The 
ight House
Sunday School (Jesus on the Law)
Jesus on the Law
(Matthew 5:17-20)
In Sunday School this week we took a look at what Jesus had to say about the law. We examined how Jesus full filled the law, the purpose of the law before Jesus full filled it and the purpose of it after it was full filled. Below are the scriptures we looked at.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. 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. 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)God loves man. He loves man so much that the bible tells us that he gave his only son so that man can be saved.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
(John 3:16-17)If you love someone you want to have a relationship with them. God wants to have a relationship with us because he loves us. Sin however, stands in the way of that relationship. God is perfect and his standard is perfection. He is all Holy and we are of a sinful nature. The only way we can have a relationship with God then is to rise to His standard; he will not come down to ours. It is God’s will for us to be perfect so that we can have fellowship with him.
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48)God provided man with the instructions of how to be perfect in His eyes so that we could have communion with Him. These instructions are in the form of “The Law”. With the Ten Commandments being the essence of the law. If man would abide by every one of God’s Laws 100% of the time without fail, then man would be perfect in God’s eyes and we could have perfect fellowship with Him.
Because of man’s sinful nature however, no one was able to achieve this state of perfection. Temptation led to the breaking of these laws which is the commission of sin. God hates sin. It is contrary to all that He is and so He demands blood for the commission of sin. It is the only way that atonement for sin can be made. In the old testament when men still lived under the law, a blood sacrifice was required periodically for a man to be forgiven of sin. When sin was committed, something had to die.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)These sacrifices for the atonement of sin were of the slaying of various animals. The following scriptures describe how a particular type of sin sacrifice was to be carried out.
And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar: And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.
(Leviticus 4:22-35)Man needed something more than the law and greater than animal sacrifices to permanently save him from the penalty of sin and make him a suitable subject for the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven. Though man would offer a sacrifice for his sins, the sacrifice being that of an animal would not suffice for permanent forgiveness. The only way for man to have a permanent state of salvation would be for another man to take his place and be sacrificed like animals. Notice that in the above scriptures that the animals to be sacrificed had to be without blemish. Therefore if a man were to be suitable to be the permanent sacrifice for man, he too would have to be without blemish. In other words, that man would have to live a life of perfection without breaking any of the laws even a single time and thereby being completely free of any sin. This is what Jesus did for us. Thought he was tempted at all points, he was without sin and was therefore able to take our place on the cross and be the perfect sacrifice freeing man from the bondage of the law.
When Jesus hung on the cross he had the sins of the world upon him. That is why God turned his back on his son as he hung on the cross that day. God can not look upon sin. In Jerusalem there was a temple that was used for the purpose of men offering sin sacrifices. The bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, God sent a great earthquake and the temple veil was torn signifying that in that moment of his death, the mission was complete and from that moment on animal sacrifices would no longer be required for the remission of sins. This is why Jesus said in his last breaths as he hung on the cross, “It is finished” (that gives me a cold chill). This is how Jesus fill filled the law. He did what the law could not do. We are still not perfect in ourselves, but one that was perfect took our place on the cross. When God looks upon one that has accepted Jesus as their savior, God sees perfection because our iniquities and faults are covered under the blood of His perfect son. So by the blood of Jesus we are made whole and acceptable in the sight of God and fit to have fellowship with Him.
We hear Jesus sometimes referred to as the Lamb or the Lamb of God. This title acknowledges the work that was done on the cross where Jesus died like a many of lamb died for the remission of sins, but since Jesus lived as a man without sin in perfection (though he was tempted at all points), this sacrifice was sufficient to cleanse all men of all sins past, present and future for those who will believe and accept him as their Lord and savior.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
(Hebrews 4:15)But the scriptures also say that Jesus did not come to do away with the law. One might ask, “If Jesus full filled the law, then why can it not be done away with?” If we are no longer under the law, then what is it’s purpose? Well, the law still does have a very important purpose. For the lost man, it shows him that he has indeed broken the law and therefore is in need of a savior. See the blood atonement that Christ made for us only apples to us if we are saved. Every single person is guilty of breaking God’s laws (committing sin).
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
(Romans 3:23)For the sinner, the law shows him that he is indeed a sinner and therefore needs a savior. The law sends us to Jesus. Then Jesus sends us back to the law to show us the will of God for how we are to live as a Christian. A man can not be saved until he first knows he is lost, and he does not know he is lost until he knows he has broken God’s law.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
(Romans 7:7)The law then still has a purpose. It shows sinners that they are indeed sinners and shows the Christian how to live in a way which is pleasing to God. Notice how often Jesus refers to the old testament scriptures in his teachings.
We see in the opening scriptures that Jesus said, “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.” Did you ever hear the saying, “Practice what you preach?” Well that is sort of what Jesus is saying here but with the added responsibility to teach and practice ‘true doctrine’. We are not only responsible for what we do, but for how we instruct others by example and by the things we say.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
(Matthew 12:36-37)Preaching and teachings God’s word comes with uncommon blessings and rewards, but it also comes with greater responsibility.
… For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required:…
(Luke 12:48)We see here that the law is still important. So important in fact that there is a great responsibility to interpret it and teach it correctly. We no longer are under the Law if we have Jesus as our savior, yet God’s laws reveal God’s will to us and we are expected to follow it (except for the method of atonement for breaking it) and interpret it and teach it correctly.
Jesus said, “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.” Actually, this is a great lead-in for next weeks lesson on Jesus Interpreting the Law.
The Pharisees took great pride in knowing the law. It was like a passionate hobby to them. Much of the time however, there interpretation of the law was very flawed. This is one reason they had contempt for Jesus. When he spoke, teaching the true interpretation of the law, it irritated them because it was contrary to their own interpretation, and by virtue of pride, they felt they had to be the ones that were correct.
The Pharisees’ interpretation of the law was one of an outward appearance which addressed the actions of keeping or breaking the law. Jesus’ interpretation of the law however addressed the inward intent of the heart behind the action. For instance the Pharisees condemned the act of murder but Jesus takes the sin to the root of the matter and says that to be angry with your brother without just cause is the same as a murder. You see, the sin of murder begins with the emotion of unjust anger. While controlling ones actions is a good thing, Jesus teaches that if we strive to keep our hearts and minds pure, then we won’t have to worry about actions, since actions are conceived within our hearts and minds. So this is why our righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.
That is all for this lesson. Next week we will take a look at how Jesus himself interprets the Law.
Carl
I may not look like much, but I cost a bunch!
