I decided to spend some time studying today's text:
Here's what I learned:
1. Jesus begins by addressing the role of "the Law" and "the Prophets". These are 2 parts of the Old Testament. The Law, also known as Torah, is the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures (O.T.). The Prophets are the latter books of the O.T. There are the books called "the Former Prophets" (Joshua-2 Kings), followed by "the Major Prophets" (Isaiah-Daniel), and finally there were "the 12 Minor Prophets" (Hosea-Malachi). Taken all together they were understood to be the whole O.T. (including the Writings - Ezra-Songs of Solomon).
Jesus is upholding the value of the O.T. by saying he has come to fulfill it, not abolish it.
2. Jesus thinks it's worth practicing the O.T. commands (v. 19).
I was brought up in the church. And growing up I learned a lot more about the New Testament than I did about the Old. The first 2/3 of the Bible were often treated as irrelevant, unnecessary and impossibly hard to understand. The more I've studied, the more I realized that the Old Testament is essential for understanding Jesus, Covenant and the Kingdom of God.
Dallas Willard says this about God's O.T. law,
"The law of God marks the movements of God's kingdom, of his own actions and of how that kingdom works. When we keep the law, we step into his ways and drink in his power. Jesus shows us those ways even more fully and leads us into them." Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 142.
3. Jesus demands right living that leads to right actions, not right actions leading to right living (v. 20). The Scribes and Pharisees knew the Hebrew Scriptures and spent their lives interpreting them so they would be righteous. Their intentions started out good but they got lost in hypocrisy (that's the same root word in classical Greek for 'actor'). In Matt. 23:3 Jesus tells us that the Pharisees don't practice what they preach. They talk the talk but don't walk the walk.
Again. Dallas Willard writes,
"And here also lies the fundamental mistake of the scribe and the Pharisee. They focus on the actions that the law requires and make elaborate specifications of exactly what they actions are and of the manner in which they are to be done. They also generate immense social pressure to force conformity of action to the law as they interpret it... But the inner dimension of their personality... are left to remain contrary to what God has required." Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 143.
God established the Law to lead people to one Truth--Jesus (Gal. 3:23-24). When we follow Jesus wholeheartedly we automatically fulfill the Law.
In fact, in Matt. 7:12 Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets in one phrase. Check it out and let me know if you think Jesus is simplifying it too much.
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9 comments:
Is Jesus simplifying it too much....No way! infact it's us who complicate the whole thing....the laws are not complicated...we make them complicated in our attempt to justify when we fall short. Truth is we fall short...we fall short all the time everyday own it!...the whole grand scheme of the old testiment is a collection/history/documentary of our human failure to follow god's laws. Oh we're great at the talk...not so good at putting our money where our mouth is. My feeling is that we should be doing more and talking less....way less. And when you stand for Jesus expect a few others to knock you down...it goes with the territory. You have to walk through the dark valley to stand on the bright mountain.
Trent - Well said. Brilliant, actually. It's funny you used the term, "putting our money where our mouth is". I think generosity is one of the primary indicators of whether or not we're learning to be like Jesus. That's scary because I have a very clear selfish streak that runs through my life.
To me this scripture is saying kind of what Jason was saying on Sunday. We sometimes tend to try to forget about what the “law” says, and rely totally and completely on the fact that we are saved by grace. We are indeed saved by grace, and we definitely fall short constantly, but we do also have a commission to try to be like Jesus. I think that in order to be the “light” of the world we have to show an example that doesn’t cause people to scratch their heads, and ask “What is the difference between a life with Jesus, and a life without Jesus.”
BBBBBINGO
It sounds like God new that we would get bogged down with the noise and chaos of everyday life, so he simplified the law for us ;). What an awesome God:)! In our house, we sometimes twist that law when someone has treated us bad, and say "well, thats the way that they treated me, so that must be how they want to be treated too." That's where parents come in and remind us that we are to treat others the way we want to be treated, not how they treated us. I tell ya, it's hard :P. Sometimes it's easier to treat people outside the home better than the ones inside. I think we rely too much on the fact that they love us and will forgive us. Dad says that God put the Old Testament laws in place to set the stage for the kingdom of Christ and also to help us realize how unable we are to keep those laws that he has put in place for us. The law makes us realize that because of our failures we cannot uphold the law, therefore Christ came to die for our sins.
Oh dear, this is a very puzzeling passage to me. Especially the part that says your position in heaven depends on how well you keep the Law.
There are many OT laws we don't follow...sacrifices, festivals, foods that we are not to eat.
Paul says we are under grace and not under law...some people take that as an excuse to ignore any OT law they don't like...
Oh well, I'm sure I'm missing the point here, have to just keep digging.
I do not have any great insights to add. Just a few comments. Gentile Rabbi says, "God established the Law to lead people to one Truth-- Jesus". I thought God established the Law to provide guidance for His people to commune and relate to Him - especially since they did not have Jesus.
Referring to the statement about Matt.7:12, "let me know if you think Jesus is simplifying it too much" -- I'm uncertain how we can say that Jesus has simplified anything too much when He is the one who sets the pace.
Great thoughts, comments, and questions from everyone.
This could be a full-time job so I'll try to be as clear and brief as possible.
Bethany - I'm with Trent in thinking you've hit the nail on the head (sorry, Trent if that's not what you meant by, BBBINGO). You are absolutely right when you say we have to show an example that doesn’t cause people to scratch their heads, and ask “What is the difference between a life with Jesus, and a life without Jesus.”
Jessie - You've made some excellent points as well. You're right when you say, "I tell ya. It's hard." Jesus died on a cross and he asks us to be ready to do the same. He could have used your words to describe life. Of course, He probably would have said, "I tell ya. It's hard. But I'll be with you every step of the way."
Paul M - You are right. It's a tough text to wrestle with. One thing I would say is that there is a difference between what Jesus means when he says, "The Law" and the laws you speak of. To the Jewish person, "The Law" was the perfect and final revelation of God's will. "The Law" to the Jews was kind of like Jesus is to us. While the Torah contained laws about morality, ethical living, cleanliness, festivals... Jesus wasn't thinking about individual actions and practices (which were often distorted or added on to by the Pharisee's Oral Law). He is calling people to be obedient to "the revelation of God's will" which started with "The Law" and was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
LSWD - You are right about the establishment of Torah to guide His people to Himself. To Truth in the flesh. And, as I noted in this morning's post, Gal. 3:23-24 demonstrates what I meant about the Law leading people to Jesus.
Jesus came so that we wouldn't get bogged down with the laws of the Pharisees, that is why he made it simple in Matthew 7:12, but even here he gives instruction you need to ask, seek, and knock ( I needed to ask him into my heart, I need to seek him, and knocking was used in biblical times to not intrude, the word used was importunity and another example was to be ready for when the bridegroom comes and knocks you are ready to open the door; or we are to knock so that the door will be opened. I am glad that I looked up the word knock it helped explain the text. Then our last instruction is to do to others what you would have them do to you that sums up the law and the Prophets. Jesus obviously didn't want us to be like the Pharisees.
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