1 Alderwood Community Church November 23, 2014 Obedience from the Heart Behold and Worship Your King Sermon Series Matthew 5:17-48 Big Idea: Citizens of the kingdom of heaven (followers of Jesus Christ) receive new hearts and are called to full-hearted obedience to Christ and His Word. 1. Accept the Authority of the O.T. Scriptures and of Jesus Christ. (5:17-19) Vrs. 17 Jesus declared these words with authority. The phrase I have come connoted authority and was a way Jesus often referred to himself. He was expressing who He is the One who existed before the creation of the world, the One who knew his birthplace and when and where He was to die. When he used the phrase I tell you he also was declaring his authority. This was something new to the people of the first century. When the rabbis spoke, they gained their authority from the past. They would refer to the O.T. laws, the traditions built on those laws, or to some previous rabbi s teaching. No record exists of any rabbi in all of Jewish history speaking out of his own authority. This is why those who heard Jesus speak these very words, at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. (Matt. 7:28-29) So with these phrases, I have come and I tell you Jesus authoritatively spoke about not abolishing the Law and the Prophets. The Law and the Prophets are another way of saying the Old Testament. In verse 18 Jesus is saying that the Old Testament would be around as long as the universe. He is affirming that the Old Testament and its teaching have His authority behind them and will continue until the end of time. If we claim to be citizens of the kingdom of heaven, if we pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ as our King and Savior, then we must give allegiance to the book that He honored. The O.T. was the Bible that Jesus read, was the Bible of the early church, is still authoritative today and will be to the end of time. Jesus then said not the smallest letter or the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet is the jot yod and it was the size of an apostrophe. The least stroke of the pen was the tittle, it would be like the top and bottom lines on the capital I that distinguish it from the lowercase i. This was an emphatic way of saying that all of the Law and all of its teaching will continue and even the smallest parts will accomplish their purpose. Christ backed up this statement by his own example. When he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), he quoted the O.T. Scriptures 3 times, beginning each quote with It is written He often spoke words and described events in his life as that which was a fulfillment of the Law and the prophets.
2 Vrs. 17 What did Christ mean when he said he did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them? The word fulfill, means to fill full, to accomplish or complete the intended purpose. Jesus is saying that He, is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the entire O.T. Look at it this way, the O.T. is like pencil sketches, and Jesus Christ is the painting. All the details of those pencil sketches would be fulfilled in that painting. The painting filled those sketches full. The entire O.T. anticipated Jesus Christ. How did Christ specifically fulfill the Law and the Prophets? 1. Christ directly fulfilled many O.T. prophecies. Detailed prophecies of his birth place, and his earthly ministry were all fulfilled as had been predicted hundreds of years earlier. 2. The event that fulfilled the O.T. more than any other was Christ s death. The Law prescribed a whole system of sacrifices to deal with sin. For 1,500 years, day after day, week after week, and especially year after year the people brought their sacrifices. These offerings signified that sin brings punishment and only death and blood could release someone from that punishment. Those thousands of dead animals pointed forward to a sacrifice. That s why John the Baptist exclaimed, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Hebrews 10 explains this for us: This law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God by one sacrifice he [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:1-3, 11-12, 14 Forgiveness and salvation are complete in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and can be appropriated by faith in Him. He is the perfect fulfillment of all the ceremonial laws, requiring animal sacrifices, rendering any further sacrifices unnecessary. Thus those sacrificial laws are all completely fulfilled in Christ. 3. Christ fulfilled the O.T. with his words. In vrs. 21-48 of Matthew 5, we will see Christ takes the laws about murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retribution and neighborly love and restores their intended meaning. The wrong interpretation of the laws that the Pharisees and Scribes had been teaching, were restored to God s original intent. 4. Christ fulfilled the O.T. with his perfect obedience. Vrs. 19 The words, these commands refers to Christ s explanation of the meaning of the law, coming up in vrs. 21-48, and to the entire teaching of Christ is the Sermon on the Mount.
3 Christ has challenged his listeners to be salt and light (5:13-16) In the last part of Matthew 5, Christ gave a number of commands in explaining the true spirit of various laws. In essence, He was saying in the Sermon on the Mount, I am the fulfillment of the O.T.; and now as a King establishing a kingdom predicted in the past, I am giving commands. Your standing in the kingdom will depend on your obeying and teaching these commands. So the first thing Christ is teaching us in our passage this morning, is that we are to accept and submit to the authority of the O.T. Scriptures and to Jesus Christ himself, who is the fulfillment of the entire O.T. Illus: What does that submission look like? Jesus gave us a visual picture toward the end of this very sermon, in Matthew 7:24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house upon the rock. When we accept and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ, it means that we literally build our entire life: how we work, how we live with our family, how we treat our neighbors, how we use our money, down to our ambitions and dreams for the future on the truths of Jesus Christ as taught in the Old and New Testaments. 2. Obey the commands of Christ from the heart. (5:20-48) A. First, you need a new heart. (5:20) Vrs. 20 Now this statement in Matthew 5:20, probably alarmed many people who heard it. Jesus said, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and that of the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. The reason it would have been alarming, is because the Pharisees were the most religious people in the entire community. I m sure those who heard this, had the same kind of response the disciples had when Jesus, after speaking with the Rich Young Ruler who went away in unbelief, said It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, and asked Jesus, Who then can be saved? Jesus answered, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:24-26 And this is the truth. It is impossible for man to save himself and be reconciled with God through his own righteousness. So, when Jesus said, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. That reality should shock us as well. In other words, this righteousness that Jesus is speaking about, is the difference between heaven and hell. In light of that, we are left wondering what kind of righteousness did the Pharisees have and how are we to obtain this surpassing righteousness?
4 In Matthew 23:25-28 Jesus describes the kind of righteousness that the Pharisees possessed: Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. 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 dead men s bones and everything unclean. In the same way on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matthew 23:25-28 The righteousness of the Pharisees was purely an external righteousness. They had unbelieving and wicked hearts. Jesus condemned their hypocrisy, but also told them what they needed. Jesus said what must come first, is a transformed heart. Vrs. 26 First, clean the inside of the cup and plate, that (purpose) the outside also may be clean. This is only possible through the cleansing and regeneration of new birth. This is what Jesus came to do, by dying on the cross for each of us. Jesus is not demanding more righteous deeds by human effort, but more righteous hearts by divine grace. He is not saying you must have a quantitatively greater righteousness, like a righteousness that is numerically greater. It s not like the Pharisees and scribes score 90% on the righteousness test, and entrance into the kingdom requires a score of 91% or better. This misses the point all together, but sadly is the very essence of religion. Religion teaches that we appease God or gain the favor of God needed for eternal life by keeping rules. The rules of their religion or book. This is sadly, why most religions actually condemn people to hell. But Jesus is speaking about a qualitatively different righteousness that is not merely an external righteousness, but an inner righteousness. Jesus spoke of this inner righteousness with Nicodemus, a Pharisee that was seeking truth. In John 3:3, he told him, I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. To be born again, or born from above is to experience a spiritual transformation, it is referring to regeneration, to brought from spiritual death to spiritual life. Man must be given a new heart for God. This is the fulfillment of the new covenant spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. So Jesus is saying, that for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven, he must have a righteousness that is beyond merely external conformity to the law in the Scriptures, but one that is generated in the heart, and that is only possible by God s gift of a new heart. And that gift has to be received by faith. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3:21-22:
5 "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:21-22 B. Obedience is more than external conformity to God s commands. (5:20) C. Obedience is conformity our heart to God s heart. (5:21-48) In verses 21-48 we see 6 examples of this greater righteousness than comes from the heart. It consists of six parallel paragraphs which illustrate the principle Jesus has just explained in verses 17 to 20. Each paragraph contains a contrast or antithesis introduced by the same formula (with minor variations): You have heard that it was said to the people long ago But I say to you (21, 22). What is this antithesis? What Jesus is contradicting is not the law itself, but certain perversions of the law of which the scribes and Pharisees were guilty. What the scribes and Pharisees were doing, in order to make obedience more readily attainable, was to restrict the commandments and extend the permissions of the law. They made the law s demands less demanding and the law s permissions more permissive. What Jesus did was to reverse both tendencies. Far from contradicting the law, Jesus endorses it, insists on its authority and supplies its true interpretation. But let me make it very clear, it is impossible for us to keep these commands and instructions if it weren t for the new heart that we received when we trusted in Jesus Christ alone for our forgiveness of sins and eternal life. The passion and power of the Holy Spirit of God living within us enable us to obey these commands. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Titus 2:11-12 (1) Do not be angry (5:21-26) The Pharisees taught that murder consists of taking someone s life. But the Lord said the commandment extended not only to the act itself but also to the internal attitude behind the act. In essence, when we harbor bitterness toward another person, we are guilty of murder. Jesus instructs us to take the initiative to reconcile and make restitution quickly, without delay. This is an even greater priority than the external conformity of offering worship to God. He says, stop, go and be reconciled and then come back and worship me with a sincere heart.
6 But the Pharisees were satisfied with mere external conformity, and they missed the obedience that God is looking for. The prophet Isaiah tells us God s thoughts on the matter, and Jesus quoted this verse (Mark 7:6) when addressing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees: The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Isaiah 29:13 (2) Do not commit adultery in your heart (5:27-30) Once again the Pharisees teaching was concerned only with the outward act. They said the only way one could commit adultery was through an act of sexual union. They correctly quoted the commandment, but they missed its point. Adultery begins within one s heart (looking lustfully) and follows in the act. (3) Do not divorce (5:31-32) Among the Jewish leaders were two schools of thought regarding the matter of divorce (Deut. 24:1). Those who followed Hillel said it was permissible for a husband to divorce his wife for any reason at all, but the other group (those following Shammai) said divorce was permissible only for a major offense. In His response, the Lord strongly taught that marriage is viewed by God as an indissoluble unit and that marriages should not be terminated by divorce. And Jesus stated only 1 exception, that is when one of the partners commits adultery. The Pharisees were preoccupied with the grounds for divorce, Jesus was preoccupied with the institution of marriage. Obedience from the heart, does not look for a loophole to get out of one s marriage covenant, which they made both to God and their marital partner, but rather embraces the sanctify and holiness of the union that God has created and humbly seeks to fulfill their commitment at all costs. (4) Keep your word (5:33-37) Jesus is saying that the precise wording of a vow-formula (which was teaching of the Pharisees) is irrelevant, then a preoccupation with formulae was not the point of the law at all. Indeed, since anybody who makes a vow must keep it (whatever formula he uses), strictly speaking all formulae are superfluous. For the formula does not add to the solemnity of the vow. Jesus is saying, stop being deceptive. A vow is binding irrespective of its accompanying formula. That being so, the real implication of the law is that we must keep our promises and be people of our word. A yes always ought to mean yes, and a no should mean no. (5) Do not take revenge (5:38-42) The words Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth come from several Old Testament passages (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Deut. 19:21); they are called the law of retaliation. This law was given to protect the innocent and to make sure retaliation did not occur beyond the offense. Jesus pointed
7 out, however, that while the rights of the innocent were protected by the Law, the righteous need not necessarily claim their rights. A righteous man would be characterized by humility and selflessness. Instead of retaliating he would do the opposite, and would also commit his case to the Lord who will one day set all things in order. Paul said Do not repay anyone evil for evil Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God s wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. Rom. 12:17 19 Peter recalls how Jesus modeled this spirit of humility, When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:23 (6) Love your enemies (5:43-48) My neighbor, the Pharisees and scribes argued, is one of my own people, a fellow Jew, my own kin, who belongs to my race and my religion. The law says nothing about strangers or enemies. So, since the command is to love only my neighbor, it must be taken as a permission, even an injunction, to hate my enemy. So Jesus contradicted their gross distortion of the law: But I say to you, Love your enemies (44). For our neighbor, as he later illustrated so plainly in the parable of the good Samaritan. What constitutes him our neighbor is simply that he is a fellow human being in need, whose need we know and are in a position in some measure to relieve. He is not necessarily a member of our own race, rank or religion. He may not even have any connection with us. He may be our enemy, who speaks lies about us and who persecutes and abuses us. Our neighbor in the vocabulary of God includes our enemy. Loving our enemies, by meeting their needs and actually praying for their well being sets Christ followers distinct from the rest of the world. So much so, that this very quality, identifies us as children of our Father in heaven. For we are never more like God when we love and care for the needs of our enemies, the very thing that Jesus Christ did his entire earthly life and in his death. Conclusion: Big Idea: Citizens of the kingdom of heaven (followers of Jesus Christ) receive new hearts and are called to full-hearted obedience to Christ and His Word. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been talking about the characteristics of the citizens of his kingdom. He said they are folks who have a proper estimation of themselves, and realize that they are bankrupt in spirit, and have no intrinsic righteousness of their own. They mourn over their sinfulness, and they are meek, they humbly bow themselves before God. They hunger and thirst for a righteousness that they don t have and God satisfies them, by giving them a new heart, and fills them with his Spirit and his grace that fills them with internal passion and power to obey the commands of Christ their king.