If you would open up your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 5, this is our last installment for
our fall series on the Beatitudes.
So during the fall, we've been focusing on one Beatitude at a time in Matthew 5, and
then we're lingering a little longer, and so last week we were in the salt and light,
and today we are in Jesus talking about His relationship to the Old Testament.
It is extraordinary.
And so on page 963 of your pew Bible, or in Matthew 5, 17 through 20, let's hear what
our King has to say.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or prophets.
I have not come to abolish them, but 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.
Therefore, whoever relaxes one of these 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 Pharisees,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
May God bless the hearing of His word.
There is a terrible epidemic in the United States.
This is me being dramatic.
Terrible epidemic.
Where do you put your old tech?
Where does it go?
We have drawers in the Salvati household with old phones and external disk drives, old laptops,
even a camcorder or two.
What?
This old tech is out of date.
It's irrelevant and useless.
And so we put it in drawers and shelves, out of sight, out of mind.
I don't know what to do with them.
Do you?
Some people, when it comes to the Old Testament, the 39 books starting in Genesis, ending in Malachi,
the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, some people, they think the Old Testament's like old tech.
It's out of date, irrelevant, and useless.
The question is, what does Jesus think about the Old Testament?
And how do we, His kingdom citizens, how do we take on the same mindset of Jesus towards the Old Testament?
We must think about the Old Testament the way that our interpreter-in-chief, our forever king,
has told us to understand the Old Testament.
So just exactly how are we supposed to understand it?
Well, Jesus is going to say something extraordinary.
Maybe you've already picked up on it when I was reading it.
Far from being out of date, irrelevant, and useless,
Jesus is going to say something like,
the Old Testament actually points to me.
And Jesus is never outdated.
He's never irrelevant.
He's never useless.
Quite the contrary.
Amen.
So here's how I want you to walk away from this morning.
Here's the point.
We need to understand the Old Testament the way that Jesus teaches us to understand the Old Testament.
We need to be interpreters of the Old Testament as Jesus interpreted the Old Testament,
which is essentially about Him.
It's an extraordinary claim.
And so in order to help you this morning,
I'm going to ask and answer five questions about this passage.
And Lord willing, you're going to walk away with a clearer sense of what the Old Testament is accomplishing.
So question number one.
Generally speaking, what did Jesus think about the Old Testament?
What did Jesus think about the Old Testament?
Well, He mentions the law and the prophets here in verse 17.
But if you flip back to the end, towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount in 7.12,
you know this as the golden rule.
He says,
So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
For this is the law and the prophets.
So whatever Jesus thinks about the Old Testament, the law and the prophets,
He has a high view of it.
If you turn all the way back towards the end of Matthew chapter 22.
In Matthew chapter 22, verses 34 through 40, which I know is elder Steve Bickle's, one of his favorite passages.
Amen.
Jesus gets peppered with questions by a lawyer.
Teacher, verse 36,
Which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said to them,
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great first commandment, and the second is like it.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.
Jesus has a high view of the Old Testament.
In our passage, verse 18, we see some other truths about how Jesus viewed the Old Testament.
He sees it as enduring.
He says,
As long as there's a heaven, as long as there's an earth, there's going to be the Old Testament.
It's got a really long shelf life.
The other truth that he points to is that he gets at the extent of it.
There's maybe a view of the Old Testament as,
Yeah, generally speaking, that's from God in kind of big picture kind of ways.
But did you see what Jesus said?
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot.
The most minute details of the Old Testament.
Not an iota, not a dot.
We'll pass from the law until all is accomplished.
The iota and the dot are referring to the smallest strokes of the Hebrew letters in the Old Testament.
The vowel pointing.
The slightest stroke that distinguished one Hebrew letter from the next.
It would be kind of like the hook on the English lowercase j that separates it from an i.
What Jesus is saying is it's all from God.
Not just in its enduring nature.
Not just in its detail.
But it's seeking to accomplish something.
Before we talk about this little phrase, until it's all accomplished,
would you just turn to your right in your New Testament to 2 Timothy 3.16?
The Apostle Paul, scholars believe, made up a word to get at the very nature of the Old Testament.
Paul says, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.
The Old Scripture, all Scripture he's referring to is all the Old Testament.
And that English phrase, breathed out by God, is one word in the original language.
And what it's getting at is the God-originating nature of every word in the Old Testament.
And what Paul is saying is simply kind of capturing what Jesus believed about the Old Testament.
Every word has come from the mouth of God.
Of the Old Testament.
Every word.
That's what makes it enduring.
That's why down to the most smallest details, it's going to endure.
And it's going to accomplish something.
Until all is accomplished.
It reveals there's a plan.
You don't talk about something being accomplished unless something is seeking to get something done.
There's a plan.
There's a purpose.
And we actually, in the verse before 2 Timothy 3.16, we get at the plan.
Paul talks about it this way.
But as for you, verse 14.
This is 2 Timothy 3.14 and 15.
But as for you, continuing what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, the Old Testament,
which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Until it's all accomplished.
The Old Testament is revealing God's plan for the fullness of time for all people everywhere to have a saving faith in Jesus Christ.
And that is going to culminate in a moment where Jesus comes back and he makes all wrongs right.
And he judges the world, separating them like sheep and the goats.
And at that moment, God will have gathered all of his people from all of time to sing his praises.
Jesus, this plan that he's seeking to accomplish is a big plan and it's a glory plan.
And Jesus is saying that plan is made known in the Old Testament.
Jesus has a very high view of the Old Testament.
Because he believes it's God speaking.
In fact, you can make an argument that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity,
was actually there when the Old Testament was given.
It's enduring down to the details.
It reveals a plan that is going to find its culmination in Jesus.
That's a high view of the Old Testament.
How does Jesus view the Old Testament, generally speaking?
Very highly.
Second question.
How did Jesus view his relationship to the Old Testament specifically?
Specifically, there's this word fulfill.
In chapter 17, we read,
I have not come to abolish them, the law or the prophets,
but to fulfill them.
In other words, Jesus didn't come to relax the law or reduce the law or to remove the law.
He came to fulfill the law and the prophets and the Psalms, all of the Old Testament.
He came to fulfill it.
So the question becomes, how does Jesus fulfill the Old Testament?
What does that mean?
What does that look like?
And I get to tell you this morning, he fulfills it in more than one way.
The first way that you think of, generally, that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament is through Old Testament predictive prophecy.
Like, if you flip back to Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14,
I mean, we're getting ready for the Advent season.
We read this by Isaiah,
And then we look at Matthew chapter 1,
verses 20 through 23,
and we learn this,
That's just one prophecy, predictive prophecy.
From a prophet.
Do you guys know the first predictive prophecy of the coming of Jesus?
Genesis 3.15.
It's actually a curse on the serpent.
There's going to be a descendant of Eve that's going to crush his head.
So there's this predictive prophecy in both the law and the prophets of the Old Testament,
but that's just one way.
There's another way that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament,
and it's by way of themes,
or what some people call typology.
It's like this.
In the Old Testament,
you have this sacrificial system established,
where there is sinning by God's people,
and then they've got a sacrifice.
Blood must be shed to atone for the sin,
and it happens over and over and over again.
It happens all the way through the Old Testament,
and when you get to the New Testament,
in John chapter 2,
when John sees Jesus,
do you remember what he says?
Behold, the Lamb of God,
who comes to take away the sin of the world.
The greatest sacrifice.
Hebrews 10 talks about Jesus being the once-for-all sacrifice.
There's no more need for the blood of goats and bulls,
because Jesus has died once and for all.
So there we have a theme,
a kind of typology being kind of fulfilled in Jesus,
and we have that with kingship,
we have that with the priesthood,
we have that with the temple,
we have that with places.
It is all throughout your Old Testament
being fulfilled by Jesus in the New.
And then there's the moral fulfillment of Jesus,
of the Old Testament.
I'm guessing if I said,
hey, can you rattle off the Ten Commandments,
you'd be able to like, yeah, six of them.
And then if I ask, hey, of those six,
have you been obeying all of them today?
You're like, well,
two of them.
Check it out.
Jesus lived 33 years.
Let's just take the Ten Commandments.
Every day, every week, of every month, of every year,
he perfectly obeyed,
both in behavior and in emotion,
heart intent,
all of the Ten Commandments,
every day of his life for 33 years.
And that's just ten of the commandments.
I have a hard time obeying one every day.
Jesus was morally perfect
when it comes to the commands
of the Old Testament law.
He obeyed them,
and we couldn't.
He was the righteous one.
It's 1 Peter 3.18,
who gave his life for the unrighteous.
And then,
there's this other fulfillment
that I'm calling
gospel fulfillment.
At the end of Luke,
if you want to turn there,
Luke 24,
it's on page 1052 of your pew Bible,
Jesus has risen from the dead.
And he now is appearing
to his disciples.
And he shows up
with two of his disciples
on the road to Emmaus.
And this conversation ensues,
and then Jesus says this
in verse 25 through 27,
O foolish ones,
slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken.
Was it not necessary
that the Christ should suffer
for these things,
a reference to his death,
and enter into his glory,
a reference to his resurrection?
And beginning with Moses
and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them
and all the scriptures
the things concerning himself.
Jesus is clearly saying
that there are an abundance
of scriptures
in the Old Testament
that are pointing to me,
and not just me,
his death and his resurrection,
the very good news
that we get to proclaim.
It's gospel fulfillment.
And 24 continues,
and his disciples
are back in Jerusalem.
He shows up there
in Jerusalem among them,
says, hey, peace be with you.
And then in verse 44,
we read this,
these are my words
that I spoke to you
while I was still with you,
that everything written about me
in the law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and said to them,
thus it is written,
that the Christ should suffer
and on the third day
rise from the dead
and that repentance
for the forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed
in his name
to all nations
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses
of these things.
It's gospel fulfillment.
Jesus fulfills
the Old Testament
in a number of ways.
We call this
a Christological understanding
of the Old Testament
or a Christocentric way
of understanding
the Old Testament.
And it is absolutely remarkable
because who makes a claim
like that
other than Emmanuel,
God with us?
How did Jesus understand
his relationship
to the Old Testament?
Well, to put it short and sweet,
he says it's about me.
I came not to abolish them
but to fulfill them.
Which brings up
question number three.
Another aspect
of this fulfillment,
we see it
in the verses
that follow
back in Matthew 5
in verses 21
through 48,
Jesus is talking about
restoring the original intent
of these Old Testament commands.
I mean, we just looked at
Luke 24
and on a higher level,
Jesus is saying
the Old Testament
is pointing to me,
my death and resurrection
in a variety
of different ways.
But in verses 21
through 48,
Jesus tackles
six examples
of how
he
restores
the original
scope
and intent
of the law
of God.
He brings fullness
to it.
He restores it.
He restores
the original intent
of the law.
And can I just tell you
the way in which
he restores it
is found in verse 48
of chapter 5.
He says,
you therefore
must be perfect
as your heavenly
Father is perfect.
And so he's going
to explain
these six examples
by way of
kingdom perfection.
perfection.
This is what
true righteousness
and holiness
looks like.
In verses 21
through,
I'll just point to
verses 21
through 26,
it starts by saying,
you've heard that
it was said
to those of old,
you shall not murder
and whoever murders
will be liable
to the judgment.
Verse 22,
but I say to you
that everyone
who is angry
with his brother
will be liable
to the judgment.
Whoever insults
his brother
will be liable
to the counsel
and whoever says
you fool
will be liable
to the hell of fire.
Do you know
what he's doing?
He's like,
here's the true intent
of the command
you shall not murder.
It's not only
forbidding the actual
physical act
of murder,
but it's actually
addressing
your anger
and hatred
to your brothers
and sisters.
he's saying
your anger
is murderous
intent.
So he's bringing
out the fullness,
the full meaning
of the law.
And in verses 27
through 30
he does something
very similar
with the law
you shall not
commit adultery.
You've heard
that it was said
verse 20,
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.
So someone can think
oh you should not
commit adultery
like okay I'm not
going to touch
anybody else's spouse,
right?
But what Jesus is saying
is even if you look
lustfully at someone else
you've broken the command.
Your lust
is adulterous intent.
And so what Jesus
is doing is
he's moving beyond
the behaviors
and exposing
our hearts.
Do you remember
in times where people
would talk about Jesus
as one speaking
with authority?
This is it.
Here's the true
intent of the law.
It is to expose you.
It's to show you
who you really are
and you can't hide
behind your behaviors.
You can't just manage
your behaviors
and think you're okay.
And so what he does
in verse 31
with no fault divorce
what he does
in verses 33
through 37
in terms of
how you use your words
to swear oaths
and he gets at
in 38 through 42
when he gets at
this kind of
this vindication
we can feel
an eye for an eye
tooth for a tooth
and he gets at
in 43 through 47
when people say
love your neighbor
but hate your enemies
and he's like
what?
Did you not know
that your enemy
is your neighbor
and you're to love
your enemy?
He brings about
the true intent
of the law.
He restores
the original scope
and reach
of the command.
Remember he was there
when they were given.
There's no escape.
It exposes our hearts.
We are shown
for who we are
and you know
what it leads us to?
Declaration of
spiritual bankruptcy.
of being able
to say
you know that's
I'm a breaker
of that command.
I can't
I don't obey
that command.
I'm
I'm in debt
I'm in over my head.
That's the intent
of the law.
That's how Paul
talks about
the use of the law
when the law
is a tutor.
It brings us
to the end
of ourselves.
It exposes
our hearts
shows us
who we are
and it shows us
our desperate
need
for a savior.
The guy's speaking.
So how does Jesus
restore
the commands?
He brings
he brings
their true
intent back.
He
wants
our hearts
to be exposed
leading us
to spiritual bankruptcy
leading us
to mourning
over our sin
leading us
to a meekness
leading us
to a true hunger
and thirsting
for true righteousness
purity of heart
mercy
and it's a way
in which he fulfills
the law.
he brings
back its
true meaning.
Can't escape it.
Fourth question.
What does it mean
when Jesus says
relaxing the least
of these commandments?
We read that
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.
Remember Jesus
has been reiterating
in this passage
that he did not
come to remove
the law
or to reduce
the law
or to relax
the law
but he's come
to restore
the true intent
of the law.
Maybe a better
question to ask
is
who's Jesus
talking about?
Who's relaxing
the commandments?
Who does he have
in mind?
And the surprise
is that he has
in mind
is the Pharisees.
The religious
professionals
of the day.
it was these
religious
professionals
that
are the ones
he quotes.
You've heard
that it was said
to those of old
in verse 21
27
you've heard
that it was said
verse 31
it was also said
33
again
you've heard
that it was said
38
you've heard
that it was said
43
you've heard
that it was said
you should not
you should love
your neighbor
and hate
your enemy
your Bible
doesn't say that
it's actually
a relaxing
of the law
you're like
what hey
how does that work?
Here's how
they're relaxing
the law
they're adding
to the commands
they're focusing
on behavior
and by doing so
they are actually
avoiding
having
the commands
thoroughly
search
their hearts
they're avoiding
the exposure
to be the sinners
that they
really were
so these six
examples
that you have
heard
that it was said
these are the
distortions
of the Pharisees
this is actually
them relaxing
the commands
so that they
can manage
the commands
and feel good
about themselves
but Jesus
says
in every
single
of these six
examples
but I say
to you
let me
just correct
this relaxation
of the command
and he
presses into
the full
intent
and impact
of it
calling us
to perfection
he doesn't
Jesus doesn't
relax
the standard
of perfection
of pure
holiness
he calls
us to it
and so
these Pharisees
they thought
they were
perfect examples
of righteousness
but you remember
what Jesus
calls them
whitewashed
tombs
you look great
on the outside
but on the inside
you're just
rotten death
kingdom citizens
when we
come across
the commands
instead of
thinking
okay
how can I
make this command
fit my life
what we do
is like
oh
I'm exposed
my heart
has been exposed
I declare
spiritual bankruptcy
so relaxing
the commandments
is interpreting
God's commands
in such a way
to avoid
the sin
in your heart
to manage
behavior
so let me ask you
a question
along these lines
when you confess
your sins
to God
what are you
typically
confessing
are you
confessing
behaviors
or are you
also
confessing
sinful
acts
sinful
behaviors
and sinful
attitudes
sinful
heart
postures
anger
and hate
and lust
and greed
and
insatiable
desire
for comfort
if you're not
you've got
room to grow
to be able
to say
oh God
would you
expose
my heart
shine your
light
through your
commands
on the
darkness
in my
heart
so that I
can walk
in a
purity of
heart
of acknowledging
your sin
now if you're
in the room
and you're
actually saying
something like
this
you know
what
let's see
I'm trying
to remember
the last time
I actually
confessed
my sin
in which
I wasn't
prompted
hmm
if you don't
remember the last
time you've
confessed your
sin
you need to
ask a
different
question
what does
that reveal
about you
what does
that reveal
about your
hunger
and thirst
for righteousness
maybe
you're not
relaxing
the commands
as much
as you are
a little
too
relaxed
about
the commands
you're not
taking them
seriously
enough
we must
view the
Old Testament
the way that
Jesus viewed
the Old Testament
not relaxing
the commandments
but allowing
the commandments
to search
our hearts
and expose
us
and then we
cry out to
him
again and
again
one last
question and
answer
chapter or
chapter 5
verse 20
for I tell you
unless your
righteousness exceeds
that of the
scribes and
Pharisees
you will
never
enter the
kingdom of
heaven
what kind
of righteousness
is this
that exceeds
the scribes
and the
Pharisees
I mean
weren't the
scribes and
Pharisees the
most righteous
people around
they were the
ones that would
kind of wrap
their cloaks
around them
when they were
walking through
just the normal
everyday people
so not to be
touched and
made unclean
aren't they the
most righteous
people aren't
aren't they the
ones who are
pictures of
holiness
if you ask
them they would
say of course
we are
but they were
relaxing the
commandments
Jesus isn't
calling us to
a just like
two notches
better than the
righteousness of
the Pharisees
by degree
that's not the
righteousness that
Jesus is referring
to here
he's talking
about a
different kind
of righteousness
he's talking
about a
righteousness
that is
given to
those who
declare spiritual
bankruptcy
those who
are saying
I am utterly
unrighteous
help me
Lord
and then
they're made
righteous
don't you
want to know
how that works
remember
Jesus fulfilled
the righteous
requirements of
the whole law
and the prophets
he did what we
could never do
and when a
sinner declares
spiritual bankruptcy
for the first
time they're like
I am shot
through by these
commands I am
exposed for the
sinner that I am
there's no way I
could save myself
I am justly
under God's
wrath
when you
recognize that
and admit that
to God
and say
oh help me
Lord Jesus
God forgives
your sin debt
Jesus pays
for all that
debt on the
cross
so there's no
more debt over
your head
and it just
doesn't end
there
it's God
then credits
your account
with the very
righteousness
of Christ
so not
check it out
the righteous one
was made
unrighteous
so that the
unrighteous ones
could be made
righteous
and on the
basis of
that work
by faith
in Christ
welcome to
the kingdom
what kind of
righteousness
exceeds that
of the
scribes and
Pharisees
it's Christ's
righteousness
and without it
no one can
enter the
kingdom of
heaven
and when
Christ's
righteousness
is imputed
to you
you are going
to hunger
and thirst
for the
real
righteousness
a heart
righteousness
that which
the commands
actually call
us to
I started
talking about
an epidemic
where do you
put old
tech
maybe your
home has
an old
tech
graveyard
like our
home does
old tech
that's
irrelevant
it's out
of date
it's useless
but as we've
been seeing
Jesus here
speak about
the Old
Testament
what I hope
you're seeing
this morning
is that Jesus
is extraordinary
and this claim
by which he says
he came to
fulfill the Old
Testament
it's extraordinary
so far
from being
out of date
irrelevant
and useless
the Old
Testament
is always
to date
it's incredibly
relevant
and it's
super useful
because it
gives us
Jesus
it points
us to him
again
and again
the Old
Testament
is a
Christological
gold mine
unto salvation
but don't
take my
word for
it
take
Jesus
word for
it
I came
not to
abolish
them
the law
and the
prophets
but to
fulfill
them
that's
something to
be very
thankful
about
and it
changes
the way
you view
the Old
Testament
let's pray
God in
heaven
thank you
for the
Old
Testament
every word
in it
and thank
you for
these words
of Jesus
that give
us light
in order
to understand
the Old
Testament
that in
ways that
not
we don't
always
understand
but are
ways that
are glorious
that these
39 books
point again
and again
to your
great work
realized in
the person
of Jesus
Christ
by which
you're gathering
a people
for yourself
who will
praise you
for eternity
God thank you
so much
for the
Beatitudes
thank you
so much
for these
words of
Jesus
we've been
gathering
around this
fall
would you
prepare our
hearts
as we
enter
the Advent
season
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen
so