Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Well, the people listening to Jesus are confused again. Fine, so Jesus has not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. Everybody knows that Moses and the prophets received their writings from God. But now Jesus claims he is coming to fulfill those teachings. This claim is revolutionary, for no rabbi or scribe has ever made such a claim before. Essentially, Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah, for only the Messiah can fulfill the Scriptures. And now Jesus adds insult to injury for teachers who have emphasized petty items while ignoring God’s main messages.
18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is when some of the scribes and teachers of the Law begin quietly squirming. Originally, the Jews incurred exile to Babylon because they abandoned worshiping the One True Living God for idol worship and all the practices against which God had warned them. The Jewish Virtual Library gives this information: “But the Jews in Babylon also creatively remade themselves and their world view. In particular, they blamed the disaster of the Exile on their own impurity. They had betrayed Yahweh and allowed the Mosaic laws and cultic practices to become corrupt; the Babylonian Exile was proof of Yahweh’s displeasure. During this period, Jewish leaders no longer spoke about a theology of judgment, but a theology of salvation. In texts such as Ezekiel and Isaiah, there is talk that the Israelites would be gathered together once more, their society and religion purified, and the unified Davidic kingdom be re-established.” https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-babylonian-exile
In a passionate attempt to define holiness, Jewish teachers developed all kinds of practices that Moses never prescribed. Over time, many of these practices assumed so much importance that God’s original intentions wound up being ignored. Sincere believers with limited resources found it increasingly difficult and frustrating, for as soon as they began observing one set of rules, other rules popped up as well. Those who truly wished to worship God found themselves trying to worship while feeling like absolute failures at the same time, a miserable situation. God intended his people to worship joyfully; meanwhile, for many, the burden of guilt was almost intolerable.
Much later, in Matthew 23, Jesus spoke out against teachers who major on minors while neglecting God’s emphasis on love and charity. Matthew 23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden…13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!
16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.
23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!
Even the non-Jews in the crowd were aware of some of the complicated rules of the Pharisees. Now Jesus would make an incredible statement. “20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”
If Jesus had simply stopped his teaching at that point, the entire audience would have left broken-hearted, feeling more frustration than they had when they came. But Jesus would continue, explaining how truly righteous behavior should appear. But Jesus made this provocative statement precisely because he was about to enter into some revolutionary teachings.
When Jesus was speaking to the crowd on that hillside, he was speaking out of love and joy, not criticism and judgment. Many times, we might imagine Jesus standing and haranguing the crowd, but he did exactly the opposite. Jesus sat with his followers sitting around him while the rest of the crowd sat as well. And Jesus taught passionately but lovingly, smiling and possibly even winking his eye as he taught. While Matthew and Luke both preserved the main points of the Sermon on the Mount, it’s possible that Jesus spiced his teachings by quoting local proverbs that would have got the crowd chuckling while engaging their attention. You can almost imagine Matthew trying to take notes after it was over and saying to himself, “Well, that was funny, but it’s not necessary to keep that joke in the record.”
So, for today, we join that crowd on the hillside. We too want to ask Jesus, “Well, if I have to be more righteous than prominent religious leaders, how can I possibly do that? I’m sunk!” Tomorrow we’ll see how Jesus addresses this problem.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we praise You for sending Jesus to shed his blood for our sins so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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