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. (Matthew 5:17-20, ESV)

In my last post I argued that “one of the least of these commandments” meant the commandments which Jesus was about to proclaim and that he did not specifically mean all of the Old Testament laws.  I believe this interpretation is bolstered by Jesus’ last statements in this sermon when he said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Mat. 7:24) In the last post I also showed that Jesus did in fact change the lex talionis, the law of an eye for eye, in this sermon. He taught that we should have mercy and love toward those who abuse us and that we should not think in terms of retaliation toward them.

Immediately after saying that he did not come to abolish the Law Jesus said “You have heard that it was said” five times relating to five specific Old Testament laws (or interpretations thereof) which the people had indeed heard before. Five is the Biblical number of grace (mercy, righteousness). Each time he said this he changed men’s understanding of the way a particular law was to be interpreted. Even though Jesus here interprets the Law in terms of God’s grace, he actually made the Law more difficult to obey, and he knew it. He said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:20) But, he did not even leave it there. A little later he said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat. 5:48)

These statements as well as all of the apostles’ writings prove that grace does not imply lawlessness or a lax standard of righteousness as many churches now teach. On the other hand, a careful reading of the sermon on the mount also disproves the Hebraic Roots movement’s push to compel people to obey “every jot and tittle” of God’s Law. Jesus did not say, “not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until my people perfectly obey it.” He said that nothing will pass from the Law until it is fulfilled or accomplished. The question we now have to answer is “which laws were fulfilled by Christ and his work in us and, therefore, no longer need to be physically observed by us and which laws have not been?”

Since the New Testament writers and I have already written thousands of words concerning this last question, I will leave it at that and end here with Paul’s poignant response to those who would enslave us once again to every jot and tittle of Old Covenant law, “If I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:11-12)