Matthew 5:17-20 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 tell you, 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. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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.
The law and the concomitant regulations were to set apart the people of Israel from all other people on the face of the earth. They were to be God’s people, his chosen ones. But as God’s people, they must serve him wholeheartedly with reverence, not using his name in vain or abusing his name by using it in any oath to validate that they would fulfill their obligations to others. The law affirmed to them that there was only one God and that they should serve him only. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 5:7-9) To show full respect for the Creator who is at rest on the Seventh Day and who delivered them from Egypt, they were to rest on the Seventh Day, revealing God had completed a new work. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 5:12) The Jewish people were to respect their heritage. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16) They should live in their community in harmony and cooperation. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. (Deuteronomy 5:17-21) These specific laws provided the Jewish people with an understanding of how unique they were. The regulations they followed controlled their everyday experiences. Such a manner of living produced a people who knew they had one primary purpose for their existence: to demonstrate to the rest of the world’s people that they served the Creator of all things. Even today, the Jewish people are at odds with the rest of the world, for their very existence reveals that there is a God to serve, a Creator of heaven and Earth to honor. Consequently, they have faced persecution wherever they have gone. The devil hates their existence, for they reveal the reality of God’s existence and God’s will for men to serve him. As Jesus said when He resisted Satan: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only you shall serve. (Matthew 4:10 NKJV)
Even as the chosen people of God with a historic event in their past—delivery from slavery in Egypt—the Israelites could not be true to the commandments of their Deliverer. They violated God’s commandments, causing them to face horrendous judgment, a dispersion throughout the world. Even the chosen, who experienced a miraculous journey to a promised land, could not be faithful to the God of their deliverance. This waywardness that all men have in their hearts to a generous Creator reveals the obstinance of human beings, their hostility to the God of all things. Mankind lives in a house of rebellion with the door blocked against God’s perfect will. Within the heart of humanity is a covenant breaking attitude, desiring no controls over their lives. This waywardness is often hard for us discern within our hearts, but it exists in both Jews and Gentiles. What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12) In human history we have seen periods where whole societies were flipped, where the oppressed were now given the position of authority, but what happens is the oppressed become the oppressors, doing the same things to the ones who are now without power as they once experienced. This of course happened in the French revolution and in the communist societies that were developed in the twentieth century. Some people say that over 50 million people who were perceived as authority figures were killed in these revolutions, even teachers with no agenda of violence faced death in those countries. We see in our generation, that in many of these countries, the formerly oppressed have now become the oppressors, for within the hearts of men is great wickedness, uncontrollable by law or even the concept of justice. Life becomes as it was when there was no king in Israel and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6) When mankind is in absolute control, people will do what is best for themselves, not for others. Why then is the law of God different from man’s attempt to right injustice and corruption by flipping societies upside down? God’s law places a divine power in charge of mankind’s daily lives. Of course, nothing is hidden from God’s view, so eventually all of man’s actions and attitudes will be judged by a righteous God. But even if mankind felt that was an eventual happening, that there is a just God, he is still out of control, for rebellion is part of his makeup. Consequently, his heart must be changed, a new creature must be made, for the old is flawed by sin and lawlessness. We need a Savior. As Paul wrote, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
Jesus came to fulfill the law, that which men made in God’s image could not fulfill, for man holds rebellion deep within him. Jesus satisfies every demand that God placed on mankind. He alone brings people to the throne room of God. The Jews, chosen by God, could not satisfy the requirements of God on their lives. The Gentiles would never have been able to complete the work of righteousness, for they had lived in darkness, away from the light of the commandments, justifying themselves in their own eyes. Neither group could please God with their allegiance to themselves rather than to God. Following the law did not help Paul find God. His best efforts failed to please the righteous God. I consider them (his accomplishments) garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11) When the council of leaders in the early church met to consider circumcision and following of Moses’ laws as a necessary step in the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ, Peter denounced this belief as a requirement for new believers. Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11) Peter exclaimed the true nature of men in his comments to the council. None of them could claim that they were always faithful to the law, satisfying the requirements of law in their daily lives. In other words, they were all lawbreakers: a yoke. . . that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear. He states as Paul does many times in his writings: righteousness comes through the work of Jesus at the cross and not through the works of men. Jesus came to satisfy completely the law of God. Only He is truly righteous, only He is perfect, and only perfection will inherit eternal life with God. Righteousness does not come through obedience to the law; righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Nothing needs to be added to Jesus’ work; no other card placed on the table will win eternal life for those of us who are in the game of life. We win because Christ has won the hand for us. We are more righteous than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, for we have God himself on our side of the table of life. We will inherit everlasting life because Jesus IS everlasting and He IS ours through faith in him and his victory over sin and death. 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. Amen. Walk confidently by faith in your freedom in Christ Jesus!
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