Christ fulfils the Law

So if you can turn with me to Matthew chapter 5, verse 17.

Matthew 5:17

We're reading up to verse 32.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfil 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 the 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'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.

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're going with him to court,

lest your accuser hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard

and you be put in prison.

Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you've paid the last penny.

You've 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's better that you lose one of your members

than that your whole body be thrown 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 grounds of sexual immorality,

makes her commit adultery.

And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Good morning.

I'm not sure if you know this or not,

but the Tour de France finished a couple of weeks ago.

I know we're all probably swept up in Olympic fever,

but a couple of weeks ago I was swept up in cycling fever.

It was won by a 22-year-old called Tadej Podjaka,

who also won it last year.

And it was a really good race.

It was very interesting, lots of different things going on.

But unfortunately, because the sport is cycling,

and Tadej Podjaka was very impressive,

now the whole cycling world is busy questioning

just how he could be that impressive.

No one can trust who he is.

And the reason that no one can trust who he is

is because of this guy,

the most famous cyclist ever.

If you don't recognise him,

his name is Lance Armstrong.

And in the 2000s,

he was not just the biggest name in cycling,

he was also one of the biggest names in world sport.

He overcame cancer

and went on to win a record seven Tour de France's in a row.

It's a story that seemed almost too good to be true.

And that's kind of the problem,

because it turns out it was too good to be true.

We know now that even though Lance Armstrong

said he was an incredible athlete

who triumphed against all odds,

he was actually taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs

to gain an unfair advantage over the other cyclists

he was riding against.

To him, the laws of cycling

were just there to be seen to be obeyed.

And he didn't care about things like sportsmanship

or an even playing field,

the things that those laws were put in place

to try and create.

He only saw the need to create a facade

of following them

so that he could have the image

of being a heroic athlete

that he wished to portray.

And the reason that I bring up Lance Armstrong today

is not just because I like cycling,

but because today we're talking about the law of God

and how the people at the time that Jesus was talking

had misinterpreted it,

had misunderstood it,

and improperly used it.

And before I get into the Sermon on the Mount this morning,

I want you to ask yourselves,

what does God's law mean to you?

How do you follow it?

And what place does it have in your life?

Do you think that it's just like a good guide

to living a moral life?

Do you think it's a list of rules

that doesn't have any application in your life?

Do you not think you need it

because you have Jesus?

What do you think God's opinion

on the law of God is today?

Because we're going to see today

in the Sermon on the Mount

that the law is not dead in God's kingdom,

but it has been misunderstood

and that Jesus is ultimately here to fulfill it.

And Jesus doesn't mess about.

So in the first line

in this part of the Sermon on the Mount,

he gets into it straight away.

He isn't here to get rid of the law.

He's here to fulfill it.

Verse 17,

the start of what we're looking at.

Do not think

that I have come to abolish the laws of the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them,

but to fulfill them.

Up to this point in the Sermon on the Mount,

it would have been very easy

for the people that were listening at the time

to get the wrong idea about it.

The one thing that the majority of those people

would have had in common

is the understanding that Israel

is the kingdom of God,

that God had chosen to be his people

and that God had chosen to live under his law.

Israel was meant to be the salt

and the light in the world

and they were meant to be the one

that was receiving God's blessings.

And all of a sudden,

in his first sermon,

and that's what we looked at

for the last two weeks,

Jesus is turning the understanding of that

on its head,

saying that those blessings

and those titles

could be extended to other people

just by the attitudes that they had.

And this would have been

pretty worrying, really,

for the people that were listening

because they had built their life

and the position in the community

following what they believed

was the law of God.

They may well have been sitting there

at this point

thinking that Jesus was doing away

with everything.

So Jesus,

he talks directly to them

about the law,

laying it out plainly.

He isn't here to abolish it.

The law is not gone.

But Jesus,

he's almost like a boxer at this point,

I think.

He kind of lulls his opponent

into a false sense of security.

And then the next second,

he slips something in

behind their defences.

He isn't,

the law isn't gone,

but he's come here to fulfill it.

I didn't come to abolish the law,

but to fulfill it.

That's a whole different kettle of fish

to what they would have been thinking

he was talking about.

What does that mean?

And the answer comes

when we ask the question,

what is this law

that Jesus is referring to?

Is it the Ten Commandments?

Like, that's the most obvious answer, right?

The list of ten rules

that God laid out

at Mount Sinai.

That would be probably

the most obvious answer.

Is it something else?

Is it the extended list of laws

that's laid out in Exodus,

Leviticus and Numbers?

But Jesus says in verse 18

that not one iota

of the law will pass away.

But later on in the New Testament,

in Acts chapter 10,

Acts 10 · chapter mention

those old food laws are abolished.

So, you know,

I can have a bacon and egg roll

for breakfast.

And we don't have an altar here at church

for taking sacrifices.

So at least some part

of that ceremonial law

that's laid out in those parts

of the Bible has gone away today.

How does that not create

some sort of contradiction

with what Jesus is saying here?

When Jesus says

that he will fulfill the law

of the prophets,

he is referring to the entire

Old Testament,

from Genesis to Malachi,

not just one part of it.

In the Old Testament,

God lays out

not just those laws,

he lays out

what his kingdom

will look like

and how he will bring that about.

And Jesus is saying

that he is the one

that will do it.

He is the one

who lives

according to the laws

laid out in Exodus,

Leviticus and Numbers.

He fulfills the prophecy

spoken by the prophets.

And he fulfills

the sacrificial obligations

of the law

that lay out

how people who sin

can become right with God.

And that's the part

that the Jewish leaders

who were listening

didn't get right.

See, they would have been

nodding along

when Jesus was saying

he didn't come to abolish the law,

but ultimately

misunderstood it

because they didn't see

how it points

to Jesus.

They see the law

as a list of things to do,

a checklist

of what makes them Jewish,

but not as an expression

of who God is

and what God's perfect kingdom

will look like.

Now,

I should mention here

that Jesus doesn't say

all of this right here

and now in the Sermon on the Mount.

But I think it's important

for us reading today

to understand

that Jesus is emphasizing here

that the law is not dead

and he is not abolishing it.

When Jesus says

not one iota will change,

he means that God's character

and God's plan

will not change.

A show that I love watching

on YouTube

is Antiques Roadshow.

You may have heard of that.

I don't think I've ever actually

watched a full episode

of it on TV,

but I love watching the moment

where someone brings

a family heirloom

on the show

and finds out

that it's just

an incredible piece

of art or history.

To me,

it just seems like

such a wholesome moment.

Take a case.

This was in 2001.

This guy had this gold camera.

It looks pretty nice, right?

And he thought

that it might be

slightly valuable.

Well, turns out

it's a gold Lexica 2

Lexus camera.

It's one of four

ever made

worth hundreds

and thousands of pounds.

So he thought

he had something

that looked pretty nice

and may have had

a little bit of value.

What he had

was something

of infinitely

more value.

And I want to ask you now,

how do you value

the Old Testament?

How do you treat

the law of the prophets

and what it has to say?

I don't think

there's anyone here

at Grace

who dismisses

the Old Testament.

Right?

I don't think anyone

would say out loud

that it's not important.

But do you place

the same value on it

that you do

the New Testament?

In your own study

of the Bible,

do you ever skip

or skim over

the Old Testament?

Have you ever thought

that there's

an Old Testament God

and a New Testament God

and that somehow

he's different

between the two?

Have you ever looked

at some of the principles

and values

of the Old Testament

and thought

that you don't need

to worry about those anymore?

We're going to get

specifically to some

of those in a moment

but I think

that while I've been

wrestling with this

in my head

as part of preparing

for this sermon,

I've realised

that I need to know

my Old Testament better.

It's where God

lays out who he is,

it's where God

points us to Jesus

and it's a signpost

for what his kingdom

is going to look like.

Jesus here

isn't saying

that the law

just contains

some truth.

He's saying

that the law

is the truth.

If Jesus

was to abolish it,

it would be

a fundamental betrayal

of who he is

as God

and I don't want

to make

a similar mistake

to what the Jewish

leaders did

at the time

by not seeing

the law

in its fullness

and with its

full value.

And if like me,

that's already

something

that you sort of

weighed down

by a little bit

and buckle up

because we're

about to get

to some of

Jesus'

toughest words

on sin.

So the second

point that Jesus

is making

to the audience

is that they

don't take sin

seriously

because sin

comes from the

heart.

It's not just

your outside

actions.

What does it

mean that

someone's a good

person?

As I've said

a couple of times,

I watch a bit

of sport.

Lately,

I've been

watching a bit

of rugby

league as

well and

there's some

pretty rough

characters in

it to be

frank.

But you

constantly hear

the phrase,

oh, but he's

a good bloke.

What is that

standard?

What's the

good bloke

standard?

What do you

think the

average person

on the streets

thinks that a

Christian's

standard is?

What do they

think that we

think we should

be doing or

following?

What do

they think

God's

standard for

behaviour is?

When Jesus

was talking,

there was a

pretty clear

standard that

was set in

the community

and that was

the laws,

the Pharisees,

the law as

the Pharisees

saw, taught

and modelled

them.

But just like

they didn't

understand what

the law

pointed to,

they didn't

understand the

fundamental nature

of sin and

Jesus confronts

that attitude

directly in

verse 20.

For I tell

you, unless

your righteousness

exceeds that

of the scribes

and Pharisees,

you will never

enter the

kingdom of

heaven.

He's saying

here that to

enter the

kingdom of

heaven, you

actually need

to be more

righteous than

the scribes

and Pharisees.

And to the

scribes and

Pharisees listening

right now, that

would have been

like a complete

slap in the

face, right?

They dedicated

themselves to

following that

law and they

derived power and

standing in the

community from

that.

But what

they had

actually done

and what

Jesus is

going to

expose here

is that over

many years,

possibly over

generations,

without even

realising they

were doing it

maybe, they

cherry-picked

different parts

of the law.

They'd bent it

and interpreted it

to suit their

own needs.

Jesus is saying

here that the

law reveals God's

perfect standard

and he's calling

his people to

live in his

image and share

that perfect

standard.

And using three

examples, anger,

lust and divorce,

he shows how the

Pharisees have made

the law about

their outer actions

instead of the

orientation of

their heart.

And in the

process, they've

made it so they

don't take sin

seriously enough.

You can see it

in the first

example here,

verse 21 to 22,

anger.

You have heard

that it was said

to those of old,

you shall not

murder and

whomever murders

will be liable

to judgment.

But I say to

you that

everyone who

is angry with

his brother will

be liable for

judgment.

Whoever insults

his brother will

be liable to

the council and

whoever says

you fool will

be liable to

the hell of

fire.

It's pretty

clear here,

really.

You've been

told that the

outward action

is what condemns

you, but it's

the inner action,

the inner attitude

that Jesus

condemns, because

that's how someone

truly feels.

It's more or less

the same ideal in

verse 27 for

lust.

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.

The heart of the

law is not that

someone's cheated

on their wife or

committed an

improper sexual

act.

It's the lustful

intent that

creates those

acts and from

which those acts

come that Jesus

condemns.

And it's the same

again with divorce.

You've created

a tradition within

your interpretation

of the law, but

God's standard is

higher.

what's important

to God is not

what someone looks

like from the

outside.

It's where their

heart truly lies.

And there's two

very good reasons

for this to be the

case.

Firstly, very

practically, we're

guided, how we

act is guided by

our desires.

If we harbour

anger or lust

towards someone,

it will change the

way we act towards

them.

Sometimes in ways

that we might not

even be conscious

of.

Take anger.

So you might not

outright attack

someone or get in

a fight with them.

But the hatred in

your heart may see

us exclude them,

undermine them,

go behind their

back on things,

and over a long

period of time,

that anger, if not

dealt with, will

destroy that

relationship.

It will murder

that relationship.

Or lust.

lust.

It's lustful

thoughts that start

the slide into

further sin.

The kind of sin

that will affect

those around us,

maybe in small

ways.

Maybe it's making

someone feel very

uncomfortable to be

around you.

Maybe it's making

someone be really

self-conscious of

their bodies and how

they're feeling.

To actions that can

completely destroy

relationships, ruin

lives, and traumatise

people for years.

This is why the

heart is important

in God's kingdom.

Because the heart

affects how we

treat others.

Secondly, it's

also a matter of

justice for a God

who is perfectly

just.

If the standard is

what is in your

heart, then there's

no excuse and no

ability to hide or

obscure your actions.

In society, we know

that people will try

and get away with

things they should be

called to account

for.

And when that

doesn't happen, we

can't stand that

sense of injustice.

Just as an example,

like a week ago, I

went to a pub with

some colleagues from

work for lunch on a

Friday.

Of course, we all

had our masks on.

But at the pub, they

were handing people a

glass of water at the

door so people could

take off their masks

and claim they were

drinking the entire

time they were in

the pub.

So by the letter of

the law, that's okay

because you're allowed

to remove your mask

to drink.

But I think everyone

here in this

congregation would

agree that it

completely misses the

point and the reason

that that law is in

place.

And I know that

there's probably at

least a few people

here, by the murmurs

I just heard, they'll

probably email me

afterwards asking what

pub it is so they

could go and tell the

authorities about it.

It's that sense of

injustice that drives

the cycling world to

distrust every cyclist

that stands out from

the pack.

You shouldn't be able

to get out of God's

perfect law with a good

lawyer.

And Jesus uses the

three examples of hate,

lust and divorce to show

that society at the time

that claimed to be

following God's law had

moved away from the

intention for it.

And moving away from

the intention of the

law is moving away from

the character of God, the

heart of who God is.

And given that, I think

it's important to ask

ourselves the same

question.

What do you think our

society would say the

standard for those three

acts is?

With anger.

I think most people in

society would say that

anger can be justified if

you've been wronged.

I think anger is

something our society even

glorifies sometimes.

When our society sees

someone doing something

wrong, I don't think

people just say it's

okay for people to be

angry at them and hate

them.

I think people cheer them

on for it.

With lust, the standard

our society sets is that

everything's okay as long

as it's consensual.

Pornography, sexual

fantasy, sex before

marriage, having multiple

sexual partners, it's all

on the table.

And divorce.

We live in a society of

no-fault divorce.

And there's actually a

very good reason for

having an easy way out of

marriage, particularly in

abusive relationships.

But the point is that

God's perfect standard of

marriage just does not

fit with the society we've

created.

And you guys might be

sitting there a little

smugly at this point

because we don't do

these things, right?

Because, you know, we're

all good little Christian

boys and girls.

But what are the standards

that we set at our church

here?

Because I think that we

can be a lot like the

very people that Jesus was

talking to in the Sermon

on the Amount.

Not outwardly and

obviously living a life of

sin, but moulding God's

standards to suit our needs

and thinking that we can

get away with it.

For anger, do you let

yourself be bitter with

others that you know?

Do you vent about people

behind their backs?

You know, it might not

necessarily be a person.

It might be something at

the workplace, a career, a

situation in your life that

you feel stuck in.

Do you let resentment and

anger build up about that?

How do you deal with

conflict?

What do you do when

something doesn't go your

way?

Do you vent?

Do you blow your lid?

Do you harbour resentment

to authority and people in

power?

What about lust?

What person here today would

let their internet search

history unfiltered go up on

that screen?

What person here today would

volunteer their unadulterated

thoughts about other

men and women?

And as I said, Jesus isn't

specifically talking about

these sins because they're

any better or worse than

other sins.

He's just using them to make

a broader point about the

nature of sin.

They're just things that the

people listening at the time

would have instantly related

to.

What are the sins that you

tolerate in your heart that

you shouldn't?

What are your blind spots?

In what ways have you moved

God's standard so that you

feel acceptable?

Is it trying to gain popularity

and attention?

Is it how you spend your time

and money?

Is it your own pride?

Your feelings of your own sense

of accomplishment?

I don't know what your heart is

like.

That's something you know.

That's kind of the point here.

But by the way that Jesus goes

through sin after sin in his

sermon, not just this week but

he'll do it next week too, I feel

convicted.

I can just hear Jesus saying

that he doesn't want his

followers to just look like good

little Christian boys and girls

who seem to be following a list

of instructions but actually have

corrupt hearts.

Because for God to bring about his

radical kingdom, the kingdom that

he outlined at the start of this

sermon, it needs to start with

people's hearts being oriented

correctly.

And that brings me to my third

point.

Because while it's a good thing

that God's standard is perfection

because it means he is properly

truthful to what he says and it

means that he is perfectly just,

we can't completely reach that

standard no matter how much we try

to do so.

Which is why Jesus needs to

fulfill the law, not us.

And the key verse here once

again, verse 17 and 18.

Do not think that I have come to

abolish the laws of the prophets.

I have come 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.

As I said before, Jesus doesn't

explicitly lay all this out in this

passage.

But the reason he is dwelling on the

law, the reason he is dwelling on the

standard is to show that that

standard is not going away.

And while we should be living like

we're trying to be in his kingdom,

no one truly does.

No one truly can.

We don't fulfill the law.

We need someone else to fulfill the

law for us.

And that someone, he says, is going to

be him.

As it says later in the Bible, in

Romans 3, 21 to 24.

But now the righteousness of God has

been manifest apart from the law,

although the law and the prophets bear

witness to it.

The righteousness of God through faith

in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

For there is no distinction.

For all have sinned and fall short of the

glory of God and are justified by his

grace as a gift through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is setting up the groundwork in the

Sermon on the Mount that even though we

can't be right with God by our own

actions, he lived the life we couldn't.

With a heart perfectly oriented towards

God and through Jesus' death on the

cross fulfilling the law, being the

perfect sacrifice for our sins, that

perfect life, that perfect heart becomes

our perfect heart, our perfect life.

We have access to the righteousness that

Jesus earned through trusting in him.

And that isn't a contradiction.

As it says, the law and the prophets bear

witness to this all.

They set up the salvation for all who

believe.

As Jesus even says at the start of the

Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the

poor in spirit, who don't rely on

themselves but look to God.

So what does Jesus want that to look

like for us?

What does trying to follow Jesus but

trusting him look like?

I think that even though we have the

righteousness through faith, that Jesus

is alluding to here in the Sermon on the

Mount, you can't read what he has here to

say and conclude that God's law, Jesus'

standard isn't important to how he wants

his people, the people in his kingdom, to

live.

While we trust in Jesus, we need to try and

orient our heart to the things he values,

the things he blesses at the start of the

Sermon on the Mount.

We need to orient our hearts away from the

things our society values.

From this sermon, two pretty clear ones are

anger and lust.

Ultimately, we need to have a heart of

love.

As 1 John 4 says, God is love and that is

where those blessings come from.

A God of love, a God of justice.

As Matt said last week, we're ambassadors

and God doesn't just put this high standard

in place because he wants to be harsh.

He puts it in place because he knows what

humans are like.

He knows that if people don't fix how they

feel in their heart, they'll never be able to

properly fix how they live outwardly.

And while we trust in Jesus, he says that by his

spirit, he is renewing our hearts.

He is helping us as we struggle to orient

ourselves towards what his kingdom will be.

However, when we fail, and we will, we can live

safe in the knowledge that Christ has fulfilled

that law for us.

We can be freed from that guilt and freed of the

ultimate judgment that is due to us by God at the

end of time because Jesus has paid that price for

us.

The law is not dead, but Jesus fulfills it.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your words many, many

years ago.

Thank you for how you are a God that loves us.

And thank you that you are a God of justice.

Lord, we thank you for the standard that you set and how

it creates a perfect kingdom.

And we ask for your forgiveness for the times when we

don't do that.

We don't follow that standard.

And Lord, we thank you that Jesus, your son, did and that

he does fulfill the law so that we can one day live with

you and be in a relationship with you.

Amen.

Amen.