By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
This next section of the Sermon on the Mount is complicated. Matt 5:17-18 “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”, could lead us to think that we might still be bound by all the laws of the Old Testament. And that would be wrong.
The laws of the Jews are commonly divided into ceremonial, judicial, and moral. The ceremonial laws are to regulate the religious rites and ceremonies of the Jewish people and can be changed when circumstances change.
For instance, the requirements to offer sacrifices at the altar are no longer binding as there is no longer a temple nor an altar for the sacrifices.
Similarly, the judicial laws of the Hebrews were adapted to their needs and as time advanced, they were changed when the form of their polity was changed. Neither of these kinds of laws are binding to us today.
The moral laws, however, relate to our relationship with God and with others and cannot be changed. Laws binding such areas as loving God and loving man cannot be abolished, as it can never be made right to hate God, or to hate our fellow-men. The ten commandments are the moral law and cannot be abandoned or abolished. These are the laws that will never pass away.
As a matter of fact, the next 2.5 chapters will deal with a lot of these laws and the proper implementation of them. I can assure you that their passing away is not the concern.
Jesus is about to double down on them and move them from laws binding our behavior to laws binding our true moral code. Life became more complicated for us when Jesus finished these 3 chapters.
Even here, Jesus is saying that anyone who breaks these commands or teaches others to break them will be relegated to the end of the line.
V19 reads: “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.”
A couple of points to take from this verse is that we will not be thrown out of the Kingdom if we break these moral laws. Note it says “will be called least in the kingdom of heaven”, not dismissed from it.
The reason for this is that our relationship with God is not based on our good or bad deeds but on our acceptance of Jesus as our savior.
The second point is that those who are obedient in their hearts to these commands will be elevated in the kingdom. Just as there is a hierarchy among the angels in heaven, there appears to be a hierarchy among the saved souls in heaven.
In a general sense there seems to be a correlation between our heavenly reward and our faithfulness while on earth.
Maybe your mansion will have a throne-facing balcony while mine faces the River of Life. We won’t have to worry about jealousy because we will each be overwhelmed with gratitude that we made it!
Verse 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” must have been a shocker to the listeners.
The Pharisees seemed like the ideal of what a Jew should look like. But they were far from what God was looking for, so far that Jesus later calls them “White washed tombs, looking good on the outside but filled with dead men’s bones on the inside.”
The true piety that God seeks is not in our outward appearance but in our hearts. The Pharisees had managed to conclude that God was interested in their outward appearance and not their hearts. Hence, they looked good, but their hearts were far from good. As we will see in the next few weeks,
Jesus turns their interpretation of God’s laws completely upside down. For today, let us just conclude with a reminder that “…the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1Sam 16:7b).
Our next several topics will include God’s understanding about murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, justice, enemies, etc. so be sure to get out your steel-toed shoes and shin protectors.
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.