Matthew 5:17-26
Christ Fulfills the Law
17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Murder Begins in the Heart
21 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.' 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
The Law must be written on the heart for true change to happen and endure. It is not that the Law is completely done away with as some imagine with the appearance of Jesus Christ and the New Testament sealed with His blood, but that the moral laws of God are to be lived out of willing obedience with heartfelt desire to please our Redeemer. Jesus Himself made it crystal clear that He did not come to get rid of the Law given to us by God through Moses and the prophets, but to keep it fully to the letter but also to the intent. None of God’s word is to be minimized or eliminated by our rationalization to recuse ourselves from living accordingly. More to the point, we are taught that if we not only disobey the scriptures but teach others to do so according to our reasoning then we find no reward in heaven, only loss and shame as the least honored there. We are called to the greatness of willing obedience to God’s word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and teaching the whole counsel of God’s word as contained in all the scriptures from Genesis through Revelation. It is all His word, including the Law which He writes on regenerated hearts (Jeremiah 31:33, Romans 2:15, 2 Corinthians 3:3) for us to put into daily living. That is the true righteousness which the Pharisees missed and which is a warning for us not to repeat this gross error by excusing away the parts of God’s word that we find disagreeable or difficult. The only way to salvation is through hearing and responding in the obedience of faith to that word which declares we are all sinners (Romans 3:20-23) and only find deliverance from our due judgment by the grace of God in Christ (Romans 6:23). It is Christ’s righteousness alone which gives us entrance, not our vain and stained attempts of working good or penance in place of obedience to hear His word and rely on His work as John 6:28-29 tells us. Not only is this the basis, but Jesus went on to clarify how anger in our hearts is as the murder which the Law speaks of. He just made it clear the intent is not religious activity but a heartfelt drive to love as He does and not excuse hatred because it is the intent of the Law in our hearts not to harm our neighbors (Romans 13:10) but to do them good with intent and actions. This is so important that Jesus told us here that He will not accept our worship if we harbor hatred. We are to reconcile with our adversaries or face the consequences of our sin. We will pay the full price of disobedience and the judgment of our murder in our hearts and minds if we are unforgiving and unrepentant. These are hard sayings meant to bring our awareness to sin and live for Him according to all that is written for our life and godliness (1 Timothy 4:8, 2 Peter 1:3, 8). May we exercise our faith to life and godliness through the word of God and prayer to be established in the truth (2 Peter 1:10, 3:18) in knowing Jesus Christ and following Him. His word is written on our hearts!
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