Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Matthew 5:17-48 | Date: August 2, 2015 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Matthew 5:17 and the Law Fulfilled

Your Bibles with me, if you will, please, to Matthew chapter five. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Sunday morning scripture readings as we’ve worked our way through Matthew. It’s been a blessing each week as we’ve done that, taking big chunks as we’ve read through. This morning was an encouragement, a blessing reading through the first half of the Olivet Discourse.

This morning we’re going to look back to an earlier discourse of our Lord in Matthew chapter 5. We’re going to focus on verse 17. We’re going to look at it in its context to see the subject of Moses’ law fulfilled, which is Jesus’ claim here in verse 17. I’ll begin reading with verse 17:

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.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says “you fool” will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you are put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

You have heard that it was said, “you shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

It was also said, “whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, “you shall not swear falsely, but perform to the Lord what you have sworn.” What I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil.

You have heard that it was said, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil, but if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone should sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

You have heard that it was said, “you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.

Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, we’re thankful for this portion of Your word. We ask that You would help us grasp a clearer understanding of it so that we may come away from it with both a greater appreciation of our Lord Jesus and his significance, and also a life more consecrated to His glory and Yours. We pray in His name. Amen.

As you are aware, of course, Matthew writes his gospel to present Jesus as the King, the long-awaited King. Matthew’s gospel is famous for that, and he starts out from the get-go, Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1, announcing that as his theme. And in Matthew chapter 1, verses 1 through 18, if you’d like to glance back at it, you see that that’s exactly his point: the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And then he begins to trace His genealogy, establishing His messianic credentials, and he ends up in verse 18 with the climax of it all, that Jesus is the Christ, the one who’s been promised to come. And Matthew famously develops that theme of Jesus’ kingship throughout his gospel. We have the kingship theme cropping up in various ways, and we’ll see some of that as we go along today as well.

In Matthew’s gospel then we also have five of Jesus’ discourses. We have other sayings as well, but five major discourses that Jesus gives. And here in chapters 5 through 7, we have the Sermon on the Mount, which is so well known. And this is a very significant sermon in its own right, that here we have the King who has come. He’s been introduced, shown to be the fulfillment of so many different prophecies. He’s been introduced to the world by John the Baptist. He’s been baptized. And now he comes to announce his kingship. And in chapters 5 through 7 in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, as it were, lays out the constitution for his kingdom. Here’s the charter. Here’s how you live in my kingdom. Here’s what my people are like. Here’s what life in my kingdom will be like.

And he starts out, of course, with the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and so on, and he begins to describe the people who inhabit his kingdom, the people who populate his kingdom. What is his kingdom like? Well, here, first of all, is what his people look like. They’re poor in spirit, they mourn, they are meek, they hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on. And so we have in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus giving his charter, his constitution, or we might say his law for the kingdom.

Now if the king has come and the king is now announcing what his kingdom is like, if he is giving in a sense his law, laying out the constitution, the first question that comes up is: what about Moses? Moses gave the law. And so what we have Jesus dealing with first, after he introduces in the Beatitudes the character of those who are in his kingdom, he brings up, first of all, this question of his relationship to the law of Moses. Or, as I think you’ll see, better, the relationship of the law of Moses to Jesus.

And what he says in verse 17 is, “Don’t think that I’ve come to destroy the law of Moses. I’ve not come to destroy it. I’ve come to fulfill it.” Now that’s a big statement, it’s a bold statement, and as we’ve seen here many times before, Jesus often talks about himself. In fact, his whole message that he’s come to proclaim centers on himself. And I’ve suggested many times here that as we read through the Gospels and you hear Jesus preaching, saying so many different bold things like this here, we should get in the habit of asking, “Who does Jesus think he is to talk like that, to speak with such boldness?” We’re going to see some of that as we go through this morning as well.

But when he says, “I’ve not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it,” as important as that sounds, you can imagine that there have been various kinds of interpretations given to what exactly Jesus means. You might think, well, with the language of “fulfill,” “I’ve come to fulfill Moses,” clearly, he’s speaking in terms of prophecy and fulfillment. That’s right. As we’ll see, I think that is exactly what Jesus is getting at. But some will look at that and think, well, in the law, that is in the Torah, Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), you have various prophecies of the Messiah. Genesis 3:15 starts it all. You have it again in Genesis 49:10. You have one in Genesis 12 and 15—prophecies of the Messiah that come. We have many of those. And then in the prophets as well, we have prophecies of the coming Messiah. And Jesus is saying, “Here I’ve come to fulfill those.” Well, I think at least he’s saying that, but I think in the context, and I hope we’ll see here, that he means something more than that.

Some have suggested here that when Jesus says, “I’ve come to fulfill the law,” what he means is simply, “I’ve come to keep it. I’ve come to keep it perfectly.” And so here in me, you’ll see one who has fulfilled, that is, obeyed the law perfectly. Others will look at it and say, well, what he means by “fulfill” is that he’s come to deepen the meaning of Jesus’ law, to clarify the meaning, or something like that, or to intensify the meaning of Moses’ law. Some have said, when he says, “I’ve come to fulfill the law,” he means “I’ve come to correct mistaken understandings of the law.” A lot of different ideas have been suggested with verse 17: what does Jesus mean?

Now the key to it all, of course, is the meaning—everything hinges here—the meaning of “fulfill.” And everywhere else in Matthew, where this word “fulfill” is used, it has that prophecy-fulfillment kind of implications. You’ve seen it several times already in Matthew 1 and 2, where “this happened in the infancy narrative… that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken by the prophet saying.” And “this happened, that it might be fulfilled.” And all of that, speaking of prophecy and fulfillment. And I think that’s the idea here, although I think it’s a little bit bigger than that in some ways that we might not expect. And we’re going to see that, but first of all, I want to make some bigger contextual observations to get us in to see the significance of what’s going on here in verse 17. What we’re going to do then is look at some larger themes in Matthew to show how they have come to bear on what Jesus is claiming when he says, “I’ve come to fulfill and not abrogate the law.”

Jesus As The New Moses

First of all, and I want you to think through some of this with me, with your own acquaintance with Matthew in mind—and you’re going to have to stay with me, we’re going to cover a lot of material today in a short amount of time (well, I hope it’s short; it may not be that short)—first of all, the theme of Jesus as the new Moses. Matthew goes to some pains to present Jesus as a new and greater Moses, and some allusions to that just abound in Matthew. Now we’ve seen this before when we look at the Gospels. You’ll see something said about Jesus that reflects something that was said in the Old Testament about someone else. And you’re wondering now, “Is this meant to be a fulfillment of that or is that just a coincidence?” And then you see another, and then you see another, and then you see another, and then you see another, and you think, “Okay, Matthew’s working at this.” Matthew is working to show us this theme through these subtle allusions.

And the new Moses theme is one of those. For example, think through the infancy narratives in chapters one and two. We have there Jesus narrowly escaping the wrath of the king. Does that ring a bell? Jesus coming up from Egypt. Does that ring a bell? In fact, Matthew draws that connection himself. When Jesus comes up out of Egypt, he reaches back to Hosea, where Hosea has said, “Out of Egypt I have brought my son.” Matthew says, “Now that is fulfilled when Jesus comes up out of Egypt.” So we have the wrath of the king, the fear of the king. We have the slaughter of the innocents. Does that ring a bell with Moses in the early chapters of Exodus? And in fact, in Matthew chapter 2 and verse 20, we are told, “They are dead which sought the young child’s life.” That language is taken right out of Exodus chapter four and verse 19, where God says the same to Moses: “They are dead which sought your life.”

In Matthew chapter four, verse two, Jesus fasted for 40 days on the mountain. That rings a bell again for Exodus 24 and Deuteronomy chapter nine; that’s the length of time Moses was on the mountain. Wilderness temptation was 40 days. And when Jesus answers Satan with each of his temptations, each of the answers that Jesus gives are drawn from Israel in the wilderness passage in Deuteronomy. And then we have Jesus giving the law from a mountain here in Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapters 5 through 23, we have Jesus as an ethical teacher, again sounding like Moses. Matthew chapter 14, we have Jesus giving bread in a desert place, which sounds a lot like what Moses did in giving the manna, and that’s exactly the connection, of course, that Jesus makes in John chapter six. So all of those allusions abound to show that, okay, in some sense, Matthew is presenting Jesus as a new Moses, or we can say then, a new lawgiver.

Closely associated with that, we have in Matthew—and again, think through some of this—the “greater than” theme in Matthew. Jesus is greater than. In Matthew chapter 1, verse 21, he’s the new and greater Joshua. The big passage on this, I suppose, is Matthew chapter 12, where Jesus claims not only to be Lord of the Sabbath, which is freighted with all kinds of implications regarding his authority—Jesus is greater than David. Jesus is greater than Solomon. Jesus is greater than Jonah. Jesus is greater than the temple. And in fact, when we even begin the book in Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1, “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham,” Matthew is not simply announcing that Jesus is a descendant of David and a descendant of Abraham, although he’s at least saying that. But clearly what he is saying is that he is great David’s greater son. He is the greater than Abraham is clearly the point of it all.

They have an allusion to it, I think, in chapter 2, verses 15 through 18, which I’ve already mentioned, where Jesus comes up out of Egypt, and that’s reported as a fulfillment of Hosea’s prophecy, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.” Here Jesus is being presented as the new Israel, or we might say the true Israel, as Israel was brought up out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, entered into its time of temptation and failed. Now Jesus has come up out of Egypt, he’s been baptized, enters into his temptation and succeeds. He is the greater and true Israel.

Well, closely related to all of that, we’ve got another theme in Matthew’s gospel, and that is of Jesus’ authority. And again, think through the emphasis on Jesus’ authority in Matthew. We saw this recently in another message from Matthew. Jesus’ authority is, of course, implied in all of those “greater than” passages. If he’s greater than Moses, if he’s greater than David, and greater than Solomon, and greater than Jonah, and greater than the temple, of course, there’s some mention then of his authority in it all.

But even here in Matthew 5, verse 17, Jesus says, “Don’t think that I’ve come to destroy the law and the prophets.” Who does he think he is? Does he think he’s someone who might be able to do that? And just the claim and the negative, “Don’t think I’ve come to destroy it,” is freighted with implications of his own authority. “I’ve not come to destroy it, I have come to fulfill.” And then through the rest of the passage that we’ve read this morning: “You’ve heard that it was said,” and he quotes something from the Law of Moses. “You’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you,” and then again, “You’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you,” and “You’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you.” And even as I say, one-ups him in many instances. Unmistakably, this is an emphasis on Jesus’ authority. And you can’t miss that if you’ve read your whole Bible through; you can’t miss that this is that new and greater prophet that Moses said would come. God promised it in Deuteronomy chapter 18, that “I’ll send another prophet like you. And when he comes, they had better listen. I will hold them accountable to all that he says.”

Matthew chapters 8 and 9, we have this extended display of Jesus’ authority over every possible realm. He heals a leper. He heals at a distance with just a spoken word. He heals. He raises the dead. He calms a storm. And then in chapter 9, they bring a paralytic to him. And instead of just healing the man, just speaking and letting the man be healed as he has in other instances, he looks at the man and says, “Your sins be forgiven you.” And everyone is just shocked. Who can talk like that? Who does he think he is? Who can forgive sin but God only? Jesus says, “Yeah, you got that right… so that you will know that the Son of Man has power, has authority on earth to forgive sin. I say to you, take up your bed and walk.” That’s the sustained emphasis throughout the gospel showing this great unsurpassed authority of Jesus over every realm.

One of my favorite displays of it is in Matthew chapter 17, where Jesus is on the Mount of Transfiguration—not one of Peter’s finer moments. Jesus is transfigured before them, they see him in his glory, and suddenly Moses and Elijah show up, and they’re talking, and Peter, caught up with everything: “Let’s build three booths here, three tabernacles to commemorate the thing, one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for you.” You remember what God says? “This is my beloved son, listen to him.” And you can’t miss some of the imagery there as well. Here we have the mountain. We have the divine presence. We have the voice from heaven. We have the cloud. We have the shining face. We have the divine revelation. This sounds like Sinai. And in fact, you’ve got Moses (law) and you’ve got Elijah (prophets). God says, “This is my son. Listen to him.” That is, Moses, Elijah, law, prophets—all eclipsed. A greater Moses, a greater prophet has come, and all else take a back seat to him. Of course, all of that comes to a climax at the end of Matthew’s gospel, Matthew 28, verses 18 to 20: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go out and bring all the nations into submission to me. Make disciples of all the nations.”

What Does He Mean By Fulfill?

All right, that is the larger framework I think we have to see when we come to this statement in Matthew 5, that he has come to fulfill, not to abolish, but to fulfill the law. Now what we have to do next, I think, is notice what Jesus explains by this. What does he mean by fulfill? We’ll see a little bit more of the meaning of fulfill exactly in just a minute. But first of all, let’s look how he handles it in verses 21 and following. Here we have—this is why I took the time to read through it—what’s called the antitheses. Something is stated, the antithesis is stated. “So you’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you. You’ve heard that it was said, but I say to you.” And let’s see what Jesus is doing there when he says all of that.

Verse 21: “You’ve heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not murder. Whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ I say to you that everyone who’s angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says ‘you fool’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Now what is Jesus doing there with Moses? Now some of the interpretations offer that what he’s doing here is expounding Moses. But I don’t think any fair exposition of “thou shalt not kill” can come up with “you shall not be angry, you shall not insult, and you shall not call him a fool.” Clearly, in some sense, Jesus is advancing on Moses. He’s making some kind of advance.

We have it again, verses 27 and 28, and here he deals with the seventh commandment: “You’ve heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ I say to you, don’t even lust.” Now what’s Jesus doing with Moses there? I don’t think any fair exposition of the seventh commandment, “you shall not commit adultery,” can come up with “you shall not entertain a lustful thought.” Again, Jesus is not merely interpreting Moses, he’s making an advance. He’s exceeding Moses in some sense.

Chapter 5, verses 31 and 32, a fascinating example because it seems to work the other way. Here it seems like Jesus is rescinding Moses. “It was said, ‘whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ I say to you, don’t divorce.” Now, there are some exceptional causes. He mentions one. There are others given in the New Testament. That’s not what he’s dealing with here. We’re not going to deal with that this morning. But broadly speaking, Moses said, “If you’re going to divorce, make sure you do the paperwork.” Jesus says, “Don’t divorce.” Now again, no fair exposition of Moses in Deuteronomy—”If you’re going to divorce, make sure you get a bill of divorcement”—comes up with “don’t divorce.” But if Moses’ intent in that law was to restrict divorce, then we might say that Jesus has advanced Moses in the sense that he’s restricting it even more. On the face of it at least, he’s rescinded Moses. “You’ve heard it said… what I say.”

Chapter 5, verses 33 and 34: “You’ve heard that it was said to those of old, ‘you shall not swear falsely.’ I tell you, don’t swear at all. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” I think there might be a little hyperbole here. I don’t think Jesus is forbidding that we take an oath. I don’t think he’s forbidding that Christians can, in court, swear to tell the truth or anything like that. But what he is insisting is that we speak the truth in all occasions. If Moses was restricting perjury, Jesus is commanding honesty in every detail. Even if there’s some hyperbole here in verses 33 and following where Jesus seems to be rescinding what Moses allows, still he’s advancing Moses’ intent, and that is honesty.

Chapter 5, verses 38 and following: “You’ve heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ I say to you, turn the other cheek. Ask for your tunic, give him your cloak also. Soldier comes and forces you to carry something for him for a mile, carry it two miles.” Again, it seems to be some kind of restriction of Moses. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” What do you think the intent of that is? Probably the intent of that is to restrict excessive revenge. Even so, Jesus is forbidding all kinds of exacting revenge. Turn the other cheek. Let him do it again. Whatever you say, Jesus is making some kind of advance over Moses.

And then finally, chapter five, verses 43 and 44: “You’ve heard that it was said, ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ I’m not quite sure what to do with that. Where is he getting the ‘hate your enemy’? Of course, the Old Testament doesn’t say that. There are a few occasions in the Old Testament where hatred of the enemy is enjoined and that is allowed. Whether this is just a summary of that or if he’s speaking of some kind of abuse of it, I’m not entirely sure. But certainly, no exposition of Moses’ “love your neighbor” can come up with “love your enemy.” Jesus is making some kind of advance over Moses by quantum leaps.

So, in all of that, what is Jesus doing with Moses? Well, the answer, of course, is he’s fulfilling it. That’s what he said. What does he mean by that? Well, he doesn’t mean he’s simply expounding Moses, giving Moses’ true intent. He’s claiming a unique authority over Moses and making significant advance beyond what Moses commanded.

Then I think we can come to this matter of “fulfill.” What does it mean when Jesus says, “I’ve come not to destroy the law but to fulfill it”? Well, again, this word “fulfill” always has the connotation in Matthew of bringing about what was anticipated, what was prophesied—fulfilling prophecy in that sense. Sometimes it’s a specific predictive prophecy: “He will come from Bethlehem,” and Jesus comes from Bethlehem and it’s fulfilled in that sense. But here what he’s saying is that Moses’ law itself—notice in every detail, every jot and tittle—every detail of the Law and the Prophets is fulfilled in Jesus. That is, every detail of the Law and the Prophets has an anticipatory function, looking ahead to what will come about in Jesus. And when Jesus takes the Law and says, “You’ve heard it said, but I say,” that’s the fulfillment he’s giving. That is, the Law, even in its commanding aspects, predicted, prophesied, looked forward to, anticipated what is now brought about in Jesus’ law and what he is preaching.

That’s what’s in mind, I think, if you want to glance ahead to chapter 11, verse 13: “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” All the law and the prophets—the law prophesies. Now we don’t normally think of law in that sense. Law commands. But Jesus says the law prophesied. The law, even its commanding aspects, looked ahead to what would be brought about in Jesus. So Jesus fulfills Moses by bringing about what that old law could only anticipate. And so the prohibition of murder gives way to a prohibition of anger, prohibition of hatred. The law prohibiting adultery gives way to a law prohibiting even lust.

Maybe I can illustrate this more easily. Do you think that when you get to heaven, there’ll be any signs in heaven saying, posted on the wall, “You shall not murder”? Well, I doubt it. Why? Because in heaven, this world of love, there’ll be no hate. We will have been so thoroughly transformed that in some sense, “thou shalt not kill” has become obsolete. It’s not that you can murder now—you can’t, of course. It’s just that that law now has been so superseded by what has come that it has become obsolete.

What Jesus is saying here then, I think, when he says, “I’ve come to fulfill the law,” and then he illustrates it in this way, what he’s saying is that “my law has come to bring about the perfected kingdom in a way that Moses’ law could only anticipate.” So I don’t think we will see in heaven signs where you’ll have to be reminded, “thou shalt not commit adultery.” Why? Because we won’t lust. I think what Jesus is saying here then is that insofar as we obey the law of Christ, we have brought about the righteousness that that old law could only anticipate. Jesus places himself and his law on that trajectory to the consummated kingdom. And insofar as we keep his law, it has so far advanced what we’ve seen before in Moses, and it brings about what that law could only anticipate.

So in the end, the point here is not so much Jesus dealing with his relationship to the law of Moses as Moses’ relationship—the relationship of Moses’ law and its relationship to Jesus. How has Moses’ law been affected by the arrival of this great king and prophet? Answer: it’s been fulfilled now. And in a sense then, it has been eclipsed.

So Matthew 5:17 fits in Matthew’s overall presentation of Jesus. He’s “greater than.” He has a surpassing authority. He is a new Moses. He’s the fulfiller of all the expectations of the old covenant. And in fact, verse 18, every last detail of the law finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Not only the direct prophecies and the types, but even in the commanding aspects of Moses’ law, Jesus brings about what it could only anticipate. Jesus, then, is the fulfiller of even the commanding aspects of the law.

That’s what he means, then, when we get to verse 19: “Therefore, whoever relaxes one of these least commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Here, Jesus says that, and I think you have to say “least of these commandments” has to refer to Moses—Moses’ commandments. And in verse 19, Jesus is saying you have to fulfill all of the least details of Moses’ law. And yet we don’t do that; we don’t keep the sacrifices. I think what he’s saying is you keep that law of Moses in the shape in which it has been advanced in the coming of Christ and has realized its fulfillment. And we keep those commands the same way regarding these commands: “you shall not murder,” “you shall not commit adultery.” We keep that command in the same way we keep the commands to sacrifice and Sabbath—keep them in the way they are given to us from Jesus who fulfilled them.

Then verse 20: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Every detail of the law must be kept. And it is kept in this way as it has come to us through Jesus.

Summary Statements

All right, I know that’s a lot to work through. Let me make a few summary statements that I think, I hope, will help clarify and show the significance of it. Five summary statements quickly.

Number one, Jesus proclaims a righteousness that is superior to Moses. This lies just on the surface of the thing. Jesus proclaims a righteousness that is superior to that of Moses and his law. Jesus here gives a higher law, a higher standard, a superior moral code. Not only does he say you can’t murder, he says you can’t be angry, you must not insult. Insofar as we follow our Lord in these teachings that he gives here, that advance over Moses, to that extent, we display the newness of the kingdom. And in fact, to that extent, we reflect the kingdom in its consummated form. Jesus proclaims a righteousness that is superior to that of Moses.

Number two, Jesus establishes himself as the new point of reference. It is no longer Moses. It’s Jesus. You can’t hear Jesus say, “You’ve heard it said… and you’ve heard Moses say this, but I say to you, you’ve heard it said, but I say.” You can’t hear that very long before you realize there’s a Copernican kind of revolution going on here in terms of our point of reference with regard to ethics and morality. It’s no longer Moses. It’s Jesus. You can’t miss it. Moses has been eclipsed. He’s not been destroyed. He’s not been abrogated. He has been fulfilled. And what he has anticipated and could only anticipate is now brought about in Jesus. And so Jesus is saying he marks an epical shift now in terms of the whole point of reference in living for God. Our immediate point of reference now is not Moses. Our immediate point of reference is Jesus.

And let me take just a minute or two to show some of this later in the New Testament. Look at Galatians chapter six. Galatians 6 verse 2—and then we’ll look at one other passage as well. Galatians 6 verse 2: “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Moses.” That’s not what it says, is it? “Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Well, where did Paul get that idea? It reflects in Paul’s thinking that his immediate point of reference in terms of ethics and morality and treating your brother is no longer Moses; it’s Jesus. We fulfill the law of Christ.

Look back a few pages at 1 Corinthians 9, beginning with verse 19: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I may win more of them. For example, verse 20, to the Jews, I became a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law.” Notice that: “though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law.” That is, I am not restricted to Moses, I’m not bound by it. But when I’m in a Jewish environment, I can flex and I can become like a Jew and I can keep their customs, I can keep their laws—no harm done. And I can do that in order to win them for Christ. But notice Paul pictures himself as outside of that obligation. Then he goes on. Verse 21: “To those outside the law,” that is, the non-Jewish communities, those who have not received Moses, “to those outside the law, I became as one outside the law.” Now that’s open for all kinds of misunderstanding, isn’t it? There’s no law for Paul? Well, he clarifies parenthetically: “To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ).” Here is my point of reference. I’m not obligated to Moses. I’m not without law altogether either. I’m in law to Christ. This is my point of reference. This, I think, is what gives rise to the whole “slavery to Christ” theme that we find in the New Testament, where we are bondslaves of Christ. He is the point of reference. He is the one immediately to whom we are obligated. So we have this whole note of the great advance of revelation in the New Testament. God at various times spoke here and there to the fathers by the prophets, here and there, and a little more here and a little more there (Hebrews 1); now he has spoken to us climactically in his son.

Number three, Jesus demonstrates the need for a substitute righteousness. I don’t think this is the theme of Matthew chapter 5, but I think it is unavoidable in Matthew 5 nonetheless. Who here has never been angry without a cause? Who here has never insulted someone wrongfully? Who among us has never entertained a lustful thought? And yet Jesus says, “Unless you have this kind of righteousness, you can’t enter the kingdom of heaven.” And he gets to the end of it in verse 48, Matthew 5: “Therefore be perfect.” Oh, wait a minute. You must mean that in some relative sense, right? “Therefore be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.” There’s the standard. This law that Jesus issues here is a law that reflects the very character of heaven itself. I don’t think we can read through Matthew 5 thoughtfully without thinking, “All right then, how good is good enough?” It’s always amazed me in trying to witness the gospel to people, how many times I’ve heard this: “I believe if you just keep the Sermon on the Mount, God will accept you.” And I want to say, “Yeah, have at it. How’s that working for you?” You can’t read through it thoughtfully at all without saying, “I need somebody better than me.” Inevitably, reading through this and all of its demands, it drives us to find someone better than ourselves.

And that brings us to our fourth observation here. Just as the law highlights the arrival of the New Covenant age, so also Jesus demonstrates the need for the new covenant itself. You remember the old covenant given at Sinai. It failed. It failed to bring about its objective for two reasons. One, it could not provide for compliance. There was nothing in “thou shalt not kill” that got on the inside and took away the drive to kill. There was nothing in “thou shall not commit adultery” that got on the inside and took away the lust to commit adultery. It failed, number one, because it could not provide for compliance. All it could do is command. And number two, it failed because it made no provision for lawbreakers. It made no provision for lawbreakers. “Do this and live, don’t do that or you die.” You violate the law here, you die. You violate the law here, you die. The law itself makes no provision for lawbreakers.

And so God makes an announcement through Jeremiah, again through Ezekiel, mentions it through Isaiah, Hosea and some of the other prophets as well, but most famously through Jeremiah: “I’m gonna make a new covenant. I’m gonna make a new covenant with them, and I’m gonna write my law on their hearts. I’m gonna take out that stony heart of theirs, so given to rebellion and so unresponsive. I’m gonna take out that stony heart, I’m gonna put in a heart of flesh, and I’ll put my spirit in them, and I’m gonna cause them to walk in my law and keep my commandments. I’m gonna put it on the inside of them.” You will not lust, you will not commit adultery, you will not murder because we are lawbreakers. God promises in the new covenant, “I’ll forgive their sins as well.” God says, “I’ll remove their sins as far as the East is from the West. I’ll throw them in the depths of the deepest sea. I’ll remember them no more.” You think, “Well, how can a holy God forgive sin like that?” Of course, the answer finally comes when Jesus takes that cup just before his death: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Through his death, he enacts this covenant so that God now will provide for his people in the way that he has promised and put it in their hearts to obey him. And he will forgive them for their sins on the ground of the satisfaction of justice given in the death of Jesus.

This passage concerns, in Matthew 5, first of all, an ethical righteousness—how we’re supposed to live, how we must live before God. But the standard that Jesus gives here is such that inevitably it leaves us looking for a substitute righteousness and someone who can take care of the problem that we have incurred by not keeping God’s law and failing in so many cases. Verse 20 is a staggering demand: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Every detail of the law must be kept. And it is kept in this way as it has come to us through Jesus.

I suspect most of us have been poisoned a little by the way we read the scripture, misread it. We look at the scribes and Pharisees as the bad guys. In a situation like this, Jesus is holding them up as the standard. These are the kinds of people the men of Israel would have pointed their sons to: “I want you to be like that man. He keeps the law.” And Jesus says, “Unless you have a greater righteousness than theirs—in fact, if you are not perfect as your father in heaven is perfect—you can’t see the kingdom.”

We have to keep in mind here that as Matthew is presenting Jesus giving his demands here, this is part of a larger narrative, a narrative that culminates in a passion narrative where Jesus—this one who has kept God’s kingdom law perfectly, this one who has never murdered and has never hated and has never insulted and has never committed adultery and has never entertained a lustful thought—he presents himself as the substitute for sinners and dies in their place, enacting this covenant by which God will bless his people. The call of the gospel, then—it’s not the immediate point of the passion, but inevitably drives us there—the call of the gospel is that to sinners everywhere, whatever you’ve done, wherever you’ve been, whatever your background, here is one who has done it. And he offers himself as a savior perfectly suited for you.

I remember a number of years ago here, we had a young lady visit a few times. I talked to her privately several times. I explained the gospel to her as clearly and simply as I know how to do it. One of the last times I talked to her, she said, “I’m trying to be a good Christian. I’m trying to be a Christian, but I think I’m just not good enough.” You know, it’s one of those face-palm moments. I’ve explained the gospel to you as clearly and as simply as I know how. You’ve heard Pastor Boyd preach, you’ve heard me preach, and what you come up with is you’re not good enough to be a Christian? Of course you’re not good enough. The whole gospel comes to us telling us you’re not good enough, proclaiming there is one who is, that he has offered himself in place of sinners and we may have salvation fully through him. Jesus, as one who proclaims the law of God and its fulfillment, also offers himself as a savior for sinners. And after all is said and done through this passage, we are left with, in the end of it all, you have no hope but Jesus.

But there is a fifth point here that we have to mention as well, just quickly, and that is: number five, Jesus points us to a day in which we will experience ourselves the perfect righteousness that he demands here. The day that Jesus envisions here, when his people not only will not commit adultery, but they will not lust. Not only will they not murder, they will not be angry, they will not insult. The day that Jesus presents here is a day that will come. And we shall be what we should be. And we shall be what we would be. Things that are not now nor could be, soon shall be our own. God has promised in his new covenant to bring about the righteousness in us that he requires of us. Brothers and sisters, that day will surely come. Hard to imagine. No sin, temptation behind us. No wonder heaven is described as a world of love. Amen.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for our Lord Jesus. We love to see new glimpses of his greatness, his significance. We love to be reminded not only of our need for him—we love to be reminded of our need for him because then we see again and afresh the greatness of who he is and the richness of his provisions for us. Lord, in this passage, he has commanded us to live in a way that reflects heaven. I pray that you would work it increasingly into the hearts of all your people here. We will live in a way that honors you, to the glory of Jesus Christ, we pray in his name, amen. Thank you, Yard Smith.