WHY DO YOU TRY AND KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?
WHY DON’T WE KEEP THE SACRIFICIAL LAWS OF THE OT ANYMORE?
SHOULD WE BASE OUR NATION’S LAWS ON THE OT?
“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.”
Jesus has just come off his statements in the beatitudes about blessing and encouraged his hearers to be salt and light. Then he reverses and talks about the failure of the Pharisees though they were seen as keeping the law and were the standard of righteousness for the Jews. He implies that they do not keep the law as God intended. They are not the salt and light. Jesus’ disciples are. Then he begins to describe what that looks like. But before Jesus does that he addresses some things about the OT law.
(V.17) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.”
Jesus reference to “the law and the prophets” referred to the whole of the Old Testament. Jesus, in this statement, upholds the Mosaic Law and prophets as valid for Israel at that time.
It’s helpful to know something about the Old Testament law in order to understand what Jesus was referring to when he said he wasn’t going to abolish the law. There are three parts to the Mosaic Law.
- There is the ceremonial law, the moral law, and the civil law. The ceremonial law were the laws of sacrifice for sin, the priesthood, offerings, tithes, and holy days.
- The civil laws were the laws that covered Israel as a nation that defined its borders, established political authorities, judgeships, and enacting justice.
- The moral law are the right and wrong moral absolutes that God gave to Israel, such as you shall not lie, you shall not committed adultery, you shall not covet.
Jesus did not come to abolish any of these. To abolish means to do away with. Jesus did not do away with the law, but he put it in the right perspective.
(V.17) “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
There are two senses to the word fulfill. The first is to obey something to fulfill its requirements. The second fulfillment is that of prophecy, Jesus came to fulfill the prophetic statements in the Old Testament that were made about him. Jesus came to do both. He fulfilled all of the requirements of the Old Testament law. He performed the law perfectly. He never sinned. He always loved.
Jesus also fulfills the prophecy and types about himself that are found in the Old Testament. What is a type? A type is a picture or prefiguring of something that is to come, specifically, in prophecy. Types could be found in things, but were usually expressed as people.
Melchizedek was a type for Jesus (priest). Moses was a type for Jesus (law giver). Samuel was a type for Jesus (prophet). David was a type for Jesus (king). Solomon was a type for Jesus (prophesied son). Their lives represented something that would come later on in the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled all of those roles. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament’s notions of prophet, priest and king.
(V.18) “Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Is the law still in force? Consider this teaching from the Apostle Paul.
Jesus said he didn’t come to abolish the law, but Paul said we are not under the law.
HOW DO YOU RECTIFY THESE TWO POSITIONS?
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’” (Galatians 3:10).
Jesus took our curse on the tree. He was under the law for us. He performed the law, then died in our place.
“For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).
“The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good” (Romans 7:12).
WHAT DOES THAT SAY TO YOU?
Paul summed up how to fulfill the law.
“For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law” (Roman’s 13:8).
Later, the writer to the Hebrews noted…
“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).
(V.19) “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, we should qualify what we’ve said about the law using our three categories of law: ceremonial, civil, and moral. Jesus fulfilled all three.
- Jesus was sentenced under the civil law. The case against him was blasphemy.
- He fulfilled the ceremonial law. He was our sacrifice for sin.
- And he fulfilled the moral law. He never sinned.
However, for us, two parts of the law are done away with and one part remains.
- The sacrificial system ended in 70AD with the destruction of the temple.
- The civil system was tied to the land and promises to the nation as a political entity. Those promises were fulfilled in the past. There is no king, no coming messiah under a Jewish understanding.
- Yet, the moral law remains. We are still bound by the moral law. The moral law is repeated by Paul in his writings as still being in force. Christ fulfilled the moral law and empowers us to keep it. But it is more than just obeying the “do nots” of the Ten Commandments.
Prophecy said the law would be written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). But I think it’s something bigger than the “do nots.” Instead of adultery, faithfulness is written on our hearts. Instead of stealing, generosity is written on our hearts. Instead of lying, truth and integrity are written on our hearts. These are the behaviors of love. And love fulfills the law.
(V.20) “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The Pharisees and the other Jewish religious leaders were seen as the pinnacle of Jewish religious expression. They studied the law in great detail and even came up with 613 additional oral traditions to help them keep even the most detailed parts of the law. But Jesus condemned this. The Pharisees sought righteousness through keeping the law and their traditions. But the law was never meant for salvation. It was meant for ordering their society. Righteousness, as we learn from Paul, come only through faith in Christ. For Jesus to say that we must have a righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees would have shocked his hearers. If the Pharisees can’t get in, how do they get in?
WHY IS LAW KEEPING NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO GAIN SALVATION?
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD SOMEONE SAY, “SO AND SO WOULD MAKE A GOOD CHRISTIAN?” THE SCRIPTURE DENIES THIS. WHY?
Sometimes, there’s the temptation to think that when someone comes to Christ, they bring something to the table. But the Bible’s perspective on this is completely different. The only thing we bring to the table of salvation is our sin in order to be forgiven. Jesus is the one who brings everything else to the table. He brings us all that we need for salvation and living a righteous life in him. Mainly, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the Christian and empower him to walk in faith.
Righteousness here means following the moral law under the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul tells us about the fruit of the Spirit.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Right living isn’t against the law. And that’s why we’re not under law but under grace. Love fulfills the law.
Jesus condemned the Pharisees for adding to the law and for not obeying justice, mercy, etc. But, Acts 15 tells us that as the church grew there were some Pharisees who came to faith in Christ. They still held to the law, but they came to believe in Jesus.
INTERPRETATION
What is Jesus’ big idea for this passage?
Jesus is not doing away with the law, but he is fulfilling it. He’s not telling his hearers how they should live. He’s telling them how he will live—to fulfill the law.
It’s true that Jesus touches on our righteousness relative to the law. But he won’t start dealing with those specifics until we get to the next section of his discourse. For now, this is about what Jesus will do. He will fulfill the law, and the law required death for sin to be fulfilled. In fact, the law could not be fulfilled without a death for sin.
Remember where we’ve come from so far in our study. First we began with the beatitudes and the blessings. And we learned that Jesus is the one who receives the blessings. The blessings are about him.
Then we learned about salt and light. Jesus is the light of the world and we are to become lights, like him.
And now we touch on the law. And we learned that the law is not enough to have salvation. But we must come to faith in Christ. The moral law plays a role in our lives, but faith plays a more significant role.
So what is Jesus telling us? He is telling us that he is the fulfillment of the law. This is in contrast to the Pharisees and religious leaders who thought they were fulfilling the law by performing its prescriptions. Whereas it is Jesus who fulfills the law by being the prescription. Our role is not to fulfill the prescriptions of the law, it is to be like Christ.
APPLICATION
Both Jesus and Paul said to love was the fulfillment of the law. So how do we fulfill the law?
- First, we follow the greatest commandment to love God with our heart, soul and mind.
- Second, we fulfill the law in Leviticus 19:18 when it talks about, loving your neighbor as yourself.
- Thirdly, we fulfill Jesus’ command in John 13:34 to love one another as he loved us.
WHAT DOES THAT LOVE LOOK LIKE IN A PRACTICAL SENSE?
Notice the example that Jesus raises. He uses himself as the standard of measurement. How did Jesus love us? By dying for us on the cross. How can you and I express this kind of love?