FULFILLING THE LAW & PROPHETS - MATTHEW 5:17-20

 Fulfilling The Law And Prophets

5:17-20

If you are reading Matthew’s gospel through in one sitting, or at least reading large portions, these verses may seem to be a jarring interruption to the flow of the sermon.

However, these verses serve as a transition to Jesus’ explanations of various laws that follow these verses. 

Also, Jesus was answering the accusation that he wants to abolish the Old Testament and, especially, the Law. That would resonate with the Jews because the Law is the basis of God’s covenant with Israel. It was the thing that separated Jews from the world and made them God’s people. They might not always keep the law, but they wanted to be identified by it. 

First, Jesus said they should not think he came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. Referring to the Law and Prophets was a way to refer to the whole of Old Testament scripture, not just the Ten Commandments. 

Rather than abolish the Law and the Prophets, Jesus came to fulfill them. What does that mean? 

The Old Testament contains several things. There are three that are especially relevant to what Jesus is saying: (1) moral law; (2) doctrinal teaching;  and (3) prediction or predictive prophecy.

Jesus fulfilled the moral law in two ways. First, he obeyed it. (Hebrews 4:15) As he told John the Baptist at his baptism, he wanted to fulfill all righteousness. (Matthew 3:15) 

Second, Jesus fulfilled the moral law by explaining the full meaning of it, what is required for obedience. 

The Pharisees and Scribes had developed a superficial interpretation of the law, one that focused on outward displays rather than inward submission. For example, Jesus condemned them for cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside was full of greed and self indulgence. (Matthew 23:25-26)

So, Jesus fulfilled the moral law by explaining its full meaning. He will give several examples of this in the following sections of Matthew 5.

The Old Testament also contains doctrinal teaching. The Law is instruction about God and man’s relationship to him. For example, the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is presented in the sacrifices. It said “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin”. (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22) It pointed Israel to the perfect, complete sacrifice of Jesus for sin. Jesus fulfilled that teaching 

The Old Covenant priesthood taught that man needed an intercessor between man and God. (Exodus 28-29) Jesus fulfilled that teaching, becoming the ultimate mediator. (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9:15)

The New Testament book of Hebrews teaches these truths in detail. 

Finally, the Old Testament contains predictions of the future, especially in the coming of God’s anointed one (Messiah\Christ). It is estimated that Christ fulfilled at least 300 prophecies. It also contains types of Christ that foreshadowed him. 

Jesus fulfilled those prophecies and types since they were about him. That is why he said “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand”. (Mark 1:14) He told the Pharisees: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me”. (John 5:39, 46) 

When, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he gave the greatest Bible study of all time. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interprets to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)

Matthew took pains to show this, not only by Jesus’ words, but by this actions as well. As he sets out the facts of Jesus’ life, he continually says “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet…” and quotes the prophecy from the Old Testament. 

So, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament scriptures. And then he said None of it will pass away until the consummation of the kingdom at the end of the age (all has been accomplished). (19) 

Paul taught this same truth that Christ fulfilled the Old Testament scripture. In his defense to King Agrippa. He said that he preached “nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles”. (Acts 26:22-23) 

Paul also wrote that Christ was the “end” of the law. (Romans 10:4) “End” means the goal or purpose of the law. 

What does that mean for us? Jesus did not render the Old Testament scripture useless. We, then, do not discard it. And because of that, he requires us to obey and teach God’s moral law. If we do not, if we “relax” the commandments, there is a penalty. That person will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven. In contrast, those who obey will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (20) 

Despite this warning from Jesus, many teachers have indeed relaxed commandments and disregarded the Old Testament. 

It began with Marcion in the 130s A.D. He believed the God of the Old Testament was a different God than the one in the New Testament. Therefore, any scripture that was in, or referenced, the Old Testament was to be regarded. Unsurprisingly, he produced his own Bible without the Old Testament. And in the New Testament, he deleted these verses. 

There are theologies that teach the Old Testament is inspired, but not applicable unless replicated in the New Testament. In practice, however, this led to many of their members ceasing to believe the Old Testament was anything more than a history book. 

This idea recently resurfaced in Andy Stanley’s sermon, saying that the church must “unhitch” from the Old Testament and focus only on the resurrection of Christ.

The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 provides a good summary of Jesus' words and the correct way to view the Scriptures:

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

• The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

SALT & LIGHT - MATTHEW 5:13-16

 

Salt Of The Earth

5:13

In Jesus’ time, salt was used primarily as preservative. If you rub salt into meat, it slows down the decay process so the meat lasts longer. 

For example, in the novel “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, the Joad family slaughters a pig, butchers it, and packs it in a barrel with salt so they could take it with them on the way to California. 

You may have eaten some version of salt pork in your life. I had it in the cafeteria in school when I was in 6th grade. It was basically government surplus the school acquired. It was fried and salty to the taste. I had to ask my parents what it was. 

So, Jesus was saying that disciples who lived out the beatitudes would preserve the culture of those around them. And, by preserve, he meant to keep it from descending further into depravity. 

If the disciples lost their saltiness, i.e., quit living according to kingdom standards, they would become useless. They would not preserve the cultures or countries around them.

One of the “new atheists” is prominent author and speaker Richard Dawkins. He recently expressed the view, however, bemoaning the loss of Christian values in Great Britain. Although remaining an atheist, he now says he is  “cultural Christian”. 

Even Friedrich Nietzsche, one of Christianity's fiercest critics, worried deeply about the consequences of the "death of God." He feared that abandoning Christian belief would lead to nihilism unless new sources of meaning and value were created. Nihilism is the belief that life has no objective meaning, purpose, or value.

The other side of the coin is that, if we as believers do not live as citizens of the kingdom are supposed to live, we are “no longer good for anything”. We are no good to the kingdom and we are no good for the culture. In fact, we may be a harm to it. 

We have seen this in the USA in the decline of the so called “mainstream” Protestant denominations. They embraced the changes in culture, adopting the moral standards and thus became so like the culture they became largely useless. 

We have seen this in the USA in the decline of the so called “mainstream” Protestant denominations. That is why Paul wrote:  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2) 

Light Of The World

5:14-16

Next, Jesus calls us the light of the world. This makes sense because we are in Christ, in the one who is the light of men that is not overcome by the darkness. (John 1:4-5; 8:12)

The symbolism of light and darkness is a recurring theme in the Bible. Light represents good, knowledge of God, and even the presence of God. Dark represents evil, ignorance or rejection of God, and separation from God.

God is light and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5) So Jesus says that, in Christ, we are the light of the world. We bring the knowledge of the glory of God to the world. And we are not to hide that light as we might be tempted in order to fit in with those in the world, in darkness, or to avoid confrontation with the world. 

So we act as children of God, shining light into the world by our good works and moral behavior. And that brings glory to God. (16) 

We shine our light in big ways. We build hospitals, orphanages, and schools. We send food to those in famine. We assist those who have needs of all kinds. 

But we also shine our light in small ways. We are kind to people. We are humble. We care about each other and show it by our actions. We show mercy, we respect people, and we live faithfully and responsibly toward our families, friends, neighbors, those we come into contact with in our daily lives.

There is also a battlefield here. The battle is between the children of God and the cultures they live in. We might call that the world. God’s children seek to win the culture to God, through Christ, to glorify God in all things. The culture seeks to penetrate the church and influence it to accept its ways. Who will prevail over the other?

The Fundamentalist movement made errors in this regard in the USA. First, they withdrew from the culture. They advocated avoiding everything outside of the church. 

That movement led churches in the 1980s to create worlds of their own. They built campuses with recreational facilities so that you could avoid non-believers while you played or exercised. They put coffee shops in their foyers so that you could get gourmet coffee while avoiding the pagans at the coffee shops. I visited one church that had a gift shop in the foyer. You could buy gifts from the church and not to the mall. They did not believe in being salt and light to the world. They believed in avoiding the world. 

Then the seeker friendly church went the other direction. At its extreme, they designed their worship services to having nothing confrontational or upsetting to non-believers. Some adopted practices of the entertainment industry to draw people in. They were not being salt and light. The focus became attendance rather than witness. 

Neither of these extremes fit the model Jesus lays out in these verses. When we live and act in accordance with the Christian character set out in the Beatitudes, we can be salt and light to the world. We are then the greatest influence to the world both in restraining evil and in witnessing to the transforming power of Jesus Christ. 

This glorifies God. 

And it results in our being blessed. 

THE BEATITUDES PART 2- MATTHEW 5:7-12

 

The Merciful

5:7

The remaining beatitudes deal more with our attitude to other people, whereas the first beatitudes dealt more with our relationship with God.

Mercy includes forgiveness and compassion for those who are suffering or those who are in need even if it is a consequence of their own actions.. Those who show mercy to others will receive mercy from God. 

Our ability and desire to show mercy flows from the other characteristics Jesus has mentioned. If we are poor in spirit, recognizing our own spiritual weakness, if we are meek, if we seek to be righteous, we find it easier to be merciful.

For example, how do you treat a church member who has done something bad and is repentant? How do we treat someone who has failed in some area of life? How do we treat someone who is the victim of bad circumstances? How do we treat the poor, the disabled, the sick?

If we are proud of ourselves, or if our image is important to us, we may shun the church member, or criticize them and even those associated with them. The disciples attributed a man’s blindness to sin, either his or his parents. We often have the same attitude. (John 9:2)

For example, when I was a child, my best friend’s father left the family for another woman. Their church shunned them even though it was the father’s sin, not theirs. Parents would not let their kids invite these kids to their house and would not let their kids visit the house of the abandoned kids. I remember my friend showing up at my house crying over it. My friend never got over it. 

Jesus also told a story about this. We call it the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was robbed, beaten, and left for dead. A priest and a Levite crossed the road to avoid the man. But a Samaritan bound the man’s wounds and doctored them. He put him on his own animal and took him to an inn. He paid for the man to stay there and recover.  He was the one who showed the man mercy. Jesus said to go and do likewise. (Luke 10:29-37) 

We often do not show the mercy our gracious heavenly Father has shown us. We judge, we gossip, we speculate, and we shun. But Jesus said mercy is a trait of those who are in the kingdom. 

John Stott wrote: “Nothing moves us to forgive like the wondering knowledge that we have ourselves been forgiven. Nothing proves more clearly that we have been forgiven that our own readiness to forgive.” 

The Pure In Heart

5:8

The pure in heart are  blessed for they shall see God. The pure in heart are those who are sincere. Their lives are free from falsehood. They are transparent, devoted to God with all of their heart, not just acting like it and observing rituals.

This was part of Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees. They were dedicated to outward observances of law and ritual, but their hearts were not devoted to God. Jesus condemned them, saying: 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside, they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Matthew 23:25)

Only the pure in heart will see God, both now and in eternity. Only the pure in heart can stand the glory of the Holy God. 

The Peacemakers

5:9

Christians are to be peace makers. There are two elements to this. 

First, we should not be creators of conflict or the cause of it. God has called us to peace. (1 Corinthians 7:15; 1 Peter 3:11) Have you ever known someone who likes to “stir the pot”? One of my places of employment had a woman who did this. She would create situations of conflict, pitting one person against another or the group against one person. It kept the staff in turmoil.

Church members can create conflict with gossip, false accusations and faulty assumptions. These people are not peacemakers, they are peace destroyers.

The second part of peacemaking is seeking the reconciliation of others who are in conflict. This may involve talking to both parties about the reason for the conflict, or leading the parties to sit down and talk about it between themselves. 

Jesus was the ultimate peacemaker. He reconciled people to God through his death on the cross. (Romans 5:11; Colossians 1:20) He also made peace between Jews and Gentiles, abolishing the wall of the law to make one man of the two, making peace. (Ephesians 2:15) And Jesus prayed for the unity of the church, that we might be “one” people in agreement with each other as the Son and Father are. (John 17:22) 

That is why peacemakers are called sons of God. 

Yet, we cannot pursue peace at any cost, peace at the expense of truth. The Ecumenical Movement told us to ignore differences and unite in loving Jesus. But, true doctrine is vital. There can be matters we disagree about without losing unity, but the truth of the gospel is not one of them. 

This is not always easy, for it may be difficult to ascertain which doctrines are vital and which are secondary. We see this continually as denominations and churches divide over doctrinal matters. We must stand for truth, but even then, we can do so with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15) 

The Persecuted

5:10-12

The final blessing involves persecution. This one is different than the others in that there is a longer explanation. 

This one also is somewhat foreboding because it presumes persecution will come. He says “when” not “if” you are persecuted. (11) 

First, you may be persecuted simply for your faith, because you believe in Jesus for salvation. That may range from intellectual disdain to physical torture and death. 

The world is full of people who think Christians are stupid to believe as they do. Social media is full of it. Books and articles are written to proclaim it. You may encounter it in social interactions. Paul explains this for us: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”. (1 Corinthians 2:14) 

Formerly Christian countries including Great Britain and Canada have arrested pastors for preaching Biblical truth. 

But physical torture and death also have happened and happen today. It began with the stoning of Stephen. (Acts 7) It continues today as Muslim groups slaughter Christians in places like Nigeria. Government persecution  against Christians happens in China, North Korea, and other places. 

This is what Jesus means says you are blessed when persecuted for righteousness sake. 

Second, you may be reviled and accused falsely, not only for your faith, but for living a moral life according to Biblical standards. You may be accused of thinking you are better than others simply because you will not engage in behaviors they do. Or, you will be accused of being judgmental and unloving.

In all these things, you can rejoice. In the midst of persecution, you know that you are the object of God’s favor and you will be greatly rewarded in heaven. You will be like the Old Testament prophets who were persecuted by their own people. 

Jesus ends the blessings the same way he began them, saying you have the kingdom of heaven. Standing firm in the faith in the face of opposition shows you have a place prepared for you with Christ for eternity. And those who suffered for the faith will be rewarded by the Lord.

This ends the Beatitudes. So, it is a good time to reflect on the traits of kingdom citizens and to resolve to live accordingly.