Cross Points 2.12.21
The Fulfillment of the Law
Imagine Jesus standing in front of a crowd of thousands, about to deliver what we know as The Sermon on the Mount. How could thousands of people hear him? Did just a few up close hear, in reality; and then they spread the message to those further out in the crowd? What is going on here?
When Rexanne and I visited Jordan in 2018 and went on our last full day to Umm Qais (ancient Gadara), we stood on this mountain peninsula and could see for miles out over the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. What amazed me, different than what I’ve even pictured in my mind, were the steep slopes that went up from the sea on both sides. Reading about the location of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, I also learned that these hills, along with the rounded shoreline where they believe this sermon took place, created a natural amphitheater. Research has shown that the acoustics of this place would allow 8-10,000 people to be within hearing distance of a speaker!
We too often tend in our modern era to believe Jesus removed the need to obey God’s laws and decrees, putting a watered-down version of faith and an overblown version of grace in its place. But grace simply means we don’t earn our salvation, and faith properly defined involves following the object of our faith. When we take seriously the words of Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7, we see something that might surprise us take form.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5:17-18). And, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (5:20). And, “You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away!” (5:27-29). In fact, Jesus does not abolish the Law, instead he gives it God’s meaning, and emphasizes its importance. Sure, the ceremonial pieces of it, the sacrifice of animals, the detailed requirements for the nation of Israel, will be nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). But the moral/ethical pieces of it, the effort to have godly character traits, to comply with the continuing righteous acts of the Ten Commandments, for example, continue. If Jesus or his apostles command it, we are to follow in love and true faith. We earn nothing, but we do follow.
As we listen to the words of Jesus as he speaks on the side of this mountain amphitheater, we sometimes miss meaning as non-Jews, not having the mindset of his original audience. Jesus says he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. To the Jew of the first century, to abolish the Law would mean to nullify it by misinterpreting it (as the Pharisees tended to do), and to fulfill the Law would mean to properly interpret it, and then to comply (as Jesus would do).* As Jesus perfectly keeps the Law, he becomes the only means of providing a perfect sacrifice for our sins, the Lamb of God (the lambs sacrificed under the Law needed to be without blemish).
The rabbis of Jesus’ day had a Hebrew word worth noting. The word is Halakhah and referenced how people were to respond to the Torah (God’s Law). Halakhah means “the path that one walks.” Doesn’t that summarize well what our faith in Christ should do? It should cause us to walk his path, to follow his teaching. Out of love for Jesus and faith in his righteous act on the cross for us, we should participate in his death and resurrection (baptism: Rom. 6:3-5), and then we should simply walk his path, honoring him through how we live. When we do that, we are not perfect by any means, but we remain “in Christ” (Rom. 8:1-4; Gal. 3:27-28; Eph. 2:10-13; etc.), and if we are “in Christ” the good news is this: his righteousness becomes our own! We fulfill the Law through Jesus.
When Rexanne and I visited Jordan in 2018 and went on our last full day to Umm Qais (ancient Gadara), we stood on this mountain peninsula and could see for miles out over the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. What amazed me, different than what I’ve even pictured in my mind, were the steep slopes that went up from the sea on both sides. Reading about the location of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, I also learned that these hills, along with the rounded shoreline where they believe this sermon took place, created a natural amphitheater. Research has shown that the acoustics of this place would allow 8-10,000 people to be within hearing distance of a speaker!
We too often tend in our modern era to believe Jesus removed the need to obey God’s laws and decrees, putting a watered-down version of faith and an overblown version of grace in its place. But grace simply means we don’t earn our salvation, and faith properly defined involves following the object of our faith. When we take seriously the words of Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 5-7, we see something that might surprise us take form.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matt. 5:17-18). And, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (5:20). And, “You have heard it said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away!” (5:27-29). In fact, Jesus does not abolish the Law, instead he gives it God’s meaning, and emphasizes its importance. Sure, the ceremonial pieces of it, the sacrifice of animals, the detailed requirements for the nation of Israel, will be nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14). But the moral/ethical pieces of it, the effort to have godly character traits, to comply with the continuing righteous acts of the Ten Commandments, for example, continue. If Jesus or his apostles command it, we are to follow in love and true faith. We earn nothing, but we do follow.
As we listen to the words of Jesus as he speaks on the side of this mountain amphitheater, we sometimes miss meaning as non-Jews, not having the mindset of his original audience. Jesus says he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. To the Jew of the first century, to abolish the Law would mean to nullify it by misinterpreting it (as the Pharisees tended to do), and to fulfill the Law would mean to properly interpret it, and then to comply (as Jesus would do).* As Jesus perfectly keeps the Law, he becomes the only means of providing a perfect sacrifice for our sins, the Lamb of God (the lambs sacrificed under the Law needed to be without blemish).
The rabbis of Jesus’ day had a Hebrew word worth noting. The word is Halakhah and referenced how people were to respond to the Torah (God’s Law). Halakhah means “the path that one walks.” Doesn’t that summarize well what our faith in Christ should do? It should cause us to walk his path, to follow his teaching. Out of love for Jesus and faith in his righteous act on the cross for us, we should participate in his death and resurrection (baptism: Rom. 6:3-5), and then we should simply walk his path, honoring him through how we live. When we do that, we are not perfect by any means, but we remain “in Christ” (Rom. 8:1-4; Gal. 3:27-28; Eph. 2:10-13; etc.), and if we are “in Christ” the good news is this: his righteousness becomes our own! We fulfill the Law through Jesus.
Cross Point: Do you have faith in Jesus? I would challenge you to ask yourself: Do I walk the path he wants me to walk? “In Christ” we must identify sin and seek to avoid it, and then identify what is important to our Lord, and walk in that way. Because we love Jesus, it is not a burden, and because we love Jesus, it is not only what he wants, it is what we want too! (*Page 166, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, Spangler/Tverberg.)
