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Sermon
The Gospel of Matthew

Jesus Fulfills It All

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January 12, 2025
Matthew 5:17-20
Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

The Person of Christ

The Bible

The Gospel

Transcript

0:19Well, good morning and thank you to the orchestra for leading us this morning. So well, let me encourage you to keep your Bible open to Matthew five. We continue our series in the Sermon on the Mount through the Gospel of Matthew, and we come to one of the most important passages about Jesus' relationship to the Old Testament. So join me as I pray and ask the Lord for help. Oh, our good and sovereign Father, we thank you that you will indeed hold us fast, and you do that through the means of your word. So use your word this morning to delight our hearts so that we would see more of Christ and love him more fully.

1:07We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Two Timothy three 16. Many of you know this verse. All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching and reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. And when he says all scripture, he includes the Old Testament. That's largely why we preached through Genesis pretty much all of last year, every chapter. And yet the Old Testament, as many of us know, can be confusing or tricky. How many of you started a new Bible reading plan like I did on January 1st? Uh, a handful of you, hopefully everyone's reading the Bible, but if you started a new plan in a few weeks, you're gonna get to some of the trickier parts, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy, and that's usually where a lot of people kind of fall off on a little bit of their Bible reading, like this is a little bit heavy slogging.

2:07How many chapters are we gonna get about some of these things that we should or shouldn't do? What are we supposed to do with the 613 stipulations in the Mosaic law when we read the Old Testament? Some parts can be a little bit confusing. For example, how many of us eat bacon or pulled pork or lobster and shrimp? Many of us. And so are we breaking Old Testament law? And if so, are Jesus words in our passage this morning applicable to us? Did you see that in verse 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.

2:49Are all of us bacon eaters going to be at the bottom of the totem pole in heaven? Or we know the Old Testament teaches us many really good and right things. Don't commit murder, don't steal, don't commit adultery, and and we should follow those. And, and, and yet, how do we determine which commands to follow and which ones to put aside are, are we just to pick and choose? Is it just arbitrary? Some may be tempted to think that the Old Testament is irrelevant or unimportant to our faith. There's a famous Bible teacher that said a number of years ago and actually wrote in his book, that Christians should unhitch from the Old Testament.

3:34And I think that's why unwise, excuse me, unwise and dangerous to say, uh, but there's also the opposite danger as well. On the other end of the spectrum, there are Christians who would advocate for a Hebrew understanding of scripture or, uh, encourage us to attempt to return to the Jewish roots of Christianity. And they would go to this passage here this morning, Matthew five 17, and they would say, you should observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. You should observe all of the Old Testament festivals. You should observe all of the food laws in the Old Testament. So different ends of the spectrum, but I think different failures to see the significance of what Jesus is teaching here in this passage.

4:22So the question that we have before us this morning is how does Jesus relate to the Old Testament? What does Jesus mean in verse 17 when he says he fulfills them? And then after we understand that the, the question for us is how do we relate to the Old Testament? And even more pressing i i is how Jesus concludes this section. How do we have this righteousness that is required to enter into the kingdom of heaven? So let me just back up a little bit to try to remind us of what we've already seen. We've been preaching through the book of Matthew and we saw earlier lots of language of fulfillment.

5:04So Matthew two 15, this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet or Matthew two 17. This was then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah or Matthew 2 23. Then he went and lived in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled. We saw several sermons ago that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament. This means that Jesus brings the Old Testament to its God designed end or goal. It's like the acorn that grows into the oak tree. The oak tree fulfills the aim and purpose of the acorn. So the point of our passage this morning is very simple.

5:48It's that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament by bringing it to its intended goal and purpose. Jesus fulfills the Old Testament by bringing it to its intended goal and purpose. Or to put it another way, Jesus is the climax of redemptive history. He's the culmination of God's work in our world, or we can put it this way. Jesus fulfills scripture and then he transforms how we relate to it because he is the center or the focal point of our faith. Everything is all about Jesus. He matters how we read the rest of the scriptures. So my aim this morning is that we would love the Old Testament and that we would read it in light of Jesus.

6:38We would love the Old Testament and read it in light of Jesus. So I'm gonna walk through our passage in two parts. We're gonna look at verse 17 and 18, Jesus' relationship to the Old Testament. And then we're gonna look at 19 and 20, our relationship to the Old Testament. So Jesus begins in verse 17 and he says, do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. Uh, his opening words, do not think in, in a sense, anticipate, uh, potential objections or disarm potential objections, like don't think I'm trying to get rid of the Old Testament.

7:12And why would Jesus say something like that? Well, if you look with me at verse 21, just scan down to verse 21. This will be preached next week. But in verse 21, he says, you have heard it said, and then if you look at the beginning of 22, but I say to you, you've heard it said, but I say to you, and he repeats this six, five more times, actually a total of six times. Uh, each of the little sections, if you have the ESV, you can look at each of the headers you have heard it said, but I say to you, what Jesus is doing is he's contrasting his teaching with the teaching of the Pharisees or the teaching that the people had already heard.

7:46And and Jesus is saying, what I'm gonna say doesn't cancel out the Old Testament, doesn't abolish it, but rather I'm deepening it. I'm showing its intended meaning. Now, I called this section Jesus relationship with the Old Testament. Why do I say that? Jesus refers to the law and the prophets. So it's a shorthand way I think of referring to the whole of the scriptures, which at this time would've been the Old Testament scripture. So the word law is Torah, which refers to the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, and Deuteronomy. And often the New Testament authors will say, law, law and prophets, law prophets and writings or Psalms, and it'll refer to the scriptures.

8:34And at that time, during the writing of the New Testament, the scriptures would've been the Old Testament. That would've been Jesus Bible. So the crux of this verse in verse 17 is understanding what does Jesus mean when he says I fulfill them, I fulfill them. And I'm gonna give you seven somewhat overlapping ways to see how Jesus fulfills the scriptures by bringing them to their intended end. So seven ways. First, Jesus fulfilled the messianic predictions of the Old Testament. Jesus fulfilled the messianic predictions of the Old Testament. I mentioned some of these already. But Jesus birth fulfilled the foretelling of a virgin birth in Isaiah seven 14.

9:23And so the Old Testament makes a prediction and then it gets fulfilled in the New Testament like in Jesus' life. So Jesus' birth in Bethlehem fulfilled Micah five two, where Jesus' suffering fulfilled. Isaiah 53, Jesus fulfills the predictions of this Davidic king that is gonna sit on God's throne and rule forever. So Jesus fulfills the messianic predictions of the Old Testament. Second, Jesus fulfills the entire aim, the entire trajectory or the thrust of redemptive history. So this is the acorn oak tree kind of picture. So just, just think with me for an example. Jesus' death on the cross fulfills the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament.

10:12In Hebrews Hebrews ten four, it says, for it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, which is a stunning statement. 'cause why did they practice sacrifices year after year, century after century, lots of animals died. Lots of blood was shed, but it says it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. Well, why did God give Moses such an extensive set of rules for animal sacrifices? Answer, it was to set the stage for Jesus' fulfillment as the lamb of God, Jesus' single offering perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. So the sacrificial system ends because Jesus fulfilled its purpose and goal as the perfect sacrifice.

11:06That's why you don't come to church today with little turtle dove, or thank God you don't bring any goats into the sanctuary. Uh, we, we don't worship at a temple because Jesus himself said, I am the temple. We worship Jesus and you can worship Jesus wherever you're at. None of us needs to make a pilgrimage to Israel. Third, Jesus fulfills the law by obeying its commands perfectly. Jesus obeys, excuse me, Jesus fulfills the law by obeying its commands perfectly. So Galatians says, Jesus was born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law. Or Paul says in Romans five 19, by one man's obedience, Jesus, the many will be made righteous.

11:56Or one Peter 2 22, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Jesus is the perfect example, the perfect one who embodies what it looks like to love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart, soul, and strength. And to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law. Fourth, Jesus fulfills the law by revealing its true Inventorial intent as the perfect interpreter of the law. Jesus fulfills the law by revealing its true and Theorial intent as the perfect interpreter of the law. The the Old Testament was written to do what? To reveal God's character and his commands.

12:48And in Jesus, we get the perfect revelation of God's character and of God's commands. Jesus reveals God's true intentions through his life and through his teaching. Hebrews one says, long ago, and at many times in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he's spoken to us by who? Jesus, by His son. Jesus alone has the authority to speak as God because he is God. It's like if you were having an argument with your friend, uh, about what I don't know token was doing in Lord of the Rings, and you're like, it it was he writing and was he alluding to this and your friend's like, no, I think he was alluding to something else and and you're back and forth and and you can't agree.

13:36But if token steps in the room, he says, this is what I was doing. And and you can't argue with him like, well, no, but you wrote that. And he says, I'm the author. What I say is right. I'm I'm the sole interpreter of the work that I wrote. That's what Jesus is when he shows up on the scene. Jesus says, you thought what the Old Testament said was this, but this is what it means because I'm the word incarnate. I'm the living word. He's the perfect interpreter of the law. Fifth, Jesus fulfills the law by providing the righteousness. The law demands. Jesus fulfills the law by providing the righteousness that the law demands.

14:21So what was the law designed to do? The law was designed to reveal our sinfulness and our need for a savior. That's what the law did. Paul writes in Romans seven, seven, yet it hit, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin for, I would've not known what it is to covet. If the law had not said, you shall not covet. But now that the law has been given, we know that it's against God's design, it's against his law, it's against his moral character to covet or to murder or to commit adultery. So the law reveals our sinfulness, but it was powerless to make us righteous. And so Jesus fulfills the law by providing the righteousness that is required by the law.

15:16Listen, as I read Romans eight, two to four, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do the law, couldn't do it by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order. And, and here's the important part, that the righteous requirement of the law, this is what the law demanded. The purpose of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So the law was designed, given to us so that we might walk righteously, but to show us that we can't do it on our own and that we ultimately need Christ.

16:03And Jesus comes and his righteousness satisfies the demands of that law. He removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh so that we can now walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. You can actually obey God like the right way. Alright? Six. Jesus fulfills the law by establishing a new covenant. Jesus fulfills the law by establishing a new covenant. The law was given to reveal how we are to relate to God. And Jesus completes its covenant promise by establishing a new covenant in his blood. Hebrews eight 13 says, he makes the first covenant obsolete by his new covenant. And then seventh, Jesus fulfills the law by bringing it to its intended goal and purpose.

17:02Jesus fulfills the law by bringing it to its intended goal and purpose. So everything in the Old Testament points forward to the life teaching and actions of Jesus who makes sense of everything. We cannot read and make sense of the Old Testament apart from Christ. This is what I mean by he's the climax of redemptive history. He's the culmination and the fulfillment of the scriptures. Everything is pointing to one end, and that is Jesus Christ, which means Jesus is a really big deal. If you walk away with nothing, Jesus is a really big deal. You should read your Bible in light of Jesus. The Sunday School answer is the right answer.

17:53It means that we should read our Bibles in light of Christ all the time. Now, Jesus is saying in verse 17, lest you think that I'm going rogue from the law, I'm not. I'm actually perfectly aligned with the law, but then I'm able to expand it and reinterpret it because I'm the sole authority, sole interpreter of the law. It's like the author showed up and said, this is what I meant by what I wrote. Now I if you know your scriptures, you may have some obje objections at this point. You might think, but didn't Jesus negate the law at various points like Matthew 12, eight, the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.

18:37So Jesus saying, I'm bigger and better, more important than the Sabbath. Or when he says to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven, he, he's essentially saying His authority transcends that of the sacrificial rituals of cleansing and atonement or, or more clearly. In Mark seven 15, Jesus says, there's nothing outside a person. They're debating what they can eat or what they can't eat, or wise disciples don't wash their hands. And he says there's nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him. But the things that come out of a person are what defile him. And then Mark gives this parenthetical comment.

19:11Thus Jesus declared all foods clean. Isn't that eliminating all of the food laws in the Old Testament? Jesus shows in his life and ministry that he has authority over the law because he is the authoritative interpreter of the law. What Jesus said, says, said and says Trumps everything else. So in verse 18, when Jesus says, 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 accomplished. That phrase for truly I say to you, occurs 31 times in Matthew. So it's kind of setting us up for a really important word. The Yoda or iota refers to the Hebrew letter smallest Hebrew letter yod.

20:04It looks kind of like an apostrophe. The dot refers to this tiny little stroke that goes under these Hebrew letters that distinguishes it from another letter. And, and what Jesus is saying is the smallest mark, it's like the, the cross that turns an L into a T. The smallest mark is not gonna fade away from the law until heaven and earth pass away the end of all created things, which is like saying the Old Testament will cease to be relevant when health freezes over, it's gonna have enduring relevance. Jesus says in John 10 35, scripture cannot be broken. Or he says in Matthew 24, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

20:51So Jesus upholds the validity of the Old Testament scriptures, but its validity must be understood in light of Christ. So that's what I wanna say in the first section. That's how Jesus relates to the Old Testament. He upholds the validity of the Old Testament, but Jesus stands above it because he's the sole interpreter of it. Now we move to part two, the Christian's relationship to the Old Testament. Look with me at verse 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.

21:33So we get this negative and then we get this positive statement. If you minimize or relax these commands commandments, you teach others to do the same, you're gonna be leased. And and if you do them, if you teach them, you're gonna be great. So, uh, the question is, do Christians need to obey and keep every element of the Old Testament law? Uh, it kind of sounds like it here, but as we saw earlier, Christians relate to the law like Jesus relates to the law and, and Jesus had authority over the law, but we're not Jesus. So Christians relate to the law by properly obeying Jesus' teaching as that teaching fulfills Old Testament law or revelation, Christians relate to the law by properly obeying Jesus.

22:22Teaching as that teaching fulfills the Old Testament. In, in other words, Jesus and the apostles give us an example of how we are to relate to the mosaic law. And we need to follow Jesus and his apostles because Jesus taught his apostles how to relate to the law. Uh, on the road to MEUs Luke 24, he opened their eyes to understand from the scriptures, law, prophets and writings all that was written about him. So he said, I'm gonna show you how all of scripture points to me. And so I just wanna very briefly try to cover how the New Testament authors kinda what their attitude towards the law was.

23:10How did the New Testament authors, uh, what was their disposition towards the law? And and I have three things that I wanna highlight. So the New Testament authors at one level repudiate the Mosaic law. So the New Testament authors repudiate or reject the New Testament, excuse me, the Mosaic law. So in, in Romans, Paul says, one is justified by faith apart from works of the law, or Romans 10, four for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes, or the writer of Hebrew says, in speaking of a new covenant, and we said this already, Jesus makes the first one obsolete.

23:46And what is becoming obsolete is growing old and ready to vanish away. And they're speaking about the Mosaic law or Hebrews seven 19 for the law made nothing perfect. So what he's saying here is that these New Testament authors will often in various ways repudiate reject the Mosaic law. But the biblical authors, the New Testament authors, this is a second, will also replace the Mosaic law with the law of Christ, the law of Christ. So the New Testament writers will say things like, in John's gospel, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. That's John one 17.

24:28So he's contrasting either replacing or Romans six 14, you are not under the law. But what are we under now? We're under grace or Romans seven, four. You also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another or Romans eight, one, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Or in Galatians, Paul teaches that the law was like a guardian that was watching over us, but when faith finally showed up, we're no longer under this guardian and instead we're under the law of Christ.

25:10That's a phrase used in one Corinthians 9 21 or Galatians six two, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So when the New Testament authors write about the Mosaic law, at times they'll reject it. At other times they'll replace it with the law of Christ. And then at other times, oh, excuse me, let, let me, let me continue this train of thought. Thus, the binding authority for guiding Christians is not the Mosaic law, but it's Christ's words through his apostles. So when at Jesus transfiguration he's up on the mountain, what, what is God the Father say, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

25:54And them what? What? Listen to him. Listen to him. His words are more important than any other words that have ever been spoken. Listen to him or at the Great Commission, Jesus says, what You're to teach you make disciples. Teaching them what? All of the mosaic law, right to follow all the rules laid out in the Old Testament, no, to obey and to observe all that I have commanded you. The early church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching the apostles who learned how to read their Bibles from Jesus. So the biblical authors will reject at times they'll replace. And then third, the biblical authors reappropriate the mosaic law through Christ reappropriate, meaning that they will heed its intention, embrace its teaching, and even obey it at times.

26:59So the Old Testament reveals God's character and values and anticipates the gospel of Jesus and serves as a wisdom and a guide. So we don't go well, the Old Testament, which we're no longer under said, do not murder. So have at it we can murder, commit adultery. That was an Old Testament thing. We don't have to listen to that one. Coveting stealing free for all. Well, no, They reveal God's eternal character and they're still binding as we come under the law of Christ in many places in the New Testament, Jesus reaffirms several of the 10 Commandments. So we come back to the question, must Christians do and teach every aspect or element of the Old Testament law?

27:50And the answer is that Christians do and teach the law in light of the fulfillment of Christ and the establishment of the law of Christ. And that is such glorious good news for us this morning. You don't come to church and we don't say, of the 613 stipulations, which one did you break this week? We say, oh, we come as a needy people and we come before Jesus who washes us clean by his grace. And we come to him the focal point, the center of our faith. It's all about Christ. The Old Testament is preserved and practiced in light of the authoritative teaching of Jesus. Everything needs to be understood through Christ.

28:40So the law must be considered in light of Jesus' work. Now some of you might have some specific questions of like, what do I do with about what, what do I do with specific Old Testament laws? Like don't wear clothes with mixed materials or whatever it may be. Let me have the guys throw up the slide for me. And this is taken from Jason Roche's book, delighting in the Old Testament. And in my Friday email, I'll, I'll send you a few resources that you can look to. But you can see the law of Moses on the left hand side there. And under that are some of the Old Testament laws like Sabbath, adultery, parapet building, which is a very obscure one.

29:22It's like building a railing for your roof so that someone doesn't fall off or unclean food. And if you think of it as light that's coming from, I know it's really small font, sorry, it's like six point or whatever it may be, but it's coming from the left through the lens of Christ. So the Old Testament, the mosaic law through the lens of Christ. And then what comes out on the other side is that light is refracted so that it's transformed. So we can see that the Sabbath in Deuteronomy five is transformed because Jesus said the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. And then we saw, we, we see the example of the early church.

30:00They don't necessarily practice the Sabbath. They worship on the first day of the week when Jesus resurrected from the dead. And then we see Paul's teaching in Romans 14. Some people hold one day of special other peoples hold all days as the same. We shouldn't pass judgment on each other. And then we see in Hebrews, Hebrews four, we have now sustained Sabbath rest in Jesus. The Sabbath was pointing to a rest that none of us could obtain because finally that rest has come in the person and work of Jesus. Jesus fulfills the Sabbath and all of this points forward to Christ. These laws are transformed. So that's the first line there.

30:38There's other laws like what we just talked about, like forbidding adultery or murder that are maintained because Jesus maintains them in several passages like Matthew five 18 or 1917 to 21. It just reiterates this teaching. It looks exactly the same. Don't murder in the Old Testament, don't murder in the New Testament. There's others that are maintained with extension. So this is the third line there, like parapet building, they picked the most obscure one. Uh, so this was like building a railing for the roof of your house, which you mentioned already. So it would look different in our cultural and situational details might look different.

31:15So heeding Jesus command and the law can be summed up as love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. So what would loving our neighbor look like? It would probably mean putting railing on your deck. It probably wouldn't pass code. And, and then putting maybe a fence around your pool so that a little kid doesn't kind of fall into it. Or maybe here in Minnesota we shovel the sidewalk of our snow so that your neighbor doesn't fall. So it, it maintains the principle, but it looks different in our particular context. And then the fourth line there, unclean food.

31:48This is a knolls, which means Christ annoys what the Old Testament teaches because in Mark nine 17, Jesus declared all foods clean or Acts 10 15 what God has made clean do not call common. Peter got this very elaborate vision with this sheet. Let down from the four corners of the earth with all sorts of animals, kill and eat, kill and eat, kill and eat again and again to show we're not under those dietary food laws anymore. But whether we eat or whether we drink, we are to do it for the glory of God. And we're to do it in such a way so that we don't cause our weaker brothers to stumble. You can take down the slide verse 20, look with me at verse 20 before I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

32:44This is surprising that Jesus goes here at the end. 'cause you know, it almost sounds a little bit like Jesus was relaxing the law, but he said, I'm not relaxing the law, but then following Jesus looks different than what the Pharisees and scribes were practicing. And so you might think maybe Jesus is grading on a curve and he's like, no, no, no, no. Lest you think that he's actually demanding nothing less than perfection. He's raising the bar, raising the standard of righteousness. The Pharisees are here and everyone thinks, oh, maybe Jesus is gonna put it here. And he's like, no, no, no, it it's, it's not even within view.

33:23The the type of perfection that I'm calling for, the type of righteousness that is required to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And this would've been so shocking and discouraging for Jesus listeners. The scribes and Pharisees were known for their strict legal correctness. They calculated that the law contained 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. And they sought to keep them all. In fact, they, they would say, if the lines right here, we're gonna draw it back here just so that we don't even get close, like speed limit 70. We won't go faster than 65. Look how righteous we are. And and Jesus listeners would've heard this and been like, it's impossible.

34:08It want me to swim faster than Michael Phelps. You want me to run faster than Usain Bolt? It's impossible. No one can exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And yet as we know, the Pharisees righteousness was far from that, wasn't it? Uh, Jesus calls them hypocrites. They tithe their mint dill in human, but they've neglected the weightier matters of the law. That's Matthew 23, 23 and 24. They care about all the right things. So quote unquote, they kept the law, but they missed the point and purpose of the law. They created manmade rules in order to relax the law. And they grew in pride so that when Jesus tells the parable it, it's the Pharisee who comes right up.

34:55And he says, what? What does He pray? God, I thank you that I am not like other men. Look how good I am. And I'm especially not like this dirty tax collector. Is that the heart righteousness that Jesus was calling for? No. What's the law summed up as? Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. And the Pharisees are so far from Jesus', perfect standard. They lacked the obedience from the heart that Jesus demanded. He demanded no less than perfection. And yet, what are we to do? How can one get this heart righteousness, even this perfection that is being demanded And and anyone that's honest with themselves would say it's impossible with man.

35:50It's impossible. And that's precisely the point. And it brings us all the way back to the very first beatitude. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, that see their neediness before a holy God and say, oh, I can't even approach it in my own strength. Not a chance. Blessed are those who finally realize that they cannot say, save themselves and throw themselves at the mercy of a savior. That is the whole point when Jesus says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. It's impossible. But with God, all things are possible when he takes out your heart of stone, puts in a heart of flesh so that what actually comes out of your life now is not what defiles you, but instead comes out of a pure heart, pure motives that loves and honors Christ.

36:55So coming back to where we started, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament by bringing it to its intended goal and purpose. Jesus fulfills scripture and transforms how we relate to it because he's the center or the focal point of our faith. And so if you're not trusting in Christ this morning, there there, there's only two ways to try to get this righteousness. One is the path of the Pharisees. Try harder, do more. Here's the standard. It's perfection, perfect holiness, be holy as the Lord. Your God is holy and you can try as hard as you want. But let me just tell you, it's impossible to attain to the righteousness that Jesus demands.

37:37And the other way is the pathway that Jesus lays forth for his disciples, recognizing your poverty of spirit, that we cannot save ourselves. We bring nothing to the table, and we need to throw ourselves at the mercy of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the culmination and the climax of what all the scriptures were pointing to. You can try and go and sacrifice a goat for the forgiveness of your sins, but it's not gonna do anything because the blood of bulls and goats doesn't take away sins. Only the blood of Jesus can do that glorious work. And we have Christ this morning, brothers and sisters. So turn to Jesus and belief.

38:23He is the author and perfecter of our faith. Uh, I want to give three very brief applications here at the end. First is love the Old Testament. We should love the Old Testament like we should read it and we should memorize it and we should love it. We should study it. It sets the stage for the fulfillment found in Jesus. Imagine if you didn't have an Old Testament and all you had was your New Testament. You're like, why is this dude dying? Like, I don't get it. What do you mean temple? So many things would be utterly unintelligible. We wouldn't know or understand the significance of Jesus apart from the Old Testament scriptures, which was Jesus' Bible.

39:12So Jesus is the new and better Adam. He's the new and better Abraham. He's the new and better Moses, he's the long awaited Messiah that all the scriptures were foretelling. He is the greatest king that would ever come. He is the great Davidic king who would be seated on his throne and his kingdom will never end. He's the seed of the woman from Genesis three who reverses the curse, crushes the head of the serpent. He's the lamb of God who sat satisfies the sacrificial system. He's the high priest who offer sacrifice and mediates between God and man once for all perfectly. He sits down, his work is done.

39:52He is the son of man in Daniel seven, whom the ancient of days will give dominion and glory in a kingdom. And all peoples and nations and languages will come and serve him. And God says, I will establish his kingdom so that his dominion is an everlasting dominion and it will not pass away or be destroyed. All of that imagery, all of that glory of Jesus cannot be seen apart from the Old Testament. And so we are to be people who love the scriptures, all of it, every single iota and doc. Second, we teach and preach the Old Testament here. We don't unhitch from it, but we preach it through the lens of Christ so that we can grow in our love, appreciation, and understanding of Jesus.

40:46And so kids, if you read your Bible, you should always be asking, how does this show me Jesus? How does this point me to Jesus? And adults should do that as well. The Old Testament reveals the nature and character of God and prepares us for Christ. And then lastly, Jesus wrote this section so that his disciples might possess a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. So we look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith to receive his righteousness as we place our hope and trust in him. And then with transformed hearts, taking out our heart of stone, putting in a heart of flesh, we now walk in this righteousness.

41:37We walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. We actually shine forth as light and we function as salt in this world so that the rest of the sermon on the Mount is only understood in light of what Jesus is saying here. He is the center of our lives. He's the focal point of our faith. And all things exist through and for and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, oh, we want to see Jesus glory more. We want to delight in you more. We wanna read our scriptures and see the glory that it reveals about Christ. Oh, so make us people, whole Bible, people who love Christ in all of it, make us Christ centered through and through.

42:33And for those who don't know you, oh, that they would find hope in Jesus and Jesus alone. Oh, thank you for Jesus. We pray this in your name. Amen.

Jump to live

Jump to live

Sermon Text

Matthew 5:17-20

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