JESUS UPHOLDS THE LAW

​Matthew 5:17-20
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SERMON SUMMARY
Jesus says some radical things.  As a matter of fact, some of what he says is so radical that people end up thinking that he has tossed the whole of God's law out.

To keep us from thinking that he has abolished the law, Jesus shows just how much he regards it.  

"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 say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' 

Matthew 5:17-21 ESV

You might think of our passage today as something of a disclaimer.  As I mentioned a moment ago, Jesus is going to be talking about the law in the upcoming portions of his message.  He’s going to talk about the law in a way that they are not used to.  As a matter of fact, he knows they are just going to be blown away by it.  They have their way of understanding things, but he’s going to throw all of that aside.  He’s going to be hacking away at a lot of their beliefs.  

And what they are going to be tempted to do is this: they are going to think that he’s throwing out the law.  They are going to accuse him of abolishing the law.  That’s what it is going to feel like to them.  So the passage before us this morning is something of a little heads up.

For instance, some of us came into Calvinism against our better judgement.  I believed that God had given us human autonomy.  I believed that I had the power to choose; I said that God gave me the freedom to choose.  I said that God looked down the halls of human history and saw those who would choose him and, as a result, he chose those people who would chose him.

But someone challenged those views.  They basically said, “There’s nothing in Scripture that supports any of that.   There’s not one verse.”  And I thought they were crazy?  And do you know what I did?  I accused them of painting God as a cruel and overbearing monster.  I thought they were way off base and didn’t know anything about the Scripture.  I thought they must be loopy in how they approached things.

But then I had to eat a bit of humble pie.  God began showing me that the way I had understood things wasn’t quite right.  

Now, there may be some of you who are now looking at me and thinking, “This guy obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about.  Of course God gives us the power to choose.  Why am I even listening to this?  He obviously doesn’t have a clue.”

Now, wouldn’t it be good if we had someone say, “Ok, this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me.  I want you to know that I’m not throwing out the Bible.  I’m actually going to try and help you understand the Bible.  I actually really love the Bible.”  

That’s what’s happening here.  The people were going to be hearing some things that they were not used to.  As a matter of fact, it was going to be so radical that it was going to seem like Jesus was completely doing away with everything that they held dear.  And, at least, when it came to man’s law (or their flawed understanding of the law), he did do away with it.  He swept it all in to the recycle bin.  
But, what Jesus says here is that, when it comes to the core of the law—when it comes to God’s law, there was nothing that he was abolishing.  

Jesus basically says, “You guys need to know that I uphold the law.  I am upholding every little thing about the law.”  

And what we find is that Jesus tells them that he endorses the 4 of the most important things about God’s law.

Remember, he’s talking to people who had a high admiration of God’s law.  So, what he wants to do is point out just how high an affirmation he has of this law.  So he begins by saying that he upholds

I. Essential meaning/teaching/ intent of the word
Now, look with me again at verse 17.  He says, “I have not come to abolish the law and the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.”

Now it’s that latter part that I’m concentrating on.  What exactly does it mean to fulfill the law and the Prophets?  

The word fulfill is the Greek word pleroo.  It can mean, “to fulfill or make full; to complete or consummate, to render perfect, to cause to abound or flourish; and to verify.”  It can also in some instances mean “to teach or to preach.”

Now a lot of people try to pick one of those meanings.  I actually like them all.  I’d put it this way:  Jesus verifies the law by perfectly living out that law to their fullest extent, so that its exact meaning is preached and flourishes.

Now let me give you an illustration to help you understand how those definitions all come together.
Years ago, my wife would take trips with the kids to see my in-laws.  This was of course, before they moved to Ashland.  They lived in PA and she would go to stay with them for a couple of days for a visit.  I would often stay home because I had work to do.  And you know how it is when a guy lives a bachelor’s life.  Things loose that woman’s touch around the house, right?  You kick off your shoes here, you set some papers down over there.  You toss your socks and jackets all over and wherever they land that’s where they stay.  So the house gets a little disheveled.  

But I know my wife likes things tidy.  So the day before she comes home, it would dawn on me that I’ve been living like a slob.  So I’d go around and pick things up and try and get the house under some semblance of control.  I would tidy up here and there and make sure things were put in order.  And there would be times where I look around when I was done and say, “Not too bad.  She’s going to be pretty impressed.  She might even wonder if I even stayed here!”

Now when my wife would get home, she would come in and begin telling me all about her trip.  She’d tell me about the things they did together and tell me all the stories from the week away.  But as she did so, she’d go around and start cleaning the place up.  Sometimes I would just stand there and think, “That looks so much better.  How’d she do that?”  Other times I would say to myself, “What’s she doing?  Doesn’t she see how nice things are?  Doesn’t she know how hard I worked to get this place up to snuff?”  

What it came down to is this: no matter what I did, it wasn’t up to her standard of cleanliness.  She had a greater understanding of what it means to have an orderly house.  And as she set things in line she would be preaching to me what clean really means.  I’d learn that my idea of what it means to be tidy wasn’t anything what it should be.

Now, after she cleans, does it mean I don’t have to clean anymore?  Does it mean that I don’t need to worry about keeping things tidy around the house?  Of course not.  The standard has just been verified and I now understand that what is really expected in the future.

That’s what I think is going on here in Matthew 17.  Jesus hasn’t come to abolish the law and the Prophets, he’s come to fulfill them.  He’d come to uphold the essential meaning and intent of the law.  And, as a result of his obedience, the law is not only validated, but it is set forth in a way that is much more clear.

There are people today who want to unhitch Christianity from the OT.  This is what is found in classic dispensationalism and a thing called “new covenant theology.”  Not to be confused with traditional covenant theology.

In some more extreme cases, there are pastors who won’t even preach on the Old Testament.  They say that it’s been fulfilled, so we don’t really need it anymore.  They believe it’s all passe because it was for a previous time and Jesus has fulfilled it.

But that’s a wrong view of things.  There’s not one sense in which we should disparage the OT.  It is part of God’s revelation and it gives us express guidance for our lives still today. 

So instead of thinking that Jesus wants us to pitch the OT, we should recognize that he upholds it.  Jesus shows us its essential meaning helps us see how it should be a vital part of our ongoing discipleship.

Well, that’s the first thing Jesus says.  But along with upholding the essential teaching of the law, you see that he also upholds its eternal nature.

II. Eternal nature of the word
Jesus really appeals to the Jewish mind there in verse 18.  He says, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

You might say that the Jews believed in the indestructability of God’s law.  After all, you have passages in the OT like Isaiah that says, “All flesh is as grass.  The grass withers and the flowers will fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”  

And Jesus takes this down to the very minutia of Scripture.  He talks about the iota or jot.  He’s talking about the smallest strokes of the pen in regards to the Hebrew alphabet.  So it would be like how you dot an I or cross a t.  He’s saying, “God’s word has such permanence that you can be guaranteed that not even the most minute detail of it will ever fail or fade away.”  

Now, there are two things that we could hang our hats on here in terms of application.  First, is the real viability of our beliefs.  One reason we can be confident that Christianity is the right belief system is this right here.  

Have you ever had a moment where you questioned whether or not Christianity was the right faith?  Some might think that is a bad question to ask.  But it really isn’t.  I believe it’s natural.  You don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, right?  At the end of your life, you don’t want to end up looking back and saying, “Oh man!  I was all wrong!”

Well, here is one of the assurances that can put that question to rest.  This is the only religion that has never been tweaked in any respect.  The book of Mormon has changed.  The JW’s writings have changed.  The Quran has changed.  There’s actually a Hadith that says a portion of the Quran was lost because a goat ate it.  If you’re a Muslim, that should be a little disconcerting.

You can have confidence in Christ and Christianity because his word is inviolable.  

But this may make you wonder.  After all, there are a lot of commands that we don't follow anymore, right?  How many of us have a penchant for bacon?  I would assume that there isn't anyone here with a parapet around the roof of your house?  How can you explain that if God's word is unchangeable.

This is where we need to understand the divisions of the law.  We can divide God's law into three basic categories: the moral law, the judicial law, and the ceremonial law.  

When it comes to the Moral law, that is the permeant, enduring principles.  They are encapsulated in the 10 commandments.  These do not change, but are to be guides for our lives no matter when or where we are.

There are also judicial laws.  These laws are for nation building.  They help us understand how society is supposed to function and they give the civil magistrates guidance as to what constitutes justice.  These laws are typically encapsulated in case law.  That is, it is applying the moral law to certain civil cases.  

What is important to understand here is that the law hasn't changed, so much as the culture.  We don't need to have parapets because we don't build houses the same way the ancient Israelites did.  However, we do need to take care that we are not negligent and lackadaisical with safety measures that may end up getting someone killed.

There are similar things to be said about the ceremonial law, but I'm going to hold off on that for a moment.  I'll comment on it later on in the message.

For now, it is enough to see that God's law endures.  What's more, as an enduring law, it is reliable.  So you can trust everything you have here.  Since it is eternal it is a faithful guide for life and faith.  You don’t need to be worried that it will steer you in the wrong direction.  God has spoken; you can trust it.

To sum up, let’s listen to what Calvin says:  “Let it suffice for us to hold, that sooner shall heaven fall to pieces, and the whole frame of the world become a mass of confusion, than the stability of the law give way.”

You can trust the Word of God because it has an eternal and abiding nature.
The third affirmation Jesus makes is found in verse 19.   Jesus not only upholds the law’s essential meaning and the eternal nature, he also upholds its extensive scope.

III. Extensive scope of the word
What do I mean when I talk about the scope of God’s word.  I mean Jesus believes that every part of God’s word should be given the highest possible esteem and obeyed with the utmost care.

Look at verse 19.  He says, “Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Now it seems that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law had taken some parts of God’s word and seen them as lesser and not as weighty as other parts.  That in and of itself isn’t necessarily wrong.  There are some parts that are much more significant.  For instance, the law can be divided into two parts: Love God and love your neighbor.  Which of those is more important?  Well, Jesus says that the first and greatest commandment (i.e. the weightier commandment) is to love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and strength.  

And you can think about other commandments in a similar way.  There’s parts that talk about what to do with birds’ nests if you come across one on the ground.  That probably isn’t as significant as “thou shalt not kill.”  

But the problem was that they would go so far as to say, “Well, you don’t need to follow this one.  After all, it’s not that big of a deal.”  

Maybe the best example may be the Corban passage in Mark 7.  Corban means gift.  And it was a financial offering that you could donate to the temple.  Jesus rebukes the Pharisees because they were not honoring their parents.  Their aging parents may be in need and they should take care of them financially.  But they would dedicate that money to the temple instead.  It wasn’t like it was a required gift.  It was something extra.  And they would give it to the temple rather thinking that was a greater thing to do.  And so the “so called” lesser law of honoring one’s parents would be void.

Jesus is basically saying, “You got to recognize that I don’t believe any law should be broken.  You are accusing me of abrogating the law, but it’s actually you who are bending the rules and cutting out parts of Scripture.”

Now, before we go condemning those Pharisees, let’s remember that we’re not that much different.  We can fall into the same trap.  We might say, “Drunkenness is really bad,” but when it comes to gluttony, we might not be quite as stringent.  In our modern American context it doesn’t have the same stigma.  But someone going to a bowl of ice cream for comfort is just doing the same thing as the guy who goes to a bottle of alcohol.  But we see one as being more tolerable than the other.

We might poo-poo the Pharisees for their quirks when it comes to their observance of the Sabbath day.  But where does “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” really rank in our own minds.  

What I’m saying is any and all of us can downplay some part of God’s law. It’s what we do as sinners.  It’s a nice way of justifying ourselves.  We want to say that this or that really doesn’t count.  We want to give ourselves that excuse to go against God’s law.

But when it comes to God’s law, it should never be a “this or that” kind of thing.  We shouldn’t think that it should be a choice between sinning this way or that way—as if God’s word is contradictory somehow.

And this is where Jesus comes in so strong.  He recognizes that it’s not like that.  He doesn’t take that buffet style approach to God’s Word like we often do.  He upholds every part of it.  When it comes to the extent and scope of what is laid down here, Jesus sees that there’s not one part that should be relaxed even in the slightest way.

Rather the full breadth of God’s law is recognized to be holy and true.  

Which brings us then to verse 20.  We might summarize this by saying that Jesus also upheld the extreme demand of the law.

IV. Extreme demand of the word
Look at what he says there.  “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Now this is getting at what each person really needs to hear.  How do you get into heaven?  How do you get into God’s kingdom?  How good do you have to be?  

The way we often look at it is that you have to be better than the guy next to you.  Or your good works have to outweigh your bad works.  If you can just tip the scales in the right direction or edge out the guy next to you, then you’ve solidified your place in the kingdom of heaven.

But what we really end up doing is lowering the bar.  We think that the demands for kingdom entry are not as high as they really are.  We bring it down to a more attainable level.

But Jesus doesn’t want anyone lowering the bar.  He’s upholding the bar.  As he upholds the standard of God’s law, he makes sure everyone knows that this law, in every single little bit of its demands, is still the standard for getting into heaven.  That’s why he says your righteousness has to exceed that of the Pharisees.

What you need to remember is that the Pharisees and the scribes were the most righteous people of the day.  Sure, they had their faults.  But they were still the most rigorous when it came to obeying the law of God.  Really, most of the faults that they had were because they took their devotion to the law too far.  Not many people can say that in our day and age, right?  

These guys were scrupulous.  And they were looked upon as some of the most holy men of their day.  And they were the most righteous men that could be found.  They set the bar REALLY high.  

But Jesus says that’s not good enough.  You could be the top class Pharisee.  You could be the Pharisee that exceeds all the other Pharisees, and your goodness may far surpass that of anyone else you know, but it’s not good enough.

The bar to getting into heaven isn’t even that low.  Jesus says, “If you want to get into heaven, you need to understand that it requires absolute perfection; complete righteousness.”

That’s the truth: One flaw and you’re out.  There’s no cutting corners.  You biff it in even the smallest little way and there’s no letting you in.

So where does that leave you?  Have you ever told a lie?  Have you ever dishonored your parents?  
Well, no one is going to get to heaven then, right?  Not on your own, you aren’t.  

Last week we remembered the Reformation.  One of the most significant things that came out of the reformation was the idea of an “alien righteousness.”  Martin Luther used the word alien to mean outside of us.  It is not our righteousness, but the righteousness of another.

Martin Luther understood that God’s demand was nothing less than absolute perfection and he looked at himself and saw that he was plagued with sin.  And he came to find that his only hope was if another fulfilled the law and accumulated all the righteousness it demanded and then gave it to him.  He needed a righteousness of another.

And that’s why we must turn to Jesus.

We said earlier that Jesus came to fulfill the law.  You know, that’s where our hope is.  He is the one who makes it possible for us to enter heaven.  If we want into heaven we have to understand that we must look to him, because he’s the only one who has ever met the full demand of God’s law.

And this is where the ceremonial law comes in.  Most all of the ceremonial laws had to do with worship and were symbols of purity.  They distinguished between clean and unclean.  And you don't need to bring a bull or goat to worship and offer it as a sacrifice because that's what has been done for you in Christ.  Those laws can pass away because they weren't supposed to be eternal.  They were pointing to the work that Christ would do.  

And this is what Christ does: he is the clean one.  He is the one who obtained all righteousness.  As such, he became the perfect sacrifice for sin when he was offered up on the cross.  Now through him we may have the righteous standard of God's law fulfilled.  The high standard has been met for us.

Conclusion
Now you see why Jesus is really so much in favor of the law.  It’s because it ultimately points to him.  He wants us to understand that the law is not only good—it not just the sacred word of God, it is the tool that forces us to look to him as the only means of salvation.

And this is where you must base your hope.  You should love the law and embrace its guidance.  But you must also acknowledge that its demands are outside the bounds of your reach.  So, as you embrace the law, you should also embrace the one who fulfills it.