I tread here today with much fear and trepidation, for if I am wrong then I will surely be called “least” in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said the following:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)
There are many today who claim that the bolded verses above prove that Christ’s life, work, crucifixion, and resurrection changed nothing concerning the Mosaic law (except perhaps the blood sacrifices). If we could take Christ’s words only at face value and only in the context of the first twenty verses of Matthew 5, and if we totally ignore all of Paul’s writings, the Book of Hebrews, and the rest of what Jesus says, then we could honestly come to that conclusion. But Matthew 5:1-20 does not comprise the entire New Testament, nor the whole Word of God. In order to understand Jesus’ words here, therefore, we must examine “these” other Scriptures.
When Jesus says, “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,” what does “these” refer to? Does it refer to all of the Old Testament laws of Moses or does it refer to “these” commands which Jesus is about to expound? I believe that Jesus meant the commands he was about to teach for immediately after saying “these … commandments” Jesus himself begins to change some of the Mosaic laws.
Some will argue that he didn’t really change them, he just made their application more difficult and demanding. For example, under “these” new commands I become guilty of adultery even if I look at a woman with lust, which is much less of an action than if I actually have sex with her. Now I become liable to the judgment for murder if I become angry with a brother, again much less of an action than actually killing someone! And so I teach that we must not commit adultery and I also teach that we must not dress seductively, look lustfully upon seductively dressed women, and that we should not watch pornography. And I teach that we must not murder, that we must learn to overlook insults and not become angry with others, and that we must forgive others for their offenses to us. So, yes, I agree. Jesus did not actually change these laws; he deepened them and made them even more difficult to obey. But, in this next passage Jesus did in fact change the Old Testament law.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,[h] let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)
I believe that Jesus took this saying from the following passage:
19 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. (Leviticus 24:19-20)
This passage from Leviticus says that if someone slaps you, then slap him back. In fact, if anyone injures you in any way, then this lex talionis mandates an equal injury be visited upon the first offending party. Jesus changed this law. He said, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Judaistic Hebraic Roots teachers and followers, did you hear this? Jesus changed the Law! Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who said, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
And yet what Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5 teaches people already taught by the Holy Spirit nothing new. Joseph, husband of Mary, already knew this principle of law. Thus, when he thought that Mary had committed adultery and become pregnant the Scripture says, “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:19) Yet, the Law said
23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)
Joseph, being a just man, did not want to expose Mary’s (supposed) sin. He did not want others to know she had sinned and he did not want her stoned and destroyed. How could Joseph be more “just” than this specific Mosaic law? Because he understood that the heart of the Law was mercy, and that mercy triumphs over judgment. The Scripture calls Joseph just, yet he did not obey the Law! He did not demand that Mary be stoned. Note that Jesus’ response to the woman actually found guilty of adultery in John 8 was the same as Joseph’s response to Mary’s condition. (to be continued…)
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