Matthew 5:17-20 NIV
“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. 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. 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. 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.
This passage has always perplexed me. Jesus says every bit of the law stands as authoritative for the church until all is accomplished. The early church struggled with the liberty the apostle Paul declared was ours in the new covenant in Christ. One issue was that of circumcision. Paul felt that circumcision was no longer necessary. (Gal 5:6) Yet the Law says that circumcision is an everlasting covenant. (Gn 18:13-14) In fact many of the restrictions and observances of the law were cast aside for gentiles. Gentiles eat pork, shrimp and other dietary foods restricted under Moses.
I live in a time when Christians basically pick and choose what parts of the bible will have authority over their lives. Most churches look the other way on many behaviors the bible labels as sin, for instance divorce and remarriage. Some churches ordain women, which I wholeheartedly support, but traditionally was restricted by the church, citing biblical teachings from Paul. (1Ti 2:12) So if every bit of the law of Moses is authoritative for the church, according to Jesus in Matthew, then why did Paul say that Christ put an end to the law?
For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom 10:4)
The Greek word translated as "end" means finalized, to reach conclusion, to fulfill purpose, or accomplish goal. So what's really being said in Romans 10:4 is that the law has become inconsequential in comparison to the righteousness obtained through faith in Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses and its purpose of holiness. He was fully the righteousness envisioned in the law. Not once did He sin. He kept the law perfectly.
When Jesus says he did not come to "abolish" to law, that could be read as destroy, end or, bring to nothing and render the law as vain or inconsequential. Jesus makes it clear He will not destroy the law, but fulfill its purpose. The notion of fulfilling the law means to fill to the brim, to perfect the law, to accomplish the law through complete obedience to God's will.
The teachings that follow this passage in the Sermon on the Mount give several examples of Jesus' ideas on how the church's righteousness will exceed the righteousness of Pharisees, who teach the law and stringently live it out. Righteousness is an inward disposition not gained simply by outward behavior. One can abstain from murder, but still have violent and hateful inclinations in their hearts. One can keep from cheating on their spouse, but that doesn't mean they haven't thought about it. The righteousness that comes from faith in Christ means a transformed heart, one in which Christ has taken residence. Therefore, through faith in Jesus, the believer's heart is empowered by Jesus' heart. When we are led by the Spirit of Christ, we love like Jesus and live like Christ from His own pure and holy motives.
I'm not sure my exegesis to this point has satisfied my questions over this passage in Matthew. I have shown the difference between keeping the law outwardly and living by a righteousness gained through faith. Still, Jesus said not one bit of the law will disappear, meaning lose its authority, until all is accomplished. What does He mean? He says until this current created order is ended, the law will still have authority, every bit of it. I thought perhaps when Jesus says upon the cross that "it is finished", that might be the same word used here in Matthew for "accomplished". They are not the same word, plus Matthew doesn't tell us that Jesus said anything like that in his version of the crucifixion. John's gospel is much later and very different from Matthew's gospel, so I can't draw any conclusions from comparing these sayings from Jesus. What then is accomplished that will bring the law of Moses to its fulfillment and conclusion? What will surpass the law rendering it vain?
I've already pointed to the answer. It is the righteousness that comes by faith through the new covenant in Jesus Christ. Only after the death and resurrection of Jesus did the church begin to see and understand what had occurred and is still happening. A new creation was born in Christ. A new humanity was formed in Christ. A new era in history had arrived. The resurrection changed everything.
In a mystical sense the heaven and earth, of the order established in Genesis 1, has given way to a new creation. In a mystical sense heaven and earth have passed away with the coming of the new creation. In a physical sense nothing has changed. The earth goes on as it always has. The seasons come and go. The stars still shine on. The moon waxes and wanes as it always has. But there has been a fundamental shift in human history after the resurrection of Jesus. Governments changed within a few centuries. Historians point to how Christianity changed the world. The worth of human life rose in esteem. Everywhere the light of the gospel has illuminated hearts and minds to a new way, indeed a new world.
The resurrection of Jesus changed the world, and the new community formed by faith in Him is a sign to all that the new creation has arrived. Therefore the law of Moses, having fulfilled its purpose in the appearance of Christ through Israel, no longer has the authority it once held. Christ is the authority. Christ and Christ alone. I'm not talking about reading the red letters in certain publications of the New Testament. I'm talking about the transformation of the heart which occurs through faith. Christ dwells in the heart of believers giving us power to live in God's righteousness.
Romans 8:3-4 NIV
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Matthew's church was made up of Jewish Christians. They maintained their Jewish identity by adhering the law of Moses as they had since childhood. But they now had a new understanding of righteousness, a righteousness that comes through a transformed heart. Now they could live out the law and the peculiarities of Jewish distinction with the sin conquering power of Christ. Today there are messianic communities that are similar to Matthew's church. They both embrace Jesus as Messiah and they observe the law of Moses. Paul, however, thought it unnecessary to burden those who had not been raised under Moses to charge them with keeping the law. Instead he taught them to live by the Spirit of Jesus, which is love. And love fulfills the law. Christlike love will exceed the righteousness of those who keep the law without a transformed heart.
May your heart be ever renewed in the image of the Son of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“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. 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. 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. 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.
This passage has always perplexed me. Jesus says every bit of the law stands as authoritative for the church until all is accomplished. The early church struggled with the liberty the apostle Paul declared was ours in the new covenant in Christ. One issue was that of circumcision. Paul felt that circumcision was no longer necessary. (Gal 5:6) Yet the Law says that circumcision is an everlasting covenant. (Gn 18:13-14) In fact many of the restrictions and observances of the law were cast aside for gentiles. Gentiles eat pork, shrimp and other dietary foods restricted under Moses.
I live in a time when Christians basically pick and choose what parts of the bible will have authority over their lives. Most churches look the other way on many behaviors the bible labels as sin, for instance divorce and remarriage. Some churches ordain women, which I wholeheartedly support, but traditionally was restricted by the church, citing biblical teachings from Paul. (1Ti 2:12) So if every bit of the law of Moses is authoritative for the church, according to Jesus in Matthew, then why did Paul say that Christ put an end to the law?
For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom 10:4)
The Greek word translated as "end" means finalized, to reach conclusion, to fulfill purpose, or accomplish goal. So what's really being said in Romans 10:4 is that the law has become inconsequential in comparison to the righteousness obtained through faith in Christ. Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses and its purpose of holiness. He was fully the righteousness envisioned in the law. Not once did He sin. He kept the law perfectly.
When Jesus says he did not come to "abolish" to law, that could be read as destroy, end or, bring to nothing and render the law as vain or inconsequential. Jesus makes it clear He will not destroy the law, but fulfill its purpose. The notion of fulfilling the law means to fill to the brim, to perfect the law, to accomplish the law through complete obedience to God's will.
The teachings that follow this passage in the Sermon on the Mount give several examples of Jesus' ideas on how the church's righteousness will exceed the righteousness of Pharisees, who teach the law and stringently live it out. Righteousness is an inward disposition not gained simply by outward behavior. One can abstain from murder, but still have violent and hateful inclinations in their hearts. One can keep from cheating on their spouse, but that doesn't mean they haven't thought about it. The righteousness that comes from faith in Christ means a transformed heart, one in which Christ has taken residence. Therefore, through faith in Jesus, the believer's heart is empowered by Jesus' heart. When we are led by the Spirit of Christ, we love like Jesus and live like Christ from His own pure and holy motives.
I'm not sure my exegesis to this point has satisfied my questions over this passage in Matthew. I have shown the difference between keeping the law outwardly and living by a righteousness gained through faith. Still, Jesus said not one bit of the law will disappear, meaning lose its authority, until all is accomplished. What does He mean? He says until this current created order is ended, the law will still have authority, every bit of it. I thought perhaps when Jesus says upon the cross that "it is finished", that might be the same word used here in Matthew for "accomplished". They are not the same word, plus Matthew doesn't tell us that Jesus said anything like that in his version of the crucifixion. John's gospel is much later and very different from Matthew's gospel, so I can't draw any conclusions from comparing these sayings from Jesus. What then is accomplished that will bring the law of Moses to its fulfillment and conclusion? What will surpass the law rendering it vain?
I've already pointed to the answer. It is the righteousness that comes by faith through the new covenant in Jesus Christ. Only after the death and resurrection of Jesus did the church begin to see and understand what had occurred and is still happening. A new creation was born in Christ. A new humanity was formed in Christ. A new era in history had arrived. The resurrection changed everything.
In a mystical sense the heaven and earth, of the order established in Genesis 1, has given way to a new creation. In a mystical sense heaven and earth have passed away with the coming of the new creation. In a physical sense nothing has changed. The earth goes on as it always has. The seasons come and go. The stars still shine on. The moon waxes and wanes as it always has. But there has been a fundamental shift in human history after the resurrection of Jesus. Governments changed within a few centuries. Historians point to how Christianity changed the world. The worth of human life rose in esteem. Everywhere the light of the gospel has illuminated hearts and minds to a new way, indeed a new world.
The resurrection of Jesus changed the world, and the new community formed by faith in Him is a sign to all that the new creation has arrived. Therefore the law of Moses, having fulfilled its purpose in the appearance of Christ through Israel, no longer has the authority it once held. Christ is the authority. Christ and Christ alone. I'm not talking about reading the red letters in certain publications of the New Testament. I'm talking about the transformation of the heart which occurs through faith. Christ dwells in the heart of believers giving us power to live in God's righteousness.
Romans 8:3-4 NIV
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Matthew's church was made up of Jewish Christians. They maintained their Jewish identity by adhering the law of Moses as they had since childhood. But they now had a new understanding of righteousness, a righteousness that comes through a transformed heart. Now they could live out the law and the peculiarities of Jewish distinction with the sin conquering power of Christ. Today there are messianic communities that are similar to Matthew's church. They both embrace Jesus as Messiah and they observe the law of Moses. Paul, however, thought it unnecessary to burden those who had not been raised under Moses to charge them with keeping the law. Instead he taught them to live by the Spirit of Jesus, which is love. And love fulfills the law. Christlike love will exceed the righteousness of those who keep the law without a transformed heart.
May your heart be ever renewed in the image of the Son of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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