Matthew 5C. We re studying through Jesus first sermon delivered during His earthly ministry, the sermon we call the Sermon on the Mount

Transcription

1 We re studying thrugh Jesus first sermn delivered during His earthly ministry, the sermn we call the Sermn n the Munt We ve already studied the first sixteen verses f the sermn, including the well-knwn sectin called the Beatitudes In that sectin, Jesus declared that the kingdm f Gd (r heaven) was reserved fr peple wh have a certain spiritual nature Jesus gave nine traits f the kingdm-bund persn in His beatitudes They included humility, repentance, gentleness, purity, mercy and a general lnging fr righteusness cupled with a recgnitin that we wn t find satisfactin this side f Heaven As we learned these traits are the spiritual fruit f a changed heart By placing ur faith in Jesus Christ, Gd changes ur spirit s He may begin t develp these qualities in ur nature As we live ut these kingdm traits utwardly and cnsistently, we becme salt and light fr the wrld This prcess is marks the believer as different than the wrld because it s nt the way the wrld thinks and acts But as I read frm Luke s Gspel last week, Jesus als taught that the Pharisees, Israel s religius leaders, weren t authentic representatives f Gd They may have pssessed authrity ver the natin s spiritual life and they were certainly experts in the custms and traditins f Israel Nevertheless, Jesus expsed them as ignrant and blind when it came t knwing hw t please Gd Nw imagine if yu were a member f the crwd gathered listening t Jesus Yu are Jew wh has grwn up under Pharisaical Judaism 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

2 2! f! 14 Since yur yuth men like the Pharisees have been yur teachers, yur spiritual authrities, and yur examples f gdliness Mrever, these men are the mst scrupulus bservers f the Law yu ve ever seen Time and time again yu ve been amazed at their self-discipline as they practiced the rules f the faith They fasted several times every week They washed themselves befre every meal They prayed lng, intense prayers several times daily They tithed n everything they received, even n the herbs grwing in their garden Simply put, yu culd nt imagine smene mre pleasing t Gd But nw Jesus, a man clearly empwered t speak fr Gd, has declared that the Pharisees demnstratins f piety cunted fr nthing with Gd The Pharisees lacked humility and mercy and lve They were depending n their self-righteusness rather than relying n Gd s mercy They lved the mney and pwer f this wrld, rather than seeking fr the riches f the Kingdm t cme In shrt, Jesus has labeled the Pharisees fakes, cunterfeits, and frauds Nw as yu take this in, yu start wndering what if anything yu ve been taught is crrect and true? Jesus has rcked yur wrld, calling int questin everything Jewish culture held dear Because if the Pharisees weren t Gd s spkesmen, then what abut the Law & traditins they cmmanded everyne t fllw? Was Mses wrng als? Are the feasts irrelevant? Was the temple service invalid? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

3 3! f! 14 Was Jesus advcating that it all be thrwn ut? I think Jesus knew His listeners wuld have these cncerns, s in the next sectin f His sermn Jesus reassures the crwd Matt. 5:17 D nt think that I came t ablish the Law r the Prphets; I did nt cme t ablish but t fulfill. Matt. 5:18 Fr truly I say t yu, until heaven and earth pass away, nt the smallest letter r strke shall pass frm the Law until all is accmplished. Matt. 5:19 Whever then annuls ne f the least f these cmmandments, and teaches thers t d the same, shall be called least in the kingdm f heaven; but whever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdm f heaven. Matt. 5:20 Fr I say t yu that unless yur righteusness surpasses that f the scribes and Pharisees, yu will nt enter the kingdm f heaven. In v.17 Jesus addresses t the crwds cncerns saying He didn t cme (meaning His missin wasn t) t put an end t the Law and Prphets Yu may knw that this statement has been a surce f cnsiderable cntrversy in the church There are thse wh pint t Jesus wrds here t claim that sme r all f the Law Gd given t Israel remains in effect fr the Christian They maintain this despite the cnsistent and unequivcal teaching f Scripture that Christians are NOT under law Instead, we have been freed frm the Law by grace Nevertheless, sme use Jesus wrds here t defend their assertin But as is usually the case, these claims rely n a misinterpretatin f the text made pssible nly by taking Jesus wrds ut f cntext First, let s understand what Jesus actually said He said that He did nt cme t ablish the Law r the Prphets Fr a Jew, the phrase Law r Prphets was their way f saying the whle Bible Since the New Testament didn t exist in Jesus day, the Jewish Bible wasn t called the Old Testament 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

4 4! f! 14 Instead, they called the Bible the Law and prphets r smetimes Mses and the prphets S in effect Jesus said I didn t cme t ablish the Bible And f curse Jesus never advcated fr ding away with the wrd f Gd, fr after all Jesus IS the wrd Jesus was nt a revlutinary He didn t advcate anarchy r lawlessness But it s als clear that Jesus wasn t talking abut just the Msaic Law much less the issue f whether a Christian must fllw the Law f Mses Jesus was answering critics wh claimed He was encuraging Jews t ignre all f Gd s wrd Knwing the cntext then, we can t use Jesus wrds here t supprt r defend a particular view f the questin f Christians keeping the Law On the cntrary, n the questin f whether a Christian must live under the Law, we have t turn elsewhere in the Bible t find ur answer And when we d, we find scripture telling us cnsistently that the answer is n (see Rmans study) Returning t ur passage, we culd translate Jesus wrds in Matthew 5:17 this way: Dn t think I came t ablish the written wrd f Gd n the cntrary, I came t fulfill all that Gd s wrd requires Jesus came as a man t live in perfect cmpliance with Gd s wrd, never cmmitting even a single act f sin Since Jesus was brn a Jew under the Law, He als lived in perfect cmpliance with all the requirements f Israel s Law But mre than that, Jesus als fulfilled all the prphecies spken by the prphets cncerning the Messiah Sme f these prphecies Jesus has yet t fulfill, but He will d s at His Secnd Cming and in the Kingdm Jesus was perfectly righteus in all that He thught and said and did 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

5 5! f! 14 Therefre, by His earthly life He brught t pass all that Scripture requires and prmises In that sense, Jesus fulfills the wrd f Gd, and He is the nly human being wh has ever dne s r ever culd d s His perfect life sets the standard fr ur entry int Heaven, the Bible says The Bible describes equally Christ s perfect life as equally the glry f Gd Only thse wh equal the glry f Gd are eligible t enter int His presence Jesus culd meet that standard because He is Gd But the Bible als says that everyne else ever brn has fallen shrt f that standard Rmans 3:23 says that all humanity has sinned and therefre all have fallen shrt f the glry f Gd We are brn sinners and s by ur nature, we stand n chance f meeting the standard Christ set We start sinning befre we even knw what sin is That s why Jesus came, He says, t accmplish all that the wrd f Gd required because we culdn t d it And then when we place ur faith in Jesus as ur substitute, the Father is willing t credit us with Jesus perfectin But then Jesus went a step further, dying an undeserved death n the crss in ur place s that He culd pay the price fr ur failure t meet Heaven s standard And if yu re thinking that perhaps yu can find sme way arund this standard, that maybe this rule wn t apply t yu, take nte f what Jesus says in v.18 Jesus testifies that the wrd f Gd is ging t stand the test f time and be prven right in the end When all is said and dne, the wrd f Gd will still be there setting the standard fr entering Heaven and cnvicting us f sin 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

6 6! f! 14 In fact, Jesus says the physical universe itself is less enduring than the wrd f Gd When yu cnsider the vastness f space and the enrmity f planets and stars and galaxies, remember it will all pass away ne day And after it s gne and we re experiencing what Gd has prepared fr us afterward, this same wrd will be with us S if yu think the Universe is unshakable, what des that say abut the wrd f Gd Jesus says everything in this wrd will cme t pass exactly as Gd has spken and Jesus fulfills it all fr us In that verse, Jesus uses a uniquely Jewish idim t emphasize His pint He says that nt the smallest letter r strke f the wrd wuld g unaccmplished Jesus is referring t characteristics f the written Hebrew language The smallest letter f the Hebrew alphabet is called jt in English, and it s barely the size f an apstrphe Secndly, in the Hebrew alphabet sme characters are distinguished frm ne anther merely by slight prtrusins, called strkes S Jesus says that even the smallest letter and the mst subtle strke f the Hebrew alphabet has purpse and meaning t Gd s purpses And therefre, every detail in scripture, n matter hw minr, will cme t pass and cannt be set aside Tday we have a dctrine built n statements like this the inerrancy f Scripture Every wrd in the riginal written manuscripts are exactly as Gd intended with n mistake r errr Nt even a single letter is ut f place Jesus s idim emphasizes that He s cmmitted t fulfilling the written wrd f Gd in it s entirety because it s a perfect reflectin f Gd s will 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

7 7! f! 14 Thse wh accuse Jesus f trying t tear dwn Gd s wrd are dead wrng He is s cmmitted t it that He will cmply with everything it says, dwn t the least detail Which was mre than His critics culd claim fr themselves But Jesus referenced these features f written Hebrew in His idim t make anther pint cncern the Pharisees Jesus was implying that He was NOT interested in cmplying with the Pharisees ral law Remember a cuple f weeks ag I explained hw the scribes had created a vast set f rules and traditins fr Jewish life These rules were first develped fllwing the Jewish return frm captivity in Babyln They were intended as a frm f prtectin t ensure Israel never vilated scripture again and thus be sent int captivity again The scribes called their new rules fences because they were barriers t vilating scripture If yu kept the scribes rules, then yu wuld have n pssibility f vilating scripture, r s they assumed A classic example f a fence is the ksher requirement t never cmbine meat and dairy In ksher kitchens, meat prducts and dairy prducts are never cmbined r served tgether T make sure meat and dairy never mix by accident, ksher kitchens maintain separate dishes, pts and even refrigeratrs fr serving and string meat and dairy Obviusly, this restrictin isn t spelled ut in the Law given t Mses, s why did the scribes prpse it? In Exdus and again Deuternmy the Lrd instructs Israel nt t bil a yung gat in its mther s milk This practice was uniquely assciated with Baal wrship amng the Canaanites 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

8 8! f! 14 In Canaanite pagan rituals, wrshippers wuld take a baby gat r calf frm it s mther sn after birth and bil it in the mther s milk S Gd gave this law t Israel t keep them frm participating in Canaanite idlatry But when the rabbis and scribes sught t create a fence t prtect Israel frm vilating this law, they missed the whle pint f the law They fcused entirely n the lgistics invlved and verlked the spiritual purpse f the law The rabbis wndered what wuld happen if a Jew bught a yung gat frm a certain butcher And then that same Jew als bught milk frm a farmer in the market But unbeknwnst t that Jew, the milk he purchased just happened t cme frm the mther f that yung gat If that Jew then cked the gat in the milk, he wuld have brken the law, the scribes cncluded S t preclude any pssibility f such an accidental vilatin, they established rules barring the mixing f meat with dairy Over the centuries, later rabbis came alng and expanded n the rules f the prir rabbis S the fences cntinued t grw ever mre encmpassing Until eventually the rabbis reached the pint f requiring separate dishes and pts and pans And that, my friends, is why even tday in Israel yu cannt rder a cheeseburger at a ksher McDnalds Once these rabbinical rules became firmly entrenched in Jewish culture, the riginal intent f Gd s Law had lng been lst What started as a prhibitin f engaging in Canaanite pagan wrship had becme a silly cncern abut cheese sitting n a burger In fact, by the time the rabbis had decided t utlaw the mixing f meat and dairy, the Canaanites were extinct! 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

9 9! f! 14 Nevertheless, their rules live n withut purpse r reasn, and with little r n relatinship t the wrd f Gd Over centuries the Pharisees rules were assembled int a bk called the Mishnah Mishnah means repetitin, because it was taught thrugh repetitin, and it recrds centuries f rabbinical scpe creep By Jesus day, the Mishnah s reach extended far beynd simply prhibiting the mixing f meat and dairy It has six divisins cvering tithing, feasts, sabbaths, temple service, ritual cleansing, wmen, and varius crimes And in its printed frm, the Mishnah can reach t ver 1,000 pages in length! Obviusly, that s a lt f additinal burden, s t ensure the Jewish peple respected the Mishnah, the Pharisees eventually claimed it was equal t scripture Despite the fact that the Mishnah wasn t written by Mses, the Pharisees claimed Mses received it frm Gd They claim Gd cmmunicated the Mishnah rally t Mses nt in writing Over the centuries, it was passed dwn rally thrugh the elders and priests f Israel Only after the Jews return frm exile in Babyln did the scribes write it dwn suppsedly under the inspiratin f the Spirit S the Pharisees began calling the Mishnah an ral Law which cmplimented Gd s written wrd S the Jews f Jesus day had tw frms f scripture They had true scripture, called the Law and the Prphets And they had an additinal wrk f s-called scripture called the Mishnah It s similar t the way Mrmns claim that bth the Bible and the bk f Mrmn are scripture 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

10 10! f! 14 But als like the Mrmn, in practice the nly bk the Jews actually studied and fllwed was the Oral Law, the Mishnah S when Jesus accusers lined up t say he was ablishing the Law r the Prphets, what they actually meant was He was disbeying the ral Law His accusers made n distinctin between these tw wrks In fact, the Pharisees were mre disturbing by a vilatin f the Mishnah than they were f a vilatin f Gd s wrd Tday in Israel, it s a far greater scandal t set butter n yur dinner plate in a ksher hme than it is t cmmit frnicatin S when we read abut Jesus being accused f vilating the Law, we need t understand they mean the ral law But Jesus wanted His disciples t understand that these tw wrks, Scripture vs. the Mishnah, were nt equivalent One came frm Gd, but the ther was given by men One was the way t life and gdliness, but the ther was merely a means f self-righteusness One must be accmplished, but the ther must be ablished And I think Jesus chse the idim He used in v.18 t clarify where His allegiances lay Jesus was cmmitted t every letter and strke f the written wrd, the true wrd f Gd But He cared nthing fr the Pharisees s-called ral law This ne issue explains everything yu need t knw fr why the Pharisees hated Jesus If Jesus invalidated their treasured Mishnah than what wuld happen t the Pharisees pwer ver the peple? If the peple realized that the Mishnah s requirements were nt sent frm Gd, then the Pharisees instantly became irrelevant Because their pwer and wealth was based in their expertise in the Mishnah, nt in the wrd f Gd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

11 11! f 14! S at the cre f their cnflict was the fight ver the authrity f scripture vs. the teaching f the men The Pharisees claimed their teaching was equal t the wrd f Gd, and therefre they substituted it fr the Bible While Jesus disputed the Pharisees claims and even blatantly ignred the Mishnah at times especially when it cnflicted with righteusness Fr example, in every case where Jesus is accused f vilating the Sabbath, he is actually vilating the Mishnah s rules cncerning Sabbath bservance And thse rules were nt Gd s definitin f hw t keep the Sabbath This same cnflict cntinues tday, because the enemy knws hw imprtant discrediting the wrd f Gd in his war with Gd And the enemy wrks t discredit the wrd f Gd with tw versins f the same lie T the irreligius f the wrld, Satan lies by telling them the wrd f Gd is nnsense, full f myth and errr And therefre they can ignre it, and they gladly d But t the zealus f the wrld, Satan s lie ges in the ppsite directin T that grup, he says that scripture is s hly and special we can t begin t understand it withut expert assistance It s like yur mm s special china s precius yu never actually use it t eat Or like smene wh has buys a really nice cuch but then cvers it with plastic The wrd f Gd is s special, we dn t actually read it r learn what it says Instead, we need priests r ppes r sages r imams r Pharisees t interpret it fr us And fr the same reasn, we study their bks, bks like the Mishnah r the Cathlic Catechism r the Bk f Mrmn rather than the actual wrd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

12 12! f! 14 Bth lies have the same effect Satan takes ur eyes ff f the truth and replaces it with nnsense dressed up t lk like it s frm Gd Fr thse wh care nthing fr religin, their eyes g t the Creatin r t themselves instead f t the wrd And fr thse wh are zealus, he directs their eyes t false teaching that bscures the wrd We need t guard against falling int this same trap tday There are many Christian studying in Bible studies r small grups and when they gather, the bk they pen isn t the Bible They pen bks written abut the Bible Men study pamphlets abut hw t live a manly life, wmen watch emtinal vides f hw t live a victrius life Teens read bks abut hw t avid sex and drugs, etc. If we re nt careful, we risk fcusing ur wn mishnah s rather than turning t the ne Bk actually ffering truth n all these matters That s the key issue behind His cnflict with the Pharisees Jesus said He came t uphld and fulfill the irreplaceable, irrefutable, unequaled wrd f Gd But just as assuredly, He came t tear dwn the wrthless manmade rules bks that distract peple frm that truth That s why VBVF exists t reassert the imprtance f Christians knwing and beying the wrd f Gd Even as we knw and fllw the One Wh fulfilled it all If yu want t knw hw serius Jesus is abut elevating the wrd f Gd ver the pinins f men, hear what He says in v.19 Jesus says that anyne wh advcates fr the annulling r ignring f even the least requirement f scripture will held accuntable by Gd Such a persn, Jesus says, will be least in the kingdm Obviusly, Jesus is speaking abut thse wh wuld enter the Kingdm in the first place, that is believers 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

13 13! f! 14 And Jesus says fr believers wh used their time n earth t weaken bedience t the wrd f Gd, they frfeit their hnr in the Kingdm In ther wrds, there is n greater way fr a believer t ffend Christ than undermining the wrd f Gd On the ther hand, thse wh set their minds n beying the wrd f Gd and teaching thers t d the same will be wrthy f the greatest hnr Because n ne else will have dne what He did n ne else can say that Jesus is making a veiled reference t Himself in that statement Because f curse, Jesus will pssess the greatest hnr in the Kingdm having beyed all that the wrd requires And having taught us all hw t bey it by His Spirit S where des that leave the Pharisees? Remember, if yu lived in that day, yu saw these men as the mst religius, mst dedicated and fervent fllwers f Gd imaginable Wn t they receive hnr fr their respect f Gd s wrd? Well ntice Jesus adds in v.20 that unless yur righteusness surpasses that f the Pharisees, yu will nt enter the kingdm That s like telling a Cathlic that unless yur righteusness exceeds the ppe, yu can t enter heaven Or telling a Mrmn that unless yur righteusness exceeds Jseph Smith, yu can t enter Or telling a muslim that yu have t exceed the righteusness f Muhammed It s shcking and unbelievable But it s true as scrupulus as Pharisees were, they were still a lng way frm equally the glry f Gd They may have tried their best, but in reality they simply became practiced at fllwing their wn rules rather than beying Gd s wrd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.

14 14! f! 14 And as much as we may lk dwn ur nses at the hypcrisy f the Pharisees, we re n better We d the same thing we carefully define the rules we think make us hly s that we can sleep at night Fr example, if we like t lie but we never cheat n ur spuse, then we tell urselves that lying is n big deal t Gd But we re ging t Heaven because He apprves f ur faithfulness in marriage Or we judge hmsexuals r murderers r pagans by saying, There s n way that persn is ging t heaven Cnveniently frgetting ur wn lusts r hatred f thers r devtin t materialism That s being a Pharisee, and Jesus says it s nt gd enugh t get int Heaven Yu have t be perfect like Jesus Which means yu need Jesus Yu have t receive His perfectin n yur behalf Yu have t put yur faith in Him r yu wn t be in Heaven That s why Jesus came t bring yu int the Kingdm with Him 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal ( May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.