§ 6. The Sermon on the Mount (According to Matthew)

Jesus Will Accomplish Everything The Law Requires

Jesus is here saying He will not be starting a new religion. He instead is accurately using the Scriptures to accomplish absolutely everything they point to. Jesus will establish and perfectly fulfill the Law's righteous requirement.

The term translated "abolish" (καταλύω) can be rendered in a few ways. Alternate translations could include:

• "bring the Law or the Prophets to an end"
• "depose the Law or the Prophets"
• "annul the Law or the Prophets"

From these renderings we see clearly the Lord's intent: the Law and the Prophets are established, right, and here to stay.

What is in fact new is His teaching that He will completely fulfill the entirety of the Law. Until Jesus, most teachers of the Law saw in it mainly regulations for earthly things such as foods or physical contact with uncleanness. Such observations miss the larger point of those regulations: the need to discern between clean and unclean as defined by God and not man.

The term translated "fulfill" (πληρόω) could also appear here as:

• "…but to make them complete."
• "…but to pay them in full."
• "…but to observe them fully."
• "…but to fulfill their requirements."

From these renderings we can see traditional readings of the Law left some of it unfinished, and Jesus intends to finish it.

False Accusations

Since people sometimes do not understand what the Law intends, they may well see Jesus's teachings as undoing the Law, but in fact He may only be undoing their misconceptions about the Law—not the Law itself.

Still, Jesus and His disciples were consistently accused of seeking to destroy Jewish customs and religion.

Matthew 26:59–66

Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.'" And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" But Jesus remained silent.
And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death."

Mark 14:57–58

And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'"

Matthew 27:38–40

Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross."

Stephen is an excellent example of the teaching here. He was accused of seeking to abolish the Law, but he in fact sought to fulfill it completely. His words rebuke the leaders of the people on the grounds they, "…received the Law…and did not keep it." Stephen does not set aside the Law; rather he sees a rejection of the Christ foretold in the Law as a rejection of the Law itself.

Acts 6:8–14

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the Law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us."

Acts 7:35, 51–53

"This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush….
You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law as delivered by angels and did not keep it."

Paul explains the full meaning of the Law's food regulations in Romans when he says, "Do not destroy the work of God." The word "destroy" Paul uses is the same word Jesus used when He said He would not "abolish" the Law or the Prophets. This means the fact all foods are clean does not destroy or abolish the Law, but rather the Law is completely fulfilled when we are walking in love toward our brother and faith toward our God.

Romans 14:15–20

If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.

The 20th verse explains the 19th and is another example of how to read Jesus's teaching on this subject generally. When He speaks of binding the commandments of the Law, He means for us to take their genuine spiritual meaning to heart and enjoin it upon others in our teaching, too. For example, instead of requiring the eating of "clean" foods in service to God, we require the mouth to be honest and genuine:

Mathew 15:11

...It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.

Paul explains the idea further in Colossians by boldly setting forth two things:

1. Christ is the reality, not the foreshadow that Moses was, and
2. the modern binding of such earthly foreshadows as food and drink, festivals, and even the Sabbath follows human reasoning, not divine.

Colossians 2:16–17, 20–22

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ….
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

This verse clearly spells out the transition from foreshadow to reality. The Law and the Prophets foretold the coming of the kingdom; now John, Jesus, and the apostles announce its arrival in this generation.

Mark 9:1

And [Jesus] said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

The term here translated "force" (βιάζω) includes the idea of overpowering or moving an opponent, as well as breaking through a line of defense.

At first glance, the use of such a term seems possibly a reference to the conquest of Canaan, in which the kingdom they were promised had to be taken by force, displacing the nations then inhabiting the land.

However, Matthew's account of a similar statement indicates the term is a warning to us that the church will suffer persecution; He says these words while John is in prison:

Matthew 11:12

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

The force of Jesus's words becomes clear when John is beheaded for teaching the truth about God's marriage law.

The word here translated "void" (πίπτω) is literally translated "fall." The meaning is that nothing the Law foretells will be dropped. The complete destruction of physical reality as we know it is "easier" than for the word of God to prove untrue!

Romans 11:1–2, 7, 11–12

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew….
What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking….
So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!