

And He Then Told Timothy to Preach the Word

He, Again, was Talking About the OT

We are No Longer Under the Old Covenant, But We Still Must Learn from it

And the Reason Why is…

There is Continuity Between the Old and New Covenants

Jesus Didn’t Fulfill the Old Covenant to Establish a New One that was Nothing Like the Old

They are Extremely Similar

The OT was the Mind and Heart of God

And God Does Not Change

His New Covenant is Like His Old But is Better (Heb. 8:6 - Better Covenant, Better Promises)

Notice How Similar They are:

They are Both Initiated by God as a Gift of Grace and Mercy to Humanity

God Still Has a Special People

OT = Kingdom of Israel

NT = Kingdom of Heaven

God’s Special People are Still Promised a Paradise Land in Which to Live if They Remain Faithful

God’s Special People Can Still Lose Faithful Status and Be Cut Off From Their People

The Sacrificial System is Still in Place

OT = High Priest Offers Constant and Repetitive Animal Sacrifices

NT = High Priest Offered Himself as a Sacrifice One Time for All Time

God’s Special People are a Kingdom of Priests Just as They Were Meant to Be in the OT

Worship Still Takes Place Within God’s House/Temple

OT = Temple was Located in Jerusalem

NT = Temple is Located Within the Church

Within Individual Christians, But Especially Within the Assembly

To Become God’s Special People, Circumcision Must Still Take Place

OT = Circumcision of Male Flesh

NT = Circumcision of Fleshly Lifestyle in Baptism

God’s Special People Still Celebrate Feasts of Remembrance for What God has Done for Us

OT = 3 Major Feast Days Every Year Remembering God’s Providential Care

NT = 1 Major Feast Day Every Week Remembering God’s Sacrifice of His Son for Our Salvation

The Old and New Covenants are Similar in Almost Every Way

But Our Covenant with God Through Jesus is So Much Better

Don’t Throw Away Your OT

Use it to Better Understand and Grow Closer to Jesus

Because He is the One Everything in the OT was About

Be More Righteous Than the Scribes and Pharisees

Jesus Said They Would Not Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

Why?

Because They Loved Telling People What to Do, But They Refused to Do it Themselves

Sometimes the Church Can Look Like that

We Enjoy Believing that We Have All the Answers

And We Won’t Hesitate to Set Someone Straight When They Don’t Believe the Same Way We Do on Any Given Issue

But if We Were to Take an Honest Look in the Mirror, What We’d See Would Shock and Horrify Us

Don’t Be Like the Jewish Leaders

Don’t Be a Person Who Always Has All the Answers and Who Enjoys Lording it Over Others

Make Jesus the Lord Over Your Life

Try Fixing Yourself Before Trying to Fix Others

Whenever You Do that, You’ll Come Away Being a Much More Humble and Merciful Teacher

Your Words Will Be Backed Up By Your Actions

And People Will See Jesus in You