Fulfilled! – Matthew 5:17-20
Fulfilled! – Matthew 5:17-20
By Pastor Lee Hemen
March 3, 2019
We have all heard the phrase, “the letter of the law”. It means that the law must be followed exactly in how it is written and not simply interpreted however someone wants it to be or whenever they want it to be. It is the old argument over the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. The problem comes when one tries to interpret what those who wrote it intended because then it is often tainted by the one wanting to interpret it.
The Jewish spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day had done quite a number on the Law of Moses and often spent hours, days, months, and years interpreting what they thought God meant. We see this kind of spiritual legal dance in today’s Catholic Church or in mainline liberal denominations like Episcopalian, Lutherans, or Methodist. Most theologically conservative Baptist churches see the Bible as the individual’s guide to how God interacts with humanity and how we are to live. Jesus turned the Jewish world upside down in the following verses where he describes himself as the fulfillment of the law of God. Let’s learn today what he said and why…
READ: Matthew 5:17-20
If you were given a set of rules and regulations that guaranteed your safety, comfort, and eternity wouldn’t you want to follow those guidelines? Now what if everything you believed and followed was about to change? Here we find Jesus…
I. Accomplishing the plan of God! (Vv. 17-18)
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. I tell you the truth, 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.
1. This part of Jesus’ sermon presents the heart of his message because it demonstrates Jesus’ relationship to the Law of God. Jesus was not merely presenting a rival system to the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets but a true fulfillment of it. This is why he tells them, “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 centuries the Law of Moses had directed every aspect of the Jewish nation; how they viewed themselves within the rest of the world, how they saw their relationship with God, and what they were about as God’s chosen people. Isaiah related that “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8 NIV)” Now we hear Jesus reminding his listeners that God’s plan would be finished but perhaps not in the way they thought it would be. He had come into the world to complete the Law of God. Jesus bluntly tells them, “I tell you the truth, 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.” When Jesus related “I tell you the truth” he uses the word “Amen”. It is a serious and formal pronouncement by Jesus. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states that “Jesus’ fulfillment would extend to the smallest Hebrew letter, the “jot” (lit., yôd), and even to the smallest stroke of a Hebrew letter, the “tittle.” In English a jot would correspond to the dot above the letter “i” (and look like an apostrophe), and a tittle would be seen in the difference between a “P” and an “R”. The small angled line that completes the “R” is like a tittle. These things are important because letters make up words and even a slight change in a letter might change the meaning of a word.” The tiniest and smallest part of the law would be utterly completely fulfilled by Jesus! This was God’s plan all along. Jesus reminds us that he is about accomplishing the plan of God!
Example: Whenever Jesus uses the term “Law and the Prophets” he used a common term that meant the entire Word of God from Genesis to Malachi! We would simply say, “All of it”; like my father who came home one afternoon and asked my brother and I why we did not do “all of it” that my mother asked us to do. We knew he meant everything she had asked us to do during the day. There was no confusion on our part because we understood exactly what my father meant. The same was true for Jesus when he used the terminology he did. Jesus wanted his listeners to know he was about accomplishing the plan of God!
How in the world can human beings be good enough for another let alone heaven? We know that from the very first days of our lives we are selfish and rebellious lot. We learn to say the words “no” or “mine” almost before anything else and here we find Jesus…
II. Reminding everyone of their spiritual situation! (Vv. 19-20)
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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.
1. The Pharisees had become so completely immersed in the Law of Moses that they had become unworldly. What I mean is they became almost worthless to the rest of mankind. They were the closest Jewish representation of spiritual hermits there was at that time. A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion from society, usually for religious reasons. Hermits are a part of several sects of Christianity, and the concept is found in other religions as well. The Pharisees became shut off from the people and world around them, like hermits. And even though their goal was to draw closer to God by following their strict codes they had derived from the law, they had failed miserably. While they tithed even to the tenth of their spices and herbs found in their cupboards they neglected justice and the love of God. In fact Jesus later would bluntly tell them, “you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them (Luke 11:46 NIV)”! They weighted the people’s lives down with useless lists of what to do and what not to do. So when Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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” they would immediately wonder who in the world could ever do that? No one was perfect not even the Pharisees let alone the common folk! Like Catholicism does now with mortal and venial sins the Pharisees had divided the law into greater and lesser offenses but Jesus related they were all important! Sin is sin and breaking God’s law whether it was deemed by man to be greater or lesser did not matter! The key was “whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven”! They would have instantly thought of the Pharisees, surely they were “good” enough to do so? Yet Jesus immediately related, “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.” Surpasses the Pharisees? Who could do that? In what he was teaching Jesus was reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
EXAMPLE: It is easy to forget that no matter what we think about ourselves what truly matters is what does God think? A good parent encourages and mentors their children and does not leave it up to others to do. Jesus wanted his disciples to be the best they could possibly be and to understand that God did indeed love them but they needed to understand their sinful condition kept them from his love. Jesus therefore took time in reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
Conclusion:
Accomplishing the plan of God! Reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
March 3, 2019
We have all heard the phrase, “the letter of the law”. It means that the law must be followed exactly in how it is written and not simply interpreted however someone wants it to be or whenever they want it to be. It is the old argument over the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law. The problem comes when one tries to interpret what those who wrote it intended because then it is often tainted by the one wanting to interpret it.
The Jewish spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day had done quite a number on the Law of Moses and often spent hours, days, months, and years interpreting what they thought God meant. We see this kind of spiritual legal dance in today’s Catholic Church or in mainline liberal denominations like Episcopalian, Lutherans, or Methodist. Most theologically conservative Baptist churches see the Bible as the individual’s guide to how God interacts with humanity and how we are to live. Jesus turned the Jewish world upside down in the following verses where he describes himself as the fulfillment of the law of God. Let’s learn today what he said and why…
READ: Matthew 5:17-20
If you were given a set of rules and regulations that guaranteed your safety, comfort, and eternity wouldn’t you want to follow those guidelines? Now what if everything you believed and followed was about to change? Here we find Jesus…
I. Accomplishing the plan of God! (Vv. 17-18)
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. I tell you the truth, 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.
1. This part of Jesus’ sermon presents the heart of his message because it demonstrates Jesus’ relationship to the Law of God. Jesus was not merely presenting a rival system to the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets but a true fulfillment of it. This is why he tells them, “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 centuries the Law of Moses had directed every aspect of the Jewish nation; how they viewed themselves within the rest of the world, how they saw their relationship with God, and what they were about as God’s chosen people. Isaiah related that “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8 NIV)” Now we hear Jesus reminding his listeners that God’s plan would be finished but perhaps not in the way they thought it would be. He had come into the world to complete the Law of God. Jesus bluntly tells them, “I tell you the truth, 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.” When Jesus related “I tell you the truth” he uses the word “Amen”. It is a serious and formal pronouncement by Jesus. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states that “Jesus’ fulfillment would extend to the smallest Hebrew letter, the “jot” (lit., yôd), and even to the smallest stroke of a Hebrew letter, the “tittle.” In English a jot would correspond to the dot above the letter “i” (and look like an apostrophe), and a tittle would be seen in the difference between a “P” and an “R”. The small angled line that completes the “R” is like a tittle. These things are important because letters make up words and even a slight change in a letter might change the meaning of a word.” The tiniest and smallest part of the law would be utterly completely fulfilled by Jesus! This was God’s plan all along. Jesus reminds us that he is about accomplishing the plan of God!
Example: Whenever Jesus uses the term “Law and the Prophets” he used a common term that meant the entire Word of God from Genesis to Malachi! We would simply say, “All of it”; like my father who came home one afternoon and asked my brother and I why we did not do “all of it” that my mother asked us to do. We knew he meant everything she had asked us to do during the day. There was no confusion on our part because we understood exactly what my father meant. The same was true for Jesus when he used the terminology he did. Jesus wanted his listeners to know he was about accomplishing the plan of God!
How in the world can human beings be good enough for another let alone heaven? We know that from the very first days of our lives we are selfish and rebellious lot. We learn to say the words “no” or “mine” almost before anything else and here we find Jesus…
II. Reminding everyone of their spiritual situation! (Vv. 19-20)
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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.
1. The Pharisees had become so completely immersed in the Law of Moses that they had become unworldly. What I mean is they became almost worthless to the rest of mankind. They were the closest Jewish representation of spiritual hermits there was at that time. A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion from society, usually for religious reasons. Hermits are a part of several sects of Christianity, and the concept is found in other religions as well. The Pharisees became shut off from the people and world around them, like hermits. And even though their goal was to draw closer to God by following their strict codes they had derived from the law, they had failed miserably. While they tithed even to the tenth of their spices and herbs found in their cupboards they neglected justice and the love of God. In fact Jesus later would bluntly tell them, “you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them (Luke 11:46 NIV)”! They weighted the people’s lives down with useless lists of what to do and what not to do. So when Jesus tells his disciples and the crowd, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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” they would immediately wonder who in the world could ever do that? No one was perfect not even the Pharisees let alone the common folk! Like Catholicism does now with mortal and venial sins the Pharisees had divided the law into greater and lesser offenses but Jesus related they were all important! Sin is sin and breaking God’s law whether it was deemed by man to be greater or lesser did not matter! The key was “whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven”! They would have instantly thought of the Pharisees, surely they were “good” enough to do so? Yet Jesus immediately related, “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.” Surpasses the Pharisees? Who could do that? In what he was teaching Jesus was reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
EXAMPLE: It is easy to forget that no matter what we think about ourselves what truly matters is what does God think? A good parent encourages and mentors their children and does not leave it up to others to do. Jesus wanted his disciples to be the best they could possibly be and to understand that God did indeed love them but they needed to understand their sinful condition kept them from his love. Jesus therefore took time in reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
Conclusion:
Accomplishing the plan of God! Reminding everyone of their spiritual situation!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
Comments