It may well be impossible for us to imagine what it would be like for the disciples to hear Jesus teach and preach as we see in the Sermon on the Mount. If they were faithful Jews, their whole lives have been about hearing, learning, memorizing, and obeying the Old Testament law. They would have focused their lives on obeying the law, following the sacrificial system, keeping the feasts, and observing the festivals. They would have been aware that any time the nation of Israel had been in a bad place it had been because they had disobeyed the law.
And they would have trusted that the law was sufficient for all things. It was a lamp unto their feet and light unto their path. David had written that God’s law was a delight to him, which he loved, and was better to him than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. The Jewish teachers of the day, then, at their best, would have simply pointed the hearers back to what had been said, to what had been written, in the law. After all, in the days recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures merely finding and reading a copy of God’s law would bring revival to the people of Israel. Any Jewish teacher knew his authority was legitimate only inasmuch as he could say, “It is written” as he began to teach.
Then, here comes Jesus, commanding a ragtag group of fishermen, a tax collector, and some others to follow him, and he opens his mouth and begins teaching them, as recorded in Matthew 5:2. But he doesn’t say, “It is written,” or “The law says.” He’s holding no scroll of the Old Testament Scriptures in his hand. He’s simply talking, as if he has authority to teach people. He even gives commands as if he expects people to obey him, like “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). This is why the Sermon on the Mount ends with Matthew noting in 7:28-29, “And when Jesus finished these saying the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
But what then did Jesus think of the Old Testament law? Was this his way of saying, “You don’t need the Old Testament Scriptures anymore”? Was Jesus giving us the green light to cut the Old Testament out of our Bibles, not preach it, and ignore what it says? I mean, we all know that there are many Old Testament Scriptures that we don’t hold to now, like commands not to wear clothing made of two kinds of material, so does this mean that all the Old Testament is worthless?
Again, if you were there in Jesus’ presence, believing he was indeed God’s promised Messiah, then many of these questions might be going through your head. As a reader of the text in the twenty-first century, you might be asking the same thing. And if you are, there’s good news: Jesus tackles these questions that may have been going through the disciples’ minds (and may be going through our minds) in Matthew 5:17-20.
With that said, I want to acknowledge at the beginning (perhaps as a way of lower expectations for this sermon) that these four verses and some of the most challenging verses to deal with in the entire New Testament. When I mapped out how I wanted to preach through Matthew, I intentionally limited to focus on this Sunday to these four verses instead of trying to deal with a larger section that would include verses to follow. The way you understand these four verses will have an impact on how you understand how the whole Bible fits together, how much continuity or discontinuity you think the Old Testament has with the New Testament, etc. And studying this text and trying to make these decisions has caused me a bit of heartache. Just as I thought I had it together in my mind and it made sense, I would see a few words in one verse that would challenge my thinking, and I would go back to the drawing board. And as I read commentaries, I’d find many of them disagreeing with one another. Even this morning, there is still one (I think small) issue in v. 19 that I am less confident about in my interpretation, so I’m going to present both options to you and let you know which way I’m leaning.
So, with that said, what is the connection between Jesus, us, and the law of Moses? Let’s try to answer that question this morning. First, we need to recognize that:
Jesus begins in verse 17 by bringing up the issue of the law and how he and his teaching relates to it. That is, it isn’t a question anyone asks, but it’s a question he no doubt knows is on their minds. So, he says, “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.”
Jesus wants them to know that the purpose of his mission isn’t to scrap the Old Testament Scriptures. The “Law” and “Prophets” would have been a way of referring to the Old Testament Scriptures as a whole. And Jesus is saying that his intent isn’t to undermine the authority of the Old Testament, get rid of it, or say that it is worthless. He didn’t come to abolish it. Rather, he says, he came to “fulfill them.”
Now what does this mean that Jesus came to fulfill them? Well, if he just mentioned the “Law,” we might think that he means that he came to keep it. After all, when we think of the opposite of abolishing law, we might first think of keeping the law. So, if he just mentioned the fulfilling the Law, we might think of him saying that he came to keep the law. And indeed we do know that he kept the law. One of the glorious blessings we have in Christ is to know that he obeyed the law of God perfectly on our behalf. Paul specifically mentions in Galatians 4:4-5 that Jesus was born “under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Jesus indeed kept the law for us.
However, what should make us a little hesitant about understanding the word “fulfill” as meaning “keep” is that Jesus doesn’t simply mention fulfilling the Law but fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. And when we think of fulfilling the prophets we don’t think in terms of keeping but something like being the substance to which their prophetic shadows pointed. And we’ve already seen this kind of thing all through Matthew’s gospel in these first few chapters. Matthew is consistently pointing out that Jesus fulfilled what was spoken by the prophets as he was born, went to Egypt, settled in Nazareth, and on and on. And in each of these occasions we rightly understand that Matthew is saying that Jesus serves as the prophetic fulfillment of these Old Testament Scriptures.
But now the problem is on the other side, isn’t it? If Jesus simply said that he came to fulfill the prophets, we would think that he was saying that he had come to bring into reality all that the prophesied pointed forward to, that is, the fulfillment of what they prophesied. But what do we then do with his reference to the Law? Can the Law be spoken of as prophesying? The answer is that indeed it can and in fact is spoken of in that way in Matthew’s gospel. In Matthew 11:13 Jesus says, “For the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.”
I think that is what Jesus is saying here. The Old Testament (the Law and Prophets) were always pointing forward and were never filled in and of themselves. The Old Testament sacrificial system, for example, was always pointing forward to the coming of a true and permanent sacrifice. The priesthood was always pointing us forward to a priest who could come and be the perfect representative of man before God. Jesus is saying that he has come to be the fulfillment of all that was said in the Old Testament Scriptures. He came to be the fulfillment of everything the Law and the Prophets were pointed to. And he is indeed that fulfillment in his life, work, and teaching. In his life of obedience; in his death, resurrection, ascension, and coming work of judgment; and in what he teaches, he is giving us the reality of what the Law and Prophets were always pointing to. He is the substance of all the shadows in the Old Testament. That’s the first thing we need to see.
Then, closely connected to this, we need to understand that:
As Jesus continues speaking in verse 18, he shows the close connection with what he has just said in verse 17 by starting with “for.” It’s as if Jesus is saying, “The fact that I have come to fulfill the Law and Prophets has an implication. What it means is that there won’t be one thing in the Old Testament that pointed forward that will be left unfulfilled.” I think that’s what he is saying in verse 18 as he says, “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.”
You see, this is a far cry from thinking that Jesus has come to undermine the authority of the Old Testament, get rid of it, or say it’s worthless. In fact, there won’t be one ounce of the Old Testament that will be left unfulfilled. Everything will be accomplished by and through Christ, his work, and his teaching.
When Jesus says “not an iota, not a dot,” he is referencing the smallest letter or portion of letters in the alphabet. Now, we should pause here for a second just to recognize Jesus’ understanding of the Old Testament. Many today think they are holding an acceptable view of the Scriptures when they think that issues in the text which they think directly relate to salvation are important and should be believed, but not the smaller things, like whether or not there really were a plague of frogs in Egypt, or Jonah was swallowed by a fish, etc. If you think that, though, you have to recognize that you are out of step with Jesus on this point. He took every single letter or portion of a letter as God’s Word, which absolutely must be fulfilled.
So, Jesus is saying, “Just in case you think I’m suggesting in any way that the Old Testament isn’t important, I’m actually saying that it is so crucial that every single letter in the Old Testament must absolutely be fulfilled and most definitely will.” So, there’s nothing that God said in the Old Testament that we can now say, “Well, that doesn’t really matter. God must have forgot about that promise or fulfilling what that points to.” Absolutely not.
Now, some things we see are already fulfilled. For example, the sacrifices of bulls and goats in the Old Testament pointed forward to a perfect sacrifice to come, and when Jesus died for our sins, he fulfilled that prophetic fulfillment in being that promised perfect sacrifice. But other things, such as where Isaiah speaks of a new heavens and a new earth in Isaiah 65:17 are not yet fulfilled. But Jesus guarantees that they will be. He has fulfilled or will fulfill everything perfectly so that nothing will be left unfulfilled, nothing left unaccomplished.
Does this then have implications for us obeying or teaching the Old Testament? Indeed it does. Next, Jesus shows us:
Jesus draws a conclusion from his upholding the authority and validity of the Old Testament, saying in verse 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, this text could cause us some problems. So, let’s just start with the basics. I mean, on its face, Jesus tells us that we should teach and command others to obey the Old Testament. And if we don’t it’s bad. Okay, that seems easy enough. But it’s not that simple, is it?
For example, in Leviticus 11 God tells the people of Israel what foods they’re allowed to eat and what foods they’re not allowed to eat. Concerning the food they’re not allowed to eat the Lord says, “The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof is, unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hook, is unclean to you. And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, if unclean to you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you” (Lev 11:4-8).
Uh oh. I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve never eaten camel or rock badger in my life, but I’ve eaten pork like it’s about to vanish from the earth tomorrow. And I’ve told others to do the same. I’ve even mocked and belittled those who prefer turkey “bacon” to actual bacon, pleading with them to put away their foolish ways and enjoy God’s good gifts. That sounds, in light of Leviticus 11:4-8, like I’m “relaxing” a command and teaching others to do the same. And Jesus did just say that every iota and dot of the Old Testament will be accomplished. So, am I (and you if you’ve done like me) to repent and fall on the mercy of God for having relaxed one of the Lord’s commandments and taught others to do the same when I told them that they shouldn’t treat pork as if it’s unclean but eat it like there’s no tomorrow?
Well, before we say, “Well, that’s what the text says,” we should consider Jesus’ words from Mark 7:18-19 where he said, “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” and Mark adds, “Thus he declared all foods clean.” Now what do we do? I mean, Jesus himself has just declared all foods clean, which looks like he just abolished Leviticus 11:4-8.
I think what we’re to understand is that what Jesus is telling us is in Matthew 5:19 is that all Scripture is authoritative and significant even in its smallest details, and is to be obeyed and taught in light of its fulfillment in Christ. In other words, we honor and obey the command to offer the sacrifice of a lamb for our sins when we turn in repentance and faith to Christ, trusting in his as our sufficient sacrifice for sins. That is upholding and obeying the Old Testament law perfectly because we are honoring it in its fullest sense, recognizing that Christ has fulfilled that law.
And the same is true when we see Christ’s teaching and commands as a fulfillment as well. When Jesus, for example, declares all foods as being clean and fine to eat, we honor and obey the commands of Leviticus 11:4-8 by obeying the law of Christ, whose life, work, and teaching are a fulfillment of that text. That is far from belittling or relaxing the law but teaching and obeying its fulfillment. In fact, we would be disobeying God’s laws, the author of Hebrews tells us, if we go back and try to put ourselves under the shadows when the substance has come. For example, those who ignore the sacrifice of Christ and continue to sacrifice lambs in accord with the Old Testament law are actually disobeying the law and teaching others to do the same because they’re ignoring the fulfillment to which that law was always pointing, namely, Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and was raised so that we might have forgiveness of sins.
This is why I think that when Jesus says the one who relaxes the least of his commands will be called “least” in the kingdom while the one who does them and teaches them will be called “great,” is not reference to ranking or differing rewards in eternity (though it could be) but is actually an idiomatic expression meaning that the one called the “least” will not be part of the kingdom on that last day. After all, to disobey the Old Testament text by failing to believe and obey Christ is no small matter. We are all called to believe and bow the knee to Jesus Christ.
This is why, then, we try to faithfully preach and teach through the Old Testament as well as the New. We want to preach it, uphold it, and show every way in which this is fulfilled in Christ and must be obeyed in light of that fulfillment. And on that serious note of the importance of obeying God’s Word, Jesus ends with this reminder:
Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20). Now, this would have been overwhelming to the people who heard it because the Pharisees and scribes would have been thought of as those who meticulously obeyed the law. Well, perhaps we need to recognize two things. First, the scribes and Pharisees weren’t as obedient to the law of God as they appeared. Jesus says in Matthew 23:2-3, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.” So, first of all, Jesus is saying that those who will enter his kingdom on the last day must not be characterized as those who simply tell others to obey the Lord and aren’t characterized by obedience in any way themselves.
Second, the scribes and Pharisees didn’t believe in Jesus as the Christ. They rejected Jesus. And if you’re really going to obey the Old Testament Law, you have to believe in Jesus as the Lord and promised Messiah. As Jesus has already made clear, he is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, and not to believe in him is not to obey the Old Testament Scriptures themselves. This is why Jesus could say to the unbelieving Jews in John 5:45-47, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Now, this is not my way of saying, “Don’t hear this as a radical statement.” Indeed, this is a radical statement. There are a few things I want to make sure that you hear from this, however. First, Jesus isn’t saying that we need to make our focus trying to do enough good works that the Father will approved of us on that basis and we’ll earn his salvation. That’s a hopeless path. Jesus will later make clear that the Father demands perfect righteousness.
Second, this is a call to repent and believe in the gospel. Simply put, you cannot say that you are believing and obeying God’s Scriptures (Old Testament or New) if you refuse to repent of your sins and place your faith in Jesus Christ and his life, death, and resurrection for your salvation. That’s what all the Scripture points to and centers on. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t do this, and they will therefore not inherit the kingdom of God on that day of judgment but will hear, as Jesus will later say in 7:23, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” For your righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees begins with you repenting and believing living a life of continual repentance and trust in the Lord.
Finally, I think Jesus is indeed affirming here that those who enter the kingdom on that final day of judgment will indeed be characterized by righteous living. Obviously our righteous living won’t be perfect, but we will indeed be characterized by righteousness. If righteousness, a desire for righteousness, and repentance in the face of your sin doesn’t characterize you, then we should find no assurance that we will enter the Lord’s kingdom on that day.
Rather, let us repent this morning, look to the crucified and risen Lord in faith, and obey in faith the one whose life, death, and resurrection is our only hope of righteousness. Let us come to the table now as a declaration of our continuing repentance of sin and faith in the one who lived, died, and was raised for us. Amen.