Quest for Righteousness
Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
I. Introduction.
Two times last year, we had groups of our church members do a small group study of the book, Just Walk Across the Room, by Bill Hybels. The book is built on the concept that the world is full of people who are “far from God.” Those of us who have a relationship with God have an awesome responsibility to share our faith with others. And sharing our faith with someone else begins with a walk across the room. Before any of us can share faith with someone else, we must build a genuine relationship with them.
In the book, Hybels describes some of the ways he shares faith with others. One of the ways Hybels uses is to draw a ladder. The top of the ladder represents God. The bottom of the ladder represents Satan. Everyone else falls somewhere on the ladder between God and Satan. At the bottom of the ladder, just above Satan, we can place evil people like Hitler and Bin Laden. At the top of the ladder, somewhere lower than God, we can place good people like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, where would we place ourselves on the ladder?
I’m not as good as Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, I hope I’m better than Hitler and Bin Laden. I would put myself somewhere in the middle.
After placing himself on the ladder, Hybels then gives the pen to the other person. He asks them to place themselves somewhere on the ladder.
Then, Hybels asks one of the most important questions of life. What kind of plan do you have to move from your place on the ladder to the top of the ladder? What is your strategy to get into heaven? Or to become a good person?
This is what makes up most of the world’s religions. Religion is basically nothing more than a human attempt to reach God by becoming a better person. Some religions teach a set of rules and regulations to make us better people. Another way to say this is to say that religion is a quest for righteousness. Yet, notice that even the people we think of as the best representatives of humanity (the most righteous people we can think of) are still not as good as God. There is still a gap between Billy Graham and God. Perhaps we should ask, what is Billy Graham doing about the gap between himself and God?
The Bible tells us there is nothing we can do about the gap between us and God. That’s the bad news. It is impossible for you and me to become good enough to enter heaven. Yet, the bad news is not the end of the story. There is Good News.
John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10: 9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
One way we can restate this Good News is to say that the crucifixion and resurrection brings a new standard for righteousness. The righteousness God requires is not about human beings’ becoming good enough. God’s standard is the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus—the one and only Son of God, the One who died and rose again. Righteousness is not what you can do for God. Righteousness is what God has done for us through Jesus.
Read Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
In this passage, Jesus just did the same thing Bill Hybels did with the ladder illustration. The difference is that Jesus didn’t mention Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. Instead, Jesus used the scribes and Pharisees. In the same way Billy Graham is the most righteous person we can think of, the scribes and Pharisees are the most righteous people first century Jews can think of.
This idea has been lost over time, primarily through the presentation of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Of course, our perception of the Pharisees comes through the eyes of Jesus. The average first century Jews thought the Pharisees were the most righteous people they knew. The Pharisees kept all the commandments of the Law, even the smallest legal requirement. However, Jesus could see through their external righteousness and see the wickedness of their hearts.
Ultimately, this is the righteousness Jesus is talking about. Not the righteous things you can do. That is no different from the Pharisees. They kept the Law. Jesus requires that his followers have a righteousness that goes beyond the external things you and I can do. Jesus requires a righteousness of our hearts. Since no one can change his or her own heart, the righteousness Jesus requires is impossible through human effort. Righteousness of the heart is something that only Jesus can bring about—through his crucifixion and resurrection.
II. Relationship between Jesus and the Law.
A. Jesus Did Not Abolish the Law
We don’t often use the word “abolish” in daily conversation. However, I think ya’ll are smart enough to know that it means “to eliminate” or “to set aside.”
At this point I want to point out a big difference between Jesus and me. When I stand up to preach on Sundays, I begin by reading the Bible. If I do not read the Bible, I do not have any authority. The only authority I have comes from the Bible as the Word of God. God said it first. I am just interpreting God’s words and applying them to modern day life in East Texas.
Jesus did not depend on anyone else’s authority. When Jesus spoke, he actually spoke the Word of God. He is the unique Son of God. He has authority in his very nature. And he has the authority to eliminate or to set aside any or all of what God has said in the Old Testament.
B. Jesus Fulfilled the Law and Prophets
What you and I think of as the Old Testament, others refer to as the Hebrew Bible—or the Jewish Bible. The Hebrew Bible is commonly divided into three sections: Law, Prophets and Writings. The Law typically refers to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Prophets are typically the books that have a man’s name: Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc… The Writings are everything else: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, etc…
When Jesus uses the phrase “the Law and Prophets” he is actually referring to the entire Old Testament. For first century Jews, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Bible?” For twenty-first century Christians, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Old Testament?”
i. Jesus kept the requirements
There are several places we can go to find Jesus’ keeping the requirements of the Law. In the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus’ being faithful to the Law when he was tempted by Satan. On one hand, Jesus was faithful to the Law, because he did not sin. On the other hand, Jesus demonstrates faithfulness by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy in all three temptations. In Matthew 17, we read a story about Jesus’ paying the required Temple tax. In Matthew 26, we read how Jesus observed the Jewish Passover. Each of these were requirements. And Jesus kept them all.
ii. Jesus carried out the prophecies
Matthew seems to spend more time on this fact than the other Gospel writers. He shows us how the Old Testament prophets predicted that Jesus would be born of a virgin; born in Bethlehem; sojourn in Egypt as a child; suffer for our sins; and rise again on the third day. Jesus is the only person who has fulfilled each and every prophecy from the Old Testament.
iii. Jesus accomplished the intentions
Ultimately, the purpose of all the laws in the Old Testament was to bring human beings into an intimate and exclusive relationship with God. Yet, the Old Testament is filled with examples of how God’s people did not maintain this exclusive relationship with God. Israel was unfaithful. They turned away from God to pursue the gods of neighboring nations.
iv. Jesus satisfied the sacrifices
The sacrificial system is a large part of the Old Testament. Different sins called for different sacrifices. There were grain offerings, dove offerings, lambs, goats, oxen and bulls. There were so many different types of sacrifices that it was necessary to have a class of professional priests to determine what kind of sacrifice was needed and then to offer the sacrifice.
Jesus was not just a teacher, or a good man. Jesus gave his life as the ultimate and final sacrifice. The crucifixion of Jesus brought an end to the animal sacrifices and an end to the priestly class. Jesus became our sacrifice for all our sins as well as our priest who provides us with access to God.
C. Jesus Did Not Leave the Law Unchanged
Another way Jesus fulfilled the Law was the way he interpreted it for his followers. Jesus did not eliminate the Law. But, Jesus did not leave the Law unchanged either. He interpreted the Law in a radical new way. Only Jesus can do this, because only Jesus has the authority. None of us can re-interpret the Law, because we are not the unique Son of God.
III. Relationship between Christians and the Law.
There are a lot of people who live by the mantra, “I live under grace and not the law.” While there is some truth in that statement, I am afraid it does not take Jesus’ words seriously enough. For example, Jesus did not say that we have the freedom to choose between grace and law. Instead, he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…”
The best way to interpret Jesus’ words here is for us to add the words “for you.” In other words, Jesus did not come to do away with the Law and Prophets “for you.” You and I do not have a choice between grace and law. The Law still serves a purpose. If the Law no longer has a purpose, Jesus would have said so. Yet, he didn’t. He clearly tells us that the Law still applies to Christians. However, it is not the same old interpretation of the Law. It is the radical new interpretation that comes through Jesus.
IV. Conclusion.
In the next few weeks, we are going to look at some of the specific laws from the Old Testament that Jesus reinterpreted for his disciples. But let’s look at the way Jesus also reinterpreted a ritual from the Old Testament.
In Matthew 26, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples to prepare for the annual Passover meal. In the Old Testament, it was commanded that all Jews would observe the Passover annually to remind them of their miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt. This is the central event of salvation in the Old Testament and continues to be the defining moment for the Jews today.
The Jews were instructed to remember the Exodus in the simple act of sharing a meal together as a family. Jesus shared this meal with his family of faith—the disciples. Yet, notice how Jesus took this Old Testament requirement and reinterpreted it in light of himself…
Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body…”
Jesus took the cup and said, “This is my blood…”
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me…”
Jesus is the source of our righteousness. Jesus is the only One who can make up the difference between us and God—the only way to be saved and have eternal life in heaven. And, Jesus is the central event of salvation for us to remember…
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