Matthew 5:17-20

DAY 31 and 32

Dates: 12-22-2024 & 12-29-2024

FULFILLING THE LAW, parts 1 & 2

Scripture 5:17-20

Pray

Read scripture: Matthew 5:17-20

(NIV 1984) “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. 18 I tell you the truth, 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. 19 Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 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 MAIN POINT(s)

• Jesus had/has a very high view of Scripture. We should have a very high view of Scripture and know it well.
• Jesus is not about external “behavior modification.” 
• He is all about changing our hearts. He WANTS OUR HEARTS. 

OVERVIEW

Read Pg 63 in book (1st pp, last sentence)

“On the contrary, he was going to fulfill it; that is, both keep and explain fully its original intention, which they had managed to miss over the centuries.”

1. Jesus identifies strongly with the original Scriptures, as given by God to Moses, and including the Prophets.
2. Jesus corrects wrong teachings, assumptions and misapplications of the law.

THE MAIN BODY

We are now entering the main body of the Sermon, which is from Matt 5:17 – 7:12.
Matt 5:17 starts with the Law and the Prophets, and ends in Matt 7:12 with the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is constantly referring to or quoting from Scripture in order to correct wrong teachings of the Pharisees, and to anticipate future wrong ideas about Scripture. 

Jesus is absolutely amazing and brilliant. 

As we move thru the main body of the Sermon (as well as the rest of Matthew), we are going to discover that there is a big difference between the legalism of the Pharisees and the heart. Without violating the true nature and intention of the law, Jesus is all about the actual law of God that He put into our HEARTS. The heart of the issue is the heart of the law, and the heart of the law is what the rest of the Sermon is all about. 

It is all about the heart. In fact, our book, the Holman commentary, in this short section alone, mentions the word heart six times. The commentary also refers the word “original” and beginning six times, referring to Jesus’ correcting the wrong teachings of the Pharisees. And it also refers to the law, or commandments 6 times in the short 4 verses. 

Six times, in the next six sections of Matthew, Jesus goes back to the law of Moses and corrects wrong understandings, showing us the real heart of each issue. 

1. Murder
2. Adultery
3. Divorce
4. Oaths
5. Eye for an Eye
6. Love Your Enemies

I.e., the law says, you shall not kill. Jesus does not nullify that, but goes BEYOND that by saying, you shall not WANT to kill in your heart. 

The law says you shall not commit adultery; Jesus says, you shall not WANT to commit adultery in your heart.

It all starts in the heart. What is going on in our hearts is what is really important. That is where true righteousness begins, NOT with our outward actions, but what is going on in our hearts. 

(See Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (NIV 1984) 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.)

(See Zech 8:16-17 (ESV) 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace (peacemakers!); 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD.” (Notice: It does not say “make no false oath.” It says “do not LOVE a false oath.” It is all about the HEART. Evil starts in the heart. Sin starts in the heart. That is why, when confessing his sin with Bathsheba in Ps. 51, David says, “create in me a PURE heart, o God.”

Then see Jer. 31:33 (NIV 1984) “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”

Notice that it says “I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts” rather than the law (The Ten Commandments) as originally written in stone.

Maybe the best theology I know of regarding this important and precious  doctrine comes, from all places, the Christmas song “O Holy Night,” which says, “Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is Peace.’

See pg 21 of The Life of God in the Soul of Man, quote:
The rigors of the pious life, and the constant vigilance we must maintain over our hearts (internals) and actions (externals), can be quite burdensome for those who are only guided by external law and have no internal motivation to do what is right. (Henry Scougal)

Craig Keener says:

Law vs. Jesus

Law (EXTERNALS-BEHAVIORS)	Jesus (externals from INTERNALS: The HEART)
Don’t murder	Control your anger (Don’t want to murder)*
Don’t commit adultery	Don’t want lust and divorce (Don’t want to lust)
Don’t swear falsely	Have integrity (Do not want to swear falsely)
Eye for an eye	Don’t resist your enemies (Don’t want to get even)
Love your neighbor	Love your enemies
Limits sin	Delivers from sin

• italics are my additions

The next six sections in Matthew 5 start with something like “You have heard that it was said, … but I tell you.” (NIV 84)

While Jesus is very clearly identifying with the Scriptures of His day, He is also correcting wrong ideas about it, changing focus from outward behavior only, to the heart as well. 

Since we are now heading into the main body of the Sermon, we will be start using the …

INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY METHOD

When studying the Bible, a great way to do it is by the Inductive Bible Study Method. 

Observation. Interpretation. Application.

OIA

Simply stated, it works by asking yourself three questions as you study read and God’s Word:

1. What does it say? (Observation)
2. What does it mean? (Interpretation)
3. How does this apply to me? (Application)

For each verse you read, ask yourself these three questions.
This requires time and practice, but pays huge rewards. 
Let’s go thru today’s passage using the Inductive Method:
OIA Observation – Interpretation – Application

V. 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. 

Observation – What does it say?

A:

1. Do not think …
2. I have not come to …

Interpretation – What does it mean?

A:

1. Think …
2. I have come to …

Comment:

Jesus is very clearly identifying with the Old Testament Scriptures. His is NOT a new teaching. It is a “corrective” teaching. 

So, what does it mean that Jesus has come to fulfill the law?

Hint: What is the main theme of the entire Bible? (Jesus and His redemption of man) (the cross!)

Application – How do I apply it to my life?

A: 

RELAVANT VERSES (mostly regarding the law and the heart)

1. (NIV 1984) Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
2. Rom 8:3-4 (NIV 1984) 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
3. Rom 7:12 (NIV 1984) 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
4. Rom 7:16 (NIV 1984) 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
5. ** 1 Tim 1:8-1o** (NIV 1984) 8 (NIV 1984) 8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine…”
6. Rom 2:28-29: (NIV 1984) 28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.
7. See also Rom 7:7-12, especially v 7, which says, (NIV 1984) “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” and v12, which says, “(NIV 1984) 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

Now, let’s apply the Inductive Bible Study Method to the whole section. We will first do the first three verses together, since they are very similar, then do the last verse.

 V 17-19 “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. 18 I tell you the truth, 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. 19 Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Observation – What does this first section (vs 17-19) say?

Interpretation – What does it mean?

Application – How do I apply it to my life?

Notes: 

Now, let’s do the last verse, verse 20.

V 20. 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.”

Observation – What does it say?

Interpretation – What does it mean?

Application – How do I apply it to my life?

Notes: 

Links:

What Is Inductive Bible Study?

What is the Inductive Bible Study Method?

APPLICATION

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV) Matthew 22:37-40

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After class notes