Nielsen’s Nook

View Other Posts in this Series:
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII

C. Christ Our Righteousness (Mt 5:17-19)

So far we have said that one must have righteousness that abundantly surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We have also found that the nature of this righteousness is essential, relating to the core of our beings. Further, we considered that the Law of God has always been a description of righteousness to which humanity as God’s image is to emulate as salt is salty and light is lumi-nous. Finally, we have said that while the Law of God has always been concerned with the heart, it lacks the power (as the Apostle Paul teaches us) to circumcise our corrupted hearts.

Matthew 5:17-19 (ESV) 17 “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. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is ac-complished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus as the Fulfillment and Goal of God’s Law

Jesus begins this section following his description of Kingdom citizens with an imperative that his hearers not think that he had come to destroy the Law. This presents us with a distinct challenge. Apparently, Jesus anticipated that his teaching on His Father’s Law would sound to his hearers as if he was going against everything that they knew to be true about the Law. This is often the case when Jesus invades our lives is it not. We find that he challenges all that we know to be true about re-ligion and all of life.

A Misunderstanding the Purpose of the Law

By saying that he did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, Jesus is cluing us in that perhaps his hearers did not understand the Law as they thought they did. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. Paul tells us that the Law was given as a tutor to point us to God. The Law reveals to us the righteousness of God that is alien to us. Jesus comes and ful-fills this Law from the heart perfectly.

The Law Exposes Us as Idolaters

Second-rate obedience will never save us. That is what the Ser-mon on the Mount is all about. Israel had settled for second-rate. They had redefined the Law so that it might be fulfilled in terms of outward appearance. God’s interest in their hearts, in the core and totality of who they were, had been swept away as prescriptive parsimony.