- Sermon Notes
- Scripture
The B-I-B-L-E
Matthew 5:17-20
Introduction
ILLUS – Teaching Malina the “Rules of the Road”
1. God has given us His inspired, inerrant Word, the Bible, so that we may know His “Rules for Life”.
2. In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus declared His view of the Law and the Prophets along with His relationship to it.
3. In addition, Jesus summarized the relationship His true disciples should have with the Law and the Prophets, as citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
4. Let’s discover the nature of both relationships so that we may properly live by the B-I-B-L-E!
Matthew 5:17-20
Context
1. In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus told those who had gathered around Him what it means to be His disciple, the characteristics He expects to see from His followers.
2. These are “beautiful attitudes”, attitudes which are the result of God’s work in the heart of each person who has surrendered their will, declared their allegiance, and have placed their faith in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
3. God’s blessing rests upon each person who embodies what Jesus taught in these verses.
4. Jesus then gave two word pictures to spell out the impact a person would have on those around them as “salt” and “light” in our fallen world (13-16).
5. What Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount was radical and caused some to call into question His view of the Law and the Prophets.
6. Anticipating their response, Jesus confronted their questions and ultimately declared that His teaching was the way God had always intended it to be.
I. Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law and Prophets
A. This was Jesus’ mission
1. “Do not think” means do not “suppose”, “presume”, “assume”, or “imagine”.
a. Translation – “Don’t go there!”
b. Jesus warned against entertaining the thought the He came to abolish the Law.
2. The word “fulfill” means “to complete” or to “bring to its destined end”.
a. This means that Jesus would bring into being (reality) all that God commanded or promised.
b. It also means that Jesus not only completed the Law, He transcends it!
3. Please also note the scope of Jesus’ mission.
a. There are 248 commands and 365 prohibitions for a total of 613 commandments in the Law. Jesus came to perfectly fulfill all of it.
b. There are hundreds of Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled over 350 of them during His First Advent.
4. How did Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
a. Jesus perfectly kept the Law by living a perfect, sinless life.
2 Corinthians 5:17, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
b. Jesus’ death fulfilled prophecy when He died on the cross for our sin.
Isaiah 53:5-6, But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
ILLUS – Pastor Rich questions a rabbi about Isaiah 53
c. Jesus fulfilled prophecy when He was resurrected from the dead.
Psalm 16:10, For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
APPL – The entire Old Testament points forward to Jesus and what He would accomplish through His life and ministry.
- The sacrifices, feasts, priesthood, stories, and typologies all point to Jesus.
- Jesus not only fulfilled them, He is superior to them.
Hebrews 8:6-7, But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.
B. Jesus will fulfill every detail as God intended
1. “For truly I say to you” was a formula used only by Jesus, not by other teachers (18).
a. Matthew recorded this formula 31 times in his Gospel. It’s used here for the first time.
b. It is similar to when a prophet would say, “Thus says the LORD”.
c. This would alert the listener to pay attention because what follows was of great importance.
2. “Yod” is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It’s like the “dot” on the letter “i”.
3. The smallest stroke (“tittle”) is like the addition of an angled line to the letter “P”, which would change it to “R”.
4. The smallest letter or stroke is important because even a small change can change the meaning of a word.
5. Jesus declared that even the smallest detail of God’s Word will be fulfilled because if one word failed, God would be proved a liar, unable to keep His promises.
Numbers 23:19, God is not man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
ILLUS – Malina challenges me about chocolate…
6. Heaven and earth will pass away but not until all of God’s Word is accomplished.
7. When will Jesus fulfill the Law? He already did when He died on the cross at Calvary.
John 19:30, When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.
8. What does Jesus’ death mean for a person who wants to be His disciple? It means the requirements of the Law that Jesus perfectly kept, are now applied to that person’s life who has placed their faith in Him, so it is as if they kept the Law.
Romans 8:3-4, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 10:4, For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
9. When will the remaining Messianic prophecies be fulfilled? When Jesus returns.
Revelation 22:12, Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.
APPL – Therefore, Jesus did not oppose the Law, rather He opposed all illegitimate interpretations of the Law that stressed regulation more than heart transformation.
II. Be a Great Disciple of Jesus Christ
A. A great disciple keeps God’s Word
ILLUS – The question my mentor would always ask me when I had a question…
1. Back in the day, the Jewish teachers actually listed the least and greatest commandments.
a. The greatest commandment
Deuteronomy 6:5, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
b. The least commandment
Deuteronomy 22:6-7, If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
c. The Jews thought that keeping both commandments merited the same reward, eternal life!
2. The word “annul” means to “relax”, “set aside”, or “teach against”.
a. Jesus was not talking about salvation or the loss of it because He said the “great” and the “least” are in the kingdom of heaven.
b. Rather, He was talking about the disciple’s standing or status in the kingdom of heaven, similar to Paul stating that Christians will receive rewards in heaven.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
APPL – You might be wondering, “I thought Christians are not under the Law because Christ fulfilled the Law.” Are you saying that Christians are still under the Law of Moses?
B. Jesus Christ requires a deeper righteousness
1. The scribes were professional students and teachers of the Law.
2. The Pharisees were devoted to the scrupulous observance of both the Old Testament Law and to developing traditions.
3. It was commonly believed that the scribes and Pharisees were the standard of holiness in that day. If anyone could or should enter the kingdom of heaven, it was them.
4. Then Jesus arrived on the scene and declared that the “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees was not good enough. Why?
a. God looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7, God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
b. What did God see in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees?
Matthew 23:27-28, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
5. What was Jesus’ goal in verse 20? To use the Law as God intended.
a. The Law declares that if we break one command, we are guilty of breaking it all.
2. The word “annul” means to “relax”, “set aside”, or “teach against”.
a. Jesus was not talking about salvation or the loss of it because He said the “great” and the “least” are in the kingdom of heaven.
b. Rather, He was talking about the disciple’s standing or status in the kingdom of heaven, similar to Paul stating that Christians will receive rewards in heaven.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15, Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
APPL – You might be wondering, “I thought Christians are not under the Law because Christ fulfilled the Law.” Are you saying that Christians are still under the Law of Moses?
B. Jesus Christ requires a deeper righteousness
1. The scribes were professional students and teachers of the Law.
2. The Pharisees were devoted to the scrupulous observance of both the Old Testament Law and to developing traditions.
3. It was commonly believed that the scribes and Pharisees were the standard of holiness in that day. If anyone could or should enter the kingdom of heaven, it was them.
4. Then Jesus arrived on the scene and declared that the “righteousness” of the scribes and Pharisees was not good enough. Why?
a. God looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7, God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.
b. What did God see in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees?
Matthew 23:27-28, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
5. What was Jesus’ goal in verse 20? To use the Law as God intended.
a. The Law declares that if we break one command, we are guilty of breaking it all.
- Look for faith!
Galatians 2:20-21, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
- Look for love!
John 14:15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Romans 13:8, 10, Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Conclusion
APPL – What is your ambition?
2 Corinthians 5:9-10, 14-15, Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
Matthew 5:17-20 NASB
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