#8: Wednesday, 4 March, 2020
**Wednesday, 4 March — Seeking the Messiah. Matthew 5:17–48**
This short passage (and the following sections) frame a Revolutionary Kingdom Manifesto. Any group of people who took all of this seriously would have to live so counter-culturally that they would be trolled off social media in the first week. I don't think that Jesus is suggesting these principles as a way for the whole world to live. They (again) describe what it is like to live in the kingdom of heaven which he has come to inaugurate.
Nor do I believe that this reflects a new 'law of love', as some have suggested, to replace the Old Testament law. That view is denied by Jesus' very first sentence, *I have not come to abolish but to fulfil [the law and the prophets]*. This manifesto demonstrates the difference between legislation and culture. ***Legislation*** is what you must do around here, or else you will be punished. ***Culture*** is how we do things around here, just because we want to.
It is really important to get into our heads that Jesus is not being just a good moral teacher. Journalists and TV panellists like to waffle on about Jesus being a wonderful moral teacher, on some sort of equal standing with Confucius or the Buddha. I suspect that anyone who says this sort of thing probably hasn't read any of them carefully.
But there is so much in this section! I'm pretty confident that as you read it, your eyes started to glaze over, and you were thinking that it was all just too much to take in. You won't be on your own, if you did. Many people find it all too much, so they just shrug their shoulders and move onto the next chapter.
Alternatively, some people use the little headings that divide this long passage in many Bibles, as sermon topics or series of classes for youth groups. Some Bible editors nudge us into this practice by giving the sections little headings that weren't in the original text. For example, in my NIV Bible, the headings go like this:
*vv17–20: The Fulfilment of the Law*
*vv21–26: Murder*
*vv27–30: Adultery*
*vv31–32: Divorce*
*vv33–37 Oaths…* and so on through the chapter.
I think the editors are not being particularly helpful to us by inserting these headings. Often, they obscure the meaning, or break the text where it ought not be broken. Just by way of example, let's change the headings that I've shown above, and see whether the new headings change how we might approach the various sections.
*vv17–20:* Instead of ***The Fulfilment of the Law***, Read: ***Jesus Affirms the Law***
*vv21–26:* Instead of ***Murder***, Read: ***Hatred***
*vv27–30:* Instead of ***Adultery***, Read: ***Lust***
*vv31–32:* Instead of ***Divorce***, Read: ***Faithfulness***
*vv33–37* Instead of ***Oaths***, Read: ***Integrity***
Do you see that just by changing the heading, we have potentially changed the way that we will read these sections? Of course, we've just created a new set of headings. We haven't fixed the problem; we've just kicked it down the road. Here is the point that I think we must recognise in this long chapter:
The first section, vv17–20 is the foundational part. In this section, Jesus declares that he is not abolishing *the Law and the Prophets*. We need to hear this phrase with first century ears. What we call the Old Testament, was the whole Jewish scripture. It was divided into sections, of which 'The Law' and 'The Prophets' were the first two named sections (about 14 books). When Jesus says *The Law and the Prophets*, it is as if he is saying *The Bible*. It is just a shorthand term, like 'The Good Book' or 'God's Word' or 'Genesis to Revelation'.
By the way, it's always worth remembering that Jesus, all the disciples and apostles, in fact, the entire early church had ONLY the 'Old Testament' as its Bible for the first 200 years of Christianity. (The full text of the New Testament was most likely completed by the end of the first century, but it wasn't collected into, and recognised as a set of scriptures, at least until the end of the second century.) Jesus and all the early church disciples and apostles thought that studying the Old Testament was critical to their faith development. Do we?
In this first section (vv17–20), where Jesus affirms his teaching to be fully consistent with the Law and the Prophets, he is effectively saying that none of the 'Old Testament' can be set aside, because it all points to him. There is barely a page of the Old Testament where Jesus is not involved somewhere. The entire purpose of the Hebrew scriptures was to point to the coming Messiah. Once Jesus has arrived, we don't discard the Old Testament, but we do read it with new eyes. As one popular writer likes to say: *The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.*
In this new kingdom life, says Jesus, you won't be arguing about whether someone has actually committed adultery. You'll be talking about how to better love your wife or husband. You won't be talking about when it is legal to divorce. You'll be talking about how you can remain faithful to your marriage vows. You won't be arguing about the proper punishment for murder. You'll be talking about how we can stop hating and begin loving.
All of those following short sections are really just examples drawn from that culture's current daily concerns. Had Jesus been talking to a 21st century Western audience, he may have used quite different examples. Perhaps he would have spoken about work, or family time, or medical issues, or social media. The basic point would have been the same:
Jesus claimed to be the complete fulfilment of everything that had so far been taught to Israel about God through their law, their history, their songs and festivals and so on. He is the acme, the zenith, the point of highest perfection and completion of everything that exists on earth and in heaven. He is the end point for all the ideas and art and music and searching for truth that any human being anywhere has ever attempted or will attempt.
He is the model for the life lived in humble obedience to God. He is the King. Our art, our work, our culture, our leisure will either honour or dishonour him. This is why all that stuff about Jesus being a good moral teacher is just nonsense. He doesn't leave us that option.
He demands our allegiance, not our patronising offer of a seat at our discussion table amongst any number of other pseudo-guides. His standards must be our standards. Allegiance to him is the only thing that matters. He is the King – and there will never be any other. We seek him – or we die.
Prayer
At last I understand, Lord Jesus Christ, that my half-hearted offer of an hour or so on Sunday morning was never enough. I am prepared to offer you now, my whole life – every single part – and no holding back. Help me, please, to honour you. Amen.