The Relationship of the King to the Law

1. The Relationship of the King to the Law

2. vv17-18 Negative Command      17     “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.      18     “For AMEN I say to you, until such a time as Heaven and the earth pass away, it would be totally impossible for the smallest letter or stroke to pass from the Law until such a time as all is accomplished. Affirmative Correction Explanatory Pronouncement

3. vv19-20 Categories Established 19     Whoever THEREFORE annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; BUT Whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20     “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. performance Judgment Categories Established performance Judgment performance Judgment

4. How We Apply the Law to Ourselves • Here is a very important issue in your sanctification: Keeping and teaching the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ. • This does not mean keeping the Law as though we were under the Mosaic Covenant. • It does mean we live righteously according to God’s character. • This character is on display very clearly in the Mosaic Law.

5. The Lawgiver Interprets the Law

6. Matthew 5:21-26: The Law of Murder      21     “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’      22     “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.      23     “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,      24     leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.      25     “Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.      26     “Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

7. Matthew 5:21-26      21     “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be guilty before the judge.’      22     “Now I say to you that _________________ everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the judge; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. prohibition Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17 Commandment Not a quote of the OT consequence Interpretation progression?

8. Murder and the Law • Jesus, like Solomon in Proverbs, chooses to explain why the commands were given. • Apparently the Mosaic Law was focused on the heart of the believing Israelite and not the external observance. • Jesus interprets here; He does not add to or take away from the commandment regarding murder. • The interpretation is that to sin against another believer is enough to deserve eternal judgment. • Also, the overt act of murder, which deserves capital punishment, has an inward motivation—the mental attitude sin of anger.

9. The categories of sin a person can commit against another are all present: • murder: overt • anger: mental/attitude • verbal attack: “you empty-head” or “you fool” • Notice that by context anger and the verbal pronouncements are sins. • Not every act of anger is a sin (Jn 2:15-17, Eph 4:6), and not every verbal pronouncement of “fool” is a sin (Mt 23:17, 19, Lk 24:25). • But every murder is a sin! Learn to read your Bible: murder, which is always a sin, dictates that the rest of the category is also sin. That’s the whole point.

10. Application: Priority for Others  23“Therefore IF You are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, THEN 24Leave your offering there before the altar and go; First be reconciled to your brother, and Then after coming backpresent your offering.

11. Reconciliation before Sacrifice? • The Lord Jesus gives the correct order in worship. • The reason for reconciling with your brother before worship in offerings is the avoidance of religious hypocrisy. • Yes, the scandal of sin against God is far more grave than the scandal of sin against God’s creature, Ps 51:4. • Yet retained sin when seeking fellowship with God prevents the fellowship. • Stop committing the sin before you confess it for fellowship with God! • There is no place in the Plan of God for ritual without reality. James 2:17-26

12. The Grace Period 25“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26“AMEN I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

13. Surprising Progression of Thought • Notice how Jesus moves from a discussion about not murdering others to a discussion about the treatment of other people. • In fact we are surprised by the priority God places on reconciliation with people in vv23-24. • Our sin-natural inclination is to stand on our own sense of self-righteousness without looking at the facts themselves. • If we wait for adjudication between us and our brother and we are wrong, the punishment will be the maximum sentence. • So the key is to be “blameless” in our dealings with others by not wronging them in any way AND by making amends when we do.

14. The Teaching principle murder Judicial GUILT anger verbal attack application Judicial GUILT any sin against a brother or reconciliation

15. It’s About Other People • The REASON WHY Jesus and the Law make an issue of the treatment of others is that man is God’s Image. • This fact gives man his value. • Therefore it is impossible to divorce self-worth from the Creator. • In moving from murder to anger and verbal attack, Jesus makes an issue of the source of sin and the fact of sin rather than the type of sin mentioned in the letter of the Mosaic Law. • This passage altogether is a discussion of God’s attitude towards people as it is reflected in the Law.

16. We find the issue of Righteousness at the heart of the Sixth Commandment. • Righteousness demands that we treat other people as the Image of God. • Does this mean we enable people to function as less than the Image of God? • Rewarding irresponsibility? • Permitting murder? • Enslaving people to the welfare state? • Respecting God as the Creator in our treatment of other people has as much to do with holding people to a standard as it does not transgressing the standard itself.

17. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!