Kingdom Part 3
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Recap
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 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 tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. 38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Prayer
Flow:
Flow:
Now remember where we’ve been or more explicitly where Jesus has taken us in His sermon
He’s set this up to look very much like the picture we see in Exodus when God gives the Israelites the original OT law
But here Jesus instead of a list of thou shalt nots He starts by saying “blessed”
And then in vs 17 He says
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.
Wait a second now. Jesus you just completely shattered every expectation we had
This new kingdom sounds nothing like the old one so now how can you say you aren’t abolishing the Law and Prophets but have actually come to fulfill them?
In a nutshell here’s what I believe Jesus is doing and saying
You can obey the Law to the smallest degree and yet miss the point
The Law of God is good and right but it serves a greater purpose
And you can attempt to follow God’s law to the smallest degree and yet miss God’s will completely
Jesus is showing us that He hasn’t come to do away with the OT but that all of the OT was pointing us to Him
You can know all the Scripture in the world and still miss the point
To the believer, The Word of God is everything, and yet it can be ineffective if you miss the point.
God’s Word points us to Jesus.
The Word of God is the gospel. It’s good news
But if we search it and all we find is a list of rules and way to operate our religious games then we’ve missed the point because it was all meant to lead us to Jesus
He has come to fulfill all of Scripture
We will spend a little more time on this as we wrap up today.
Now, what is the Law? Is Jesus saying that we need to keep all 613 commandments that we see in the Mosaic Law and prophets?
No. Fulfill and keep are two different things. Jesus is coming to complete all that we see.
So without getting in the weeds, I’ll try to explain this as efficiently as possible
There are 3 types of Law we see in the OT
Ceremonial Law
Civil Law
Moral Law
Ceremonial Law related specifically to Israel’s worship of God
It’s primary purpose was to point the people forward to Jesus
Because of the cross and resurrection, under this new kingdom we are no longer bound by ceremonial law
We don’t have to bring a blood offering to and alter for example
But the principal or heart of the Law is still there to teach us. We still worship and love a Holy God.
Jesus himself was often accused by the pharisees of breaking ceremonial laws (healing on the sabbath)
Civil Law applied to daily living in Israel
Because our culture is so radically different today than in those times, all of these guidelines cannot be followed specifically
But the principals behind them should continue to guide us
Moral Law (the 10 commandments) was the direct command of God. It’s purpose was to reveal the nature and will of God and it still applies today.
So, what does all this mean? You’re telling me that I need to go back and figure out what all 613 commands are and decipher which are what and if they apply today and how they apply today?
You could. Most I think are pretty self explanatory but even Jesus sums it all up for us.
You ready? Here is what’s going to happen later in Matthew.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
So Jesus says love is the fulfillment of the law. Agape is the language of this new kingdom.
When we Agape God and one another, everything else takes care of itself.
Jesus himself comes to demonstrate Agape (love) to the utmost degree.
He takes on the cross for the sins of the world
Not for any selfish gain but because He loves us.
Then the rest of the chapter Jesus gives us 6 examples of what this new kingdom law is like
And I believe Jesus is doing multiple things here.
Many people wonder if all of this is hyperbole, if Jesus is using extreme examples that He doesn’t really expect us to do
Some would say that Jesus really means to do these radical things and he wants us to keep the Law better than the Pharisees.
I believe what Jesus is doing is showing us the heart of the Law, the extremes to get there, and our inability to do it on our own.
He’s saying “You’ve heard it said, but I say.”
In other words, You’ve thought about the Law this way but let me get you to the heart of Law
By doing this He is declaring himself equal with God, He is declaring himself as God
And He is teaching them that the law goes much deeper than what they believed.
He tells them their righteousness must exceed the Pharisees and scribes.
We think of the Pharisees as villains
But the Pharisees were thought of as the most upright citizens of their day
The Pharisees kept the Law better than anyone else so how do we exceed their righteousness?
Essie trying to get away with as much as possible, Her driving in the grass on the golf cart
The Pharisees were always asking the question: “how much can I get away with”
Jesus is changing the question to “what can I get away from”
And so Jesus does use some hyperbole here, otherwise we would all be walking around without eyes and hands
He’s also not saying that these things are equivalent
Hating someone and killing someone is not the same
If you get mad at someone, it’s not the same as stabbing them in the throat
But what Jesus is showing them is that yea you can not stab someone in the throat but still live with anger in your heart and it lead you to a hateful, sad, vengeful heart
So Jesus essentially says, you wanna know how to never be tempted with murder? Quit be angry.
You want to know how to prevent yourself from committing adultery? Quit watching porn and quit looking at women like they are just a piece of meat.
Jesus is getting at the heart of sin and to the heart of the law.
He’s saying you can do all the external things perfect and still be in sin because you never changed things internally.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
Kingdom is not just after the external it’s after your heart. Jesus wants to change you from the inside out.
Our righteousness must be God-centered, not self centered.
So He uses these extreme alternatives
pluck your eye out, cut your hand off, turn your cheek and let them hit that one too
He’s saying this is how important it is. Although I think he’s using these extreme examples and it is hyperbole I also think there’s a sense of seriousness in what He says.
But our obedience must be based on our reverence for God not for the approval from people.
We should be just as concerned about our hearts that people can’t see as we are about our actions that people do see
So instead of asking questions like: How much anger can I have and still be a Christian? How much porn can I watch and still be a Christian? How many divorces can I have and still be a Christian? How many lies can I tell and still be a Christian? How quickly can I get revenge and still be a Christian?
And Jesus steps on the scene and says you’re asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking how much can I get away with we should be asking how much can I stay away from?
Now there is a section in here on divorce and it has been one of the most damaging Scripture in the church if not taught well
I don’t have the time here to completely unpack this but let me shed some light here
Jesus has been using hyperbole this whole time
Then we get to divorce and want to pull it out and isolate it and I think we just need to be careful
Context is huge for this statement Jesus made
During this time, women had little to no rights. If a man had any reason to want to divorce his wife he simply gave her a certificate and sent her on her way. He would go on to live his life with little to no affect but she had two primary options
Go back to your family and be a financial burden and shame to them
Or go into prostitution
What Jesus is doing is protecting both women and marriage. He is taking the idea that marriage is just something you can jump in and out of and bringing the significance of that covenant to original audiences mind.
He is saying that marriage is a God-given covenant and it can not be so easily broken just by whatever reason you think viable
Jesus is saying you need to do anything and everything possible to keep that covenant. We talked about some of this in our Genesis series. Adam says you are bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh you become one and you don’t just rip half of your flesh and boned off because you feel like it.
Now, there are viable and valid reasons for divorce. Jesus is simply urging kingdom people to treat the covenant of marriage with the respect that it deserves
Then He ends with that kicker. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect
I told you we would end with talking more about the fulfillment of the Law in Jesus
Many people would say Jesus fulfills the Law by teaching it
He came and He clarifies the original intent of the Father seen in the Law (and some of that is true)
Others would say He fulfills the Law by exemplifying it to us
Jesus fulfills the Law by following it completely and exemplifying it perfectly (and that is true as well)
But this is what we can’t miss
Jesus did not simply teach it fully and exemplify it fully - He was it fully.
He did not come to merely teach righteousness or model righteousness, He came as divine righteousness
So the whole point of chapter 5 is to show us our spiritual bankruptcy.
It’s to show us that we can’t do it. Try all you might but you’re going to fail.
Mans righteousness is possible but even your most righteous deeds are like filthy rags
If you use someone else as the measuring stick you might look ok
but when God is the standard then we look awful and we will never measure up
The kingdom of God shows us that following Jesus is impossible
It’s impossible to do it.
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The impossible righteousness of God becomes possible by the cross of Jesus Christ
How do become perfect like Jesus?
By taking on the righteousness of Jesus freely given to us through faith by grace
Jesus is showing us, you can’t do it on your own and once again it is all pointing us to Him
We can follow the Law to a T but if we miss Jesus then we’ve missed it all
