Matthew 5 – Jesus and the Law
Jesus is the Key!
Jesus was a teacher who never went to Rabbinic school to learn how to teach and yet taught in a
way never before seen. He never refferred to what others said or taught but spoke with his own
authority. He performed miracles that brought health and wholeness to those who came to Him.
People were amazed at such a man as this!
The Pharisees, teachers of the law given to Moses, accused Jesus of being a heretic whose teaching
led people away from keeping the Law. In response, Jesus states in Matt. 5:17 – 20, 17 Do not think
that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil
them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least
stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Jesus was saying that he came to complete the requirements of the Law, to bring it to its destined
end, to carry it out and give full obedience to it so that “everything is accomplished”. He did this by
fullfilling the requirements of the OT system of sacrifice for sins, by fullfilling all the prophecies
about himself in the OT, and he led his life so as to fully carry out all the righteous requirements of
the Law. In John 5:39-40, Jesus says, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in
them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to
come to me to have life.” Jesus is saying that he is the Key to understanding all of scripture, the
whole Bible. In John 10:30 Jesus says, “ I and the Father are one”, and in John 14: 9 he says,
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”. Jesus reveals who God is. Jesus is the key to
discovering all we want to know.
1. Discuss one or two of the following questions. To answer, use examples of what Jesus
said or did in the Bible or give an example in your own life of what Jesus has personaly
shown you. (a few scriptures are listed to get you started)
a) What is God like? (John 14: 9)
b) What does love look like? (John 3: 16, Matthew 5: 43-47)
c) What is God's answer to the problem of evil and suffering (Luke 24: 25-26,
Eph. 6:12, 1 Peter 4:1, Rom. 5: 3-5)
d) How are we to treat other people? (Luke 6: 27-36, Luke 10: 33)
e) What is “righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees”? (Rom. 3:22, 4:1-5,
2 Cor. 5:21)
f) What is God's purpose for the whole world? ( John 3: 16-18, 2 Peter 3:9,
Rev. 21 &22)
Listen Carefully!
19
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others
accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter
the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus is saying here that from the smallest to the greatest of God's commands, all of God's Word is
authoritative and life-giving. It brings life and well-being when we obey it. With God there is no
pick n mix. We are to give Him all of us. No area of life is off limits. Make God master in every
area.
It is by telling others about things God has shown us in our lives, (where He gives us answers,
where he corrects us about mistakes, or disciplines our behaviour, or shows us what to do about
things we struggle with) that we teach others how to make godly decisions and make God master in
their lives. God says it is then that we become great in the kingdom of God because we practise and
teach his commands.
2. Pick one or two of the following subjects and discuss how we can make God master
in that area of our life and give personal testimonies of how God has led you to
make Him master in that area of your life.
a) tithing
b) marriage
c) raising children
d) studies
e) career/profession
f) what we talk about
g) driving
h) keeping house
i) neighbours
j) dating
Avoid Legalism and Pride
The Pharisees were the scholars of religion in Jewish society. They were the teachers of the Law
and were the examples of piety. They tried to uphold the Law of Moses by establishing a set of
rules and regulations around the commandments and teaching of God to ensure they lived a godly
life. For example: they memorized the legalistic teachings taught by rabbis around the OT, they
kept the Sabbath by following rules about how far they coud walk, by not preparing food on the
Sabbath, by moving only a new lamp from one place to another but not an old lamp. Their priority
was on following the rules and being seen to follow the rules.
In Mark 7:-9, Jesus quotes Isaiah and says, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you
hypocrites; as it is written: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” Your have let go of the
commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men. And he said to them: You have a
fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions”.
That is legalism. The Pharisee's behaviour was a source of great pride for them as they followed all
the rules of what a godly man does, but the motivation was not from their heart. Instead they were
trying to make themselves good and godly by following rules rather than from having the love of
God in their hearts. They believed that their external obedience would make them acceptable to
God. In Ezekiel 36:27, God says, “And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my
decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” and in Luke 6:45 Jesus says, “ The good man brings good
things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil
stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks”.
So does that mean external obedience is bad? No! Jesus is saying that the righteousness of God
comes from within and can only be birthed in the heart of a person by God. It is the love and
righteousness of God in our heart that brings about godly obedience and behaviour. A person can
have external obedience without internal love for God (like the Pharisees), but they cannot have
internal love for God without external obedience. We cannot tell how people are really doing from
the outside. Their behaviour may be absolutely 'right' on the outside, but on the inside they may not
have a real relationship with Jesus. We need to 'be real' with each other so we can help each other
be real from inside out.
3. How do we do life together with others to grow in relationship to Jesus and to be
real from the inside out.