New Thoughts (11/15/05-11/17/05)
What was it about His words and His audience that led Jesus to emphasize the Law so? We can understand easily enough why Matthew in particular chooses to inform us of this piece of the message. Clearly, it would be of great import to his Jewish audience to know that this ‘new’ religion was not really new, but a continuation and intensification of what had always been. But, why does Jesus speak of it to this particular group? We determined previously that, contrary to our popular image of this scene, Jesus was likely speaking only to His disciples, not to the crowds at large.
Was there some degree of animosity between the Pharisees and the populace of Galilee? I don’t recall ever hearing of such a divide, although I suppose it is possible. Was it, perhaps, no more than a warning not to misinterpret those things that would be taught and done? There were many traditions that Jesus would choose to totally ignore, recognizing that those traditions had become so binding in the minds of man that they were allowed to supersede the very Law they claimed to support. As such corrective measures were taken by their Teacher, it would certainly be well for the students to keep in mind that the overthrow of these traditionalist accretions did not in any way constitute an overthrow of the underlying Scriptural foundation.
Here, one would think, is sufficient negation of the antinomian proposition. How can a Christian think the Law no longer binding when the very foundation of Christianity, the Christ Himself says, “No! The Law shall stand so long as heaven and earth remain.” Not only that, but He warns against that very antinomian teaching, declaring that those who would teach that even the least significant portion of the Law no longer applies has relinquished his heavenly reputation. Interestingly, He does not exclude such poor teachers from the heavenly community, just leaves them to populate the alleys and the outskirts.
How can that be? That, I shall consider more fully later. At present, though, I want to focus on that continuity of faith that Jesus proclaims here at the outset. Whatever may happen in this ministry, however shocking the teaching may be, know that the Law and the Prophets stand. If you think you have understood anything in what has been done here to have counteracted that foundation, then you have understood nothing! How needful a warning this was as Jesus declared the true meaning of the Law itself. He is about to remove the veil from their understanding, to explain to them just how extensive that Law really is. It is not the specific and explicit act only that is proscribed, but all that leads up to it, echoes it, or resembles it in any way. It is not a new faith that is declared by these clarifications, but the same faith that was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same faith that was announced by Moses, and preserved by the Prophets.
There is a continuity of faith that continues to connect the Church in our day. It connects us to the historical positions of our faith. It connects even Catholic and Protestant at the foundation, however bitter may be our differences. Look back across the history of either portion, and you must come to the councils that established the Truth from the heretical. Look back across the history of either portion, and you must come across any number of mistakes and errors and abuses, yet you must, having passed beyond these, arrive back at One Eternal Christ. You must some to that place where, having arrived at Him, you can see through His eyes, all that led up to Him. You can see that there is in reality no division between the Old Covenant and the New, only a continuity. The faith we have in Him who came to set us free is no different than the faith that the ancients had in Him who would come bearing salvation to His people.
It is a continuity of faith that connects us even to Adam. For, from the day of his fall, he had but one hope remaining, the hope that is founded in faith. God declared to him the cost of his fall, but He also declared the promise of His own solution to the problem of sin. There would come the seed of woman, who would crush the head of sin, would destroy it at its source. Down through the ages, that promise persisted, with more details being revealed as the purposes of God unfolded in the world of men. Yet, through all those long ages, it was a matter of faith. The follower of God, the believer in God’s word, had no idol by which to remind himself of this God he worshiped. He had never met his God face to face, nor known of any man who had. Indeed, he was certain that should such an encounter ever occur, it must surely mean his death. Through all that long time, every man who lived in the knowledge of this God lived in the knowledge of his own sinfulness, his utter inability to stand in the presence of perfect Righteousness. He knew as well, that apart from such righteousness he could never receive the promises God had made to him. He must necessarily have known, then, that the God whose promises are yea and amen must have had His plan for providing the righteousness man could not obtain himself. It was faith in God’s ability and willingness to do for man what man could not do, to save mankind from itself, to provide the Lamb, that reserved for these men a place in God’s kingdom. It is that very same faith in us that knows its own place is reserved.
Here, as Jesus proclaims the continued efficacy of the Law, He also declares Himself as the One who was provided. The message is couched, and we might, I suppose, be accused of reading what we know back into what was said, but look at those words! “I did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I came to fulfill them!” He came to satisfy in full every proclamation that the prophets had made. He came to completely and perfectly uphold every last requirement of the Law. He came to live out before the eyes of men the life men were created to live, a life complying with the character of the Creator. There is also that sense of ‘fulfill’ which indicates that He came in order to cause God’s will to be obeyed as it should be, fully and immediately.
What is that, but to declare that He came to establish righteousness. He came as that righteousness that so many had died knowing that they needed, that they lacked, and that they could in no way acquire it of their own accord. He came to satisfy every claim of the prophets. What had they proclaimed but the Messiah who would come, of Salvation brought to man by God Himself? What had they said but, “By MY own right hand, I WILL do it!” Here was that Right Hand of God come to earth, doing it, and teaching others to do the same. Here was the power of God manifest. Here was the Prince and Heir of heaven come to earth, and by His own perfect obedience making available to man the righteousness that was necessary to all God’s promises. Here was the reason for our hope.
With that in mind, as I look at verse 19 of this chapter, I find myself wondering whether Jesus also spoke of Himself when He spoke of that one who keeps the complete Law, teaches others to do the same, and is called great in God’s kingdom. After all, even to this very day there is no other one could find who has kept the Law in every way. He remains unique in that obedience, as indeed He must. If there were another who could obey that Law in every detail, then His own mission, the need of man for Messiah, is null and void. If there were any other way to righteousness, there would be no need for Him to have laid down His own righteous life that we might know His righteousness in ourselves. What is righteousness if not the perfect obedience of God’s Law? That Law is the very definition of righteousness! No, it was intended to be a constant goad to us, keeping us aware of our own need for God and for His Christ.
I am quite sure that any one of us, however far we have advanced in the Christian faith, will find that there is some small part of the Law that he has set aside in his thinking. It is part of our nature to do so, for we cannot long abide in the knowledge that we are a walking, constant failure. So, the mind of man inclines ever towards defining that Law that condemns him in a fashion that allows him his lesser crimes. It is beyond us to truly comply to God’s requirements, and we know it. Unable to change ourselves sufficiently to satisfy that perfect standard, we fall to changing the standard. We acknowledge the right of His standards by retaining the grosser applications. Yes, of course murder is objectionable. Yet, we slowly chip away at those things He had included under that heading. We cannot long think of our words of frustration, our derisive words against our fellows as being in the same class as outright murder. Yet, as Jesus will shortly remind us, that is exactly what God includes in that class!
Indeed, we live in an age, not the first such age by any means, in which murder itself is quibbled over. Is it really murder when the life that is taken is in the first trimester? In the second? Is it really a life yet? Is it really murder to help an elderly member of society to end a painful existence? Is it murder if our victim is also our accomplice? How poor a conception we have of the value of this life as God measures value! Yet, before we get on our podiums to decry the sorry state of morality in society around us, we need to look to our own house. Before we complain of the inability of the average man to discern murder when it has been made legal, we need first to recognize the murderer in our own spirit.
We will not find one among us who can honestly hope to escape the charge of murderer in the court of heaven. No, the charge is accurate, and the Judge cannot be fooled by our prevarications. Our case is hopeless, and we had best understand that now. But, the Judge, bless His Holy Name, has provided a means for us to make full, legal restitution! Though the death penalty is well and clearly deserved for our crimes against Him, He has made another Way. He has sent the One who would keep and teach every least detail of His Law, that One who is declared Great and Mighty, that One whose name is exalted above every other name that ever was given! Yes, and that One, the Son of Righteousness, the Salvation of the world, He took upon His righteous and innocent self the punishment for our every crime. It is unimaginable, really. Each and every man or woman that ever has or ever shall live has earned the death penalty. The wages of sin must be paid. There must be the shedding of blood. It is the Law. And every death that was ever deserved, He took upon Himself in that moment of His great agony. How can we even begin to fathom it, who dread even the one death we must suffer so much? How can we even begin to grasp the degree of His suffering, Who took upon Himself the deaths of millions upon millions? Truly, if there is One who can be called Great in the kingdom of heaven, it is He.
The Apostles surely have earned there place, as have so many saints of God through the ages, but to be called great? Perhaps there are special honors reserved for such faithful servants of God, yet we can know without doubt that to a man they had their failings. To a man, we can be certain that they came to that kingdom with a record. But, to a man, we know by God’s own promise, and by the evidence of Jesus the Christ of God, that the record they came with was cleared at the door: every penalty paid, every scrap of evidence destroyed, and all declared to be in order!
How often have I heard that dread comment, “This will go on your permanent record, young man.” It was the great tool of coercion for those who sought to set the young on the straight and narrow path. For that matter, it was the great tool of those who merely wanted less disruption, and could have cared less about our moral compass. But, God looks upon His children, and out of that great love He has for His Son and for us, He declares that though every least misstep in our long criminal career has indeed been duly recorded in that permanent record, in that moment of our arrival at His door, the record has been erased! No outstanding warrants remain, for our Brother, Whose Name is exalted above every name, has paid the fines in full.
Precious Lord Jesus, indeed Your name is great, for You have done great things. Who can compare with You, Lord? Who else has sacrificed Himself to save entire nations? Who else has loved so greatly that even the hatred of the world could not turn that love aside? Oh, Lord! That You were willing to set aside Your place in eternal glory, to suffer a breach in Your eternal fellowship, to undergo the agony of separation from the presence of the Father so that I might be rescued; how shall I ever think to have thanked You enough for that? How can I even begin to imagine the full magnificence of who You are! God, I know my own story, and I know it is not entirely unique. It has much in common with every man You ever rescued. Most of us could say at best that we didn’t care whether You were Lord God or not. Most of us carried an active animosity towards the idea that You had some claim over us. Yes, we were determined to have things our own way, as aggravating as any precocious child. Yet, You never gave up. You did not abandon us to our course. You paid no heed to the anger we showed towards You. You simply pursued Your course of love, continued to speak words of peace to us until we could finally hear what You were saying, see how You were loving, and run to Your open arms. I confess it remains a mystery to me how You in Your perfect holiness can bear to remain with us in our sinfulness. Yet, I know that by Your own promise the time will come when that fellowship no longer seems impossible. Lord, I thank You again for being willing to come find me where I am, to meet with me as I am, and to ensure me that I will be as You intended when I come home to You.
It is a mystery, as I said, how we can be accepted as sons of God and still be so imperfect in obedience to Him. Every last one of us still has our sins to deal with and we know it, though we often do our utmost not to show anybody else that this is true. The question, though, is not what we show each other, but what we really believe of ourselves. This, I suspect, is exactly what Jesus is getting at in verse 20. He tells us that a righteousness that only meets the standard set by the Pharisees will not suffice to get us into the kingdom. Now, I often hear this declaration as having set a high bar for us to clear. This is particularly prevalent amongst those who cling to the belief that perfect holiness, or something so close as to be indistinguishable from it, can be had in this life. They will point to the lifestyle that defined the Pharisee and say that there was a clear standard of holy adherence to the commandments displayed in that lifestyle. True enough.
We can look at the picture Luke later paints of the Pharisee at prayer, and see much of what it meant to be a Pharisee. “I don’t cheat others, so I am no thief. I have not been sleeping around, so I am no adulterer. I have borne no false testimony. Yes, and I fast all the time, and I tithe on every thing that comes my way” (Lk 18:11-12). Indeed, the Pharisees, the Separated Ones, were careful to dissociate themselves from anything and anybody that might stain them with the contagion of sinful behavior. They would not so much as enter the house of a non-Pharisee, for to do so might stain the perfect obedience they had achieved in their own estimation. That is precisely why Nicodemus awaited the cover of night before coming to Jesus. To have been seen visiting that house might well have caused him to be cast out of the society of the Separated.
Yes, by every observable appearance, these men were exceedingly righteous. They were terribly careful to ensure that no least action of theirs could be accused of being unrighteous. They would go out of their way to detail all the aspects of life that went into observing each portion of the Law. Indeed, they had expanded that simple codex which God had proclaimed until it filled volumes, threatening to overwhelm the mind that sought to remember all its details. They had determined, in their own thinking, exactly where the line must be drawn between rest and work, so that they knew precisely how far they could push the Sabbath Law without offending. They knew exactly how far they could go with the opposite sex before it might be construed as adultery. Worst of all, they knew very well how to hide from each other and to hide from themselves.
This was the place where Jesus joined battle with them, but it was not because He considered the Pharisees to be moral reprobates and anti-religious. Not at all! His battle was a battle for their minds and souls. He hoped, with each exposure of their hypocrisy, that they would be exposed to themselves. He was not anxious to make them of no repute amongst the people of Israel. He was deeply concerned with making them of no repute amongst themselves. He was determined that they must see the truth about their own condition, that they must come to realize that the sort of observance they maintained, while it was good and beneficial, was not even close to sufficient to constitute true righteousness. Jesus’ expansive recapitulation of the Law of God would make clear that these carefully observed external matters only scratched the surface. They had fallen into a deceiving trap. They had come to think that the letter of the Law, the one particular action that was explicitly stated, was the whole of its application. When God said, ‘Thou shalt not murder,’ they saw no further application. If they had not caused physical loss of life by some violence they had committed, then they were satisfied that they had complied. They understood that to cheat a man out of his goods and income was forbidden, yet they saw no wrong in hording their own riches and refusing to help those in need around them. They were content to keep God for themselves, even denying Him to those of their fellow countrymen who refused to abide by their code.
What Jesus says here is that this outward appearance is not good enough. He does not, we must be clear, suggest that it is bad. He is not suggesting that we simply give up on trying to do what is right, since we see that so much of it is nothing more than appearance. Not at all! No, He encourages us to continue trying, to continue doing all that we can in order to walk in obedience to the Law, for it continues to be the Law. But, He warns us, if we would be truly righteous we must not allow ourselves to think that was enough. It’s not just the actions that need to be brought into line, but every thought and imagination. Oh! It’s so easy to get caught up in the idea that we have really arrived at sanctification and righteousness, that we have really brought ourselves under control. Yet, the Scriptures are consistent in warning against that idea. There is no hero of the faith in its pages at whom we can look and not find blemishes. The greatest of God’s people remain imperfect, and in His Word He allows us to observe those imperfections, for He would have us to know not only Himself, but also ourselves and each other in Truth.
Even as we read the writings of the Apostles, they make clear that this struggle to achieve sanctification remains an imperfect effort. Paul would expose his own agony over the battle between the will of the soul to righteousness and the will of the flesh to sin. John would state things bluntly to his readers. “If any one of you claims to be completely free of sin, he is a liar” (1Jn 1:10). If this is our claim, we have fallen into the very deception that plagued the Pharisees, self-deception that convinces us that we have come closer to heaven than we really have.
It comes down to this: the appearance of righteousness, the choosing of actions that comply with the Law of heaven is a good thing, but it is not the main thing. Much like the relationship of works and salvation, if we think that the works of righteousness that we do make us truly righteous we’ve got things backwards. Righteous actions are only good in that they are the fruits of righteous character. A righteousness that is not a matter of character is no righteousness at all. The most evil of men can on occasion do what is right. The worst of dictators may yet treat his own child with kindness. He may be ever so ruthless and yet remain faithful to his wife. But, that faithfulness, that treatment of his children, may be nothing more than self-preservation. He may simply see this as the best way to secure his position and to reduce the dangers to his own life. There is nothing of righteousness in such acts when they are done for such reasons.
It is the righteousness of character that counts. It is the righteousness of character that rises above the standard set by the Pharisees. It is the righteousness of character that causes even our thoughts to force themselves back into godly channels. It is the righteousness of character that catches us when our thoughts are wondering towards forbidden things, and warns us to turn aside quickly. It is this, and this alone that matters in the final account. Restraining ourselves from that final, physical, crossing of the line means nothing. It is the internal restraint, preventing us from even approaching or considering approaching that line that matters. And, this is the very thing that makes it impossible that we should ever hope to enter heaven on our own account.
To fully and completely comply to the Law of God in the fashion that Jesus reminds us that we are required to pursue it is an utter impossibility in this fallen flesh. We will constantly find ourselves in that same agonized state that Paul so eloquently describes. Yet, we are not to find in this an excuse to stop trying, only an incentive to try the harder. We are called to work at our salvation, with all reverence, all recognition of the awful price of failure (Php 2:12), yet we must always do so with the clear knowledge that unless God is at work in us, turning our will towards His own (Php 2:13), it is beyond us. Unless we have come to the Son of God and accepted that gift of forgiveness He has given us, then all the good behavior we can muster will never suffice to so much as gain us a hearing. He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to Whom all men must come if they would be the sons of God.
