June 17, 2020
We are going to spend the next two weeks together as a church reading Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount! The Sermon on the Mount is the first of Jesus’ major teachings recorded in the gospel of Matthew. In it, Jesus explains the ethics and values of the kingdom of Heaven as opposed to the ethics and values of the world. The values and principles that are to govern our lives as followers of Jesus and citizens of the kingdom of Heaven are wildly different from those that govern the various cultures of our world, including the culture in which we live.
Over the next two weeks, allow the words of the Lord Jesus to challenge the way you think, expose the worldly and idolatrous values and desires of your heart, and transform you to live in the new way that He has laid before us!
In these verses Jesus confronts some misunderstandings concerning His teaching ahead of time and sets up some of what He will be teaching about for the remainder of His sermon. He says that He has not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets (i.e. the Old Testament Scriptures), but to fulfill them!
This is important because, as we will see over the next few days in Matthew 5, at a cursory glance it seems as though Jesus is redefining the Law and the Prophets to mean something else! Jesus is reassuring His audience, and us, that He is not reinterpreting the commands of the Old Testament Scriptures; He is rather explaining their original intent.
In verse 20 we see the crux of what Jesus is talking about: the scribes and the Pharisees were the most outwardly pious, religious observers of the Law. They followed the commands of Moses to the extreme, yet Jesus says that, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness must exceed even theirs.
In the next few sections of this chapter, we will come to understand what Jesus means by this: our obedience to God must not be merely outward, but inward, from the heart. Our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees when we obey God not out of a desire to appear moral or religious, but from a truly transformed heart which seeks and honors and treasures and worships Him above all!
Matthew 5:17-20
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
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 accomplished. 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. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- Have you ever done something good out of a desire for others to think highly of you? Why is this kind of “righteousness” not acceptable in God’s eyes?
Gracious Heavenly Father, hollowed be thy name. I pause before you this morning. I am unworthy, my sense of righteousness is but filthy rags in your sight. Father, you knew me before I was born and loved me. Thank you for your son. Thank you for placing your robe of righteousness on me. It is only because of your son and by his blood that you remember my unrighteousness no longer. Oh Father, bless me indeed. Enlarge my influence. Fill me anew and afresh with your Holy Spirit. Help me to see evil and to run from it so as not to cause you pain. Now, Father with you on one side and Jesus on the other, filled with the Holy Spirit, let’s go assault the gates of hell and pull one more from an everlasting damnation. May the heavenly scribe have pen in hand, reading to write down one more name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Amen
Praise the Lord! May all that we do as a follower of Jesus, bring glory and honor to him. May we be humble in spirit and show kindness to people around us to further his kingdom.
Amen!
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your Word and for those that can explain it so perfectly. I do want to please You and do what is right in Your eyes. I am sure many times I have done things for others as we say, “out of the kindness of our heart “. However we do have to examine our intent and make sure we are doing it for Your glory and not ours. Anything that we do should be done in Your name and give only You the honor and praise. For without Your provisions, we can accomplish nothing worthwhile. Help me to always study myself and make my actions and intentions approved unto You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lord Jesus thank you that Your Word is living. Lord may our hearts burn within us as we walk in Your Word. Open up the Scriptures and open our eyes to see You more clearly and open our ears so we may hear You speak to our hearts. I love You Lord. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. In Your Name Jesus I pray Amen.
Lord you know my heart, and that is why I need your grace. I pray your grace will not only transform my desire to act/behave better, but that my deepest desires would continue to be transformed to please you, better reflect your perfection and give you honor and glory.
The Lord sees what is done in secret and honors obedience that is not for show but from a humble and contrite heart.
Jesus, help me to care about what YOUR eyes see and obedience to YOU.
Lord thank you that when I do good for others it is not to give glory to me but to you. I always tell everyone that the Bible teaches us to give and it is The Holy Spirit whom is speaking to me.
Amen! Amen! Amen! To all that has been said! Lord, may You be praised, exalted & magnified for who You are & all that You do; Your kingdom come & Your will be done on earth as it’s done in heaven. The kingdom, the power & the glory is Yours – always has been and will be forever more. Amen!
Lord, help me to make sure my heart is in the right place.
So thankful that God is not changeable.
Verse 20 is proclaiming “not by works of righteousness we have done but according to His mercy He saved us.” A diligent keeping of the Law, even outwardly and inwardly, will not save us.