Text: Matthew 5:17-20
Focus: Doing the law
Function: To help people see the importance of loving others.
Form: Bible Study
Intro:
Pretty strong words.
Whoever breaks the least of these will be least in the Kingdom of Heaven. A strong warning.
And then, the righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
That seems to be impossible.
We have already seen that the only way it is possible is by faith, by trust in Christ.
If our righteousness is the righteousness given to us freely by Jesus, His perfection in place of our sin and brokenness then we do indeed have a righteousness that exceeds that of these very religious folks.
And that, my friends has been the extent of the teaching on this passage in most other Christian denominations for the last 200 years.
I mentioned before how the Brethren are different in the way they interpret the Sermon on the Mount, Chapters 5-7 of Matthew.
Based on this scripture, the Brethren have always said that the least of the commands are to be followed as well as the most important commands. If God said it, we cannot pick and choose based on our current whims.
That is what Jesus says here.
But in this passage, Jesus Himself also admits that some are more important than others.
So, what is the difference if some are more important when all of them have to be obeyed?
We have a hard time with that idea because it seems to open the door for situational ethics.
Here is the difficult part: There are times when absolute principles will not work.
For example, King David lied to the priest when he asked him for some food. He told him he was on a secret mission for the King, when in fact, he was fleeing the king's justice. c)! Samuel 21:1-6)
And the priest gave him the bread that was dedicated only to other priests, with a death penalty described in the law for anyone who wasn't a priest who ate the bread. (Leviticus 21)
And Jesus, the same man here who says “even the smallest command is absolutely important” tells the Pharisees that David and the Priest did the right thing when the priest gave him that bread. (Mark 2:25-27)
I am not saying that the bible is inconsistent.
There are biblical scoffers who read those two passages and claim that the bible is full of inconsistencies.
Is it?
I don't believe it is. Not at all.
Jesus, when He explains it says that it is the Spirit, not the letter of the law that matters to God.
My Theology Professor at Bible College kept telling us that we really couldn't be sanctified Christians if we exceeded the speed limit.
Romans 13:1-6 is pretty clear. Obey the government. Always.
He was a big football fan also. And it caused a problem. Because, he would also say, you cannot go out to eat at a restaurant on Sunday because it is the Lord's Sabbath and it should be observed. And if you go out, giving yourself a break from the work of cooking, you are also making someone else work and then it is wrong.
So, someone asked him why he watched football on Sunday and he admitted that it was impossible to fulfill every single jot and tittle.
People older than me may remember Brother Andrew. He was a missionary behind the Iron Curtain during the cold war.
His main mission job was smuggling bibles into Russia. He tells stories of miracle after miracle about how God blinded the eyes, or otherwise distracted the border guards when he smuggled bibles into the country.
My theology professor was pretty clear to us, that Brother Andrew's work was unbiblical since it violated the rules of Romans 13:1-6.
A good friend of mine, who was always sort of a rebel, started a smear campaign against the professor because he said, “Then why did God supernaturally protect Brother Andrew if what he was doing was a sin?”
Was it a sin?
The letter of the law says, “obey the government always.”
Do situational ethics rule? Or do absolute laws with no tolerance rule? Is there a middle ground that is true to the Scripture and true to the mercy, forgiveness and mission of Jesus that is probably best expressed by the fact that His religious enemies condemned Him because He hung out with sinners, didn't mind feasting at a party with tax collectors and drank wine with prostitutes?
How does that match up with Jesus' words here, not a crossing of a “t” not the dotting of an “i” will be excluded from this law?
Remember, it was Jesus' own Spirit, the Holy Spirit that inspired Moses to write those laws. Jesus knew exactly what those words meant.
Remember Jesus, at 12 years of age? He was in the temple teaching the leaders, not them teaching Him. Jesus authored those words 1600 years before. (Luke 2:41-50)
Jesus did not perceive a discrepancy when He says not a dotting of an “i”, not a crossing of a “t” will be expunged from the law.
So we have to work it out without calling the scripture unreliable.
And the answer to these questions is in the statement: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of these religious folks.”
And yes, I agree with our historical perspective. I get pretty upset by other theologies that say that only the important commands are important.
But remember, Jesus Himself states, indirectly in this passage that some commands are more important than others.
We have a record of it. A religious leader asked Him what is the most important command. Jesus turned the question back on the guy and he answered to Love God and Love your neighbor.
Jesus commends the men. Jesus tells him that he is close to the real live principles of the Kingdom of God.
And then, you know this, Jesus says: “all the commands, from the least to the greatest are wrapped up in those two statements.”
So, we have a division in Christianity. We have those who say, “righteousness is merely a faith act that believes in the sacrifice that Jesus provided for us. Jesus died in our place. Jesus, the God/Man, the universe's perfect being, the only acceptable sacrifice gave His life for us to have eternal life.
That is one of, if not, the only core doctrines of Christianity. It is called the atonement.
Jesus death atoned, paid the price for our own sins.
And for many, that is the end of the story. That is all that really matters. For them, if they can say, confess that this is true, from their hearts, then they must be saved.
And, salvation is indeed linked to that confession. But Jesus says in this passage that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, we can not have a part in the Kingdom of heaven.
These are not my words. They are His. This is God's word speaking.
So, that one side is contrasted with the other side that says, wait a minute! What about also doing Jesus' work. Didn't He say “I have come to set free the brokenhearted, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed and to proclaim they time of God's favor? Luke 4:18.
Can merely speaking those words, “I believe” alone save a soul? I mean, what about the movie, or TV show where the mobster is having his baby christened in the big cathedral? Here is a man who lives by violence. His business is to enslave women to prostitution and pornography. His livelihood comes from selling a product that is highly addictive with the express purpose of keeping those people dependent upon him.
We watch that christening ceremony and think of the hypocrisy of turning faith into a religion that keeps people from obedience and falsely justifies the lifestyle of the person.
I am not saying the religion justifies it, I am saying that they have an “out” for their conscience because they believe they have performed a religious rite and all of their evil will be excused.
I know the Church condemns the activity of mobster violence. It isn't the Church's fault.
I am saying what Jesus is trying to say here: “you cannot hide behind the religious practices of ritual when your heart does not love your neighbor as yourself.”
God's righteousness exceeds religious practice. It comes from the heart and it is manifested in the way we demonstrate His love and mercy toward ourselves and others.
To get this correct from scripture, we again need to break down the word righteousness.
The people of God are the righteous.
But does that mean they are merely declared forgiven because of what they say and believe, or does it mean that because of a relationship with God, they are people who love Justice for others more than their own lives?
The root word “Righteous” is Diakanos. And that word means, Just.
So Jesus is saying it isn't doing religion, it is doing the right thing.
Unless you are doing the right thing, you cannot have a part in the Kingdom of God.
Did you know that Martin Luther wanted to have the book of James thrown out of the NT?
When James says: “faith without works is dead” Martin Luther accused him of losing an orthodox understanding of faith.
18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19-20Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
21-24Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25-26The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.
If the actions are not there, then there is no faith. Martin Luther was wrong, but I understand his point. At the time of the reformation, the Church was doing what the Pharisees were doing. They were making up false rules that had nothing to do with doing the right thing, but had all kinds of appearance of religious activity.
That is exactly the condemnation that Jesus had of the religious leaders of His day.
Their ceremony looked like the right thing, but it wasn't just. It didn't involve caring for the least of these.
It permitted them to in a selfish manor, care only for themselves, to even excuse their hardhearted attitudes when they exercised their legal rights and forced bill collections against the poor in such a way that the poor were left destitute.
They “did things right” in religious circles, but they didn't “do the right things” on behalf of others.
So how do we practically apply this?
Jesus gives a good example right here in next week's text. Verses 27-28. He talks about the difference between coveting and adultery.
He tells them, listen, you may appear to be righteous because you never commit adultery, but I tell you that the act of coveting the spouse of another is also an act of adultery.
You see, it is nearly impossible to detect covetousness in someone.
So, they can look right, appear to do things right, but they are not doing the right thing.
How do you detect covetousness in someone else?
I have heard women say, “there was something about him that gave me the creeps.” And that could be subtle signs, or intuition.
I have heard people say things about how they resent that someone else gets the new car, or the nicer house. I can guess that the person who says that is struggling with covetousness.
But covetousness is a sin that resides inside of our own hearts. We can cover it up from everyone but God.
Jesus, explains how our righteousness can exceed that of these religious leaders by telling us to be honest with ourselves about our own hearts.
I find this to be true, if I do my best, in faith and in respect to the fact that God sees what truly motivates me and still do my best to do the right thing. Then the just actions will come out.
This is a personal journey of integrity between us and God. This is us walking in faith and the knowledge that God sees and cares about what we are really doing.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn't add another part to this. Do not be too hard on yourself.
You can over think your own motivations so much that you can convince yourself that you did the right thing for the wrong reason.
I promise you, you are not going to be perfect in this.
If you could, then Jesus would not have died.
So, the real response is this. You cannot possible obey every single jot and tittle of the law.
But you can love God and love the others as much as you love yourselves.
This is an absolute that is workable. When I stand at the US border in Mexico, and I hear the words that these people are my neighbors, it changes they words I use, “undocumented residents?” “Illegals?” “Neighbors?”
When I sit in the prison on a Kairos weekend and the fellow beside me tells me that he is a member of a Mexican drug cartel and does not remember how many people he has killed, I remind myself that he too, is my neighbor.
When I stand in the grocery store line and the person in front of me is buying steak and lobster on their food stamp card, and I am now eating beans and rice 2 – 3 times a week, I remember that person is also my neighbor.
When I listen to a politician blame the poor for their laziness and I want to shout back about justice and reasons for generational poverty and judgementalism, I too must remember that politician is my neighbor.
When I hear someone accuse me, or misrepresent my actions, or call into question the sincerity or integrity of my actions, I must remember that they too are my neighbor.
We are commanded to love our enemy as much as we love ourselves.
It's not easy, but it's simple.
God is looking for lives transformed by Him, by repentance, by faith, by a personal walk with Jesus.
Love one another, no matter what the price.
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