Presented to Swift Current Corps on 30 May 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
I told this story at Tuesday’s Bible Study. It is one I like. There was a Sunday school teacher and her students were becoming really good at answering all the important questions. She would ask them, who died for your sins? (Jesus) Who’s birth do we celebrate on Christmas? (Jesus) Who is the only way to God the Father? (Jesus). One day she showed the kids a picture of a creature with a furry tale, buck teeth and holding a nut and she asked them what that was in the picture. All the kids seemed stumped until finally Johnny raises his hand. “Teacher. I know the answer is Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me.”
This may not be entirely different from the pre-Christian relationship to the Law, we may come back to that in a little bit but first I want to share a story that I think parallels closely the scripture that we are looking at today: Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “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”
Quite a few years ago now, there had just been a provincial election where I was living and it looked like there were two separate visions for the future being offered up: one that would continue to build upon the successes of the previous administration versus one that would sell off all of the provinces’ jobs and assets to foreign countries and private interests.
I was a fairly young businessperson. I had a number of contracts with private colleges, the federal government, and different branches of the provincial government. I remember after the election, I assured my friend – who worked with the Provincial Government (if I remember correctly) – that everything would be all right. The ‘good guys’ won the election. The province wouldn’t be downsized and privatized.
Not too long after saying that I was working (on contract) at the Ministry of Education’s Learning Resources Branch when the Minister of Education came in to visit everyone, himself. It was a big deal. There were rumours that – even though his party promised otherwise – this branch was going to be closed and everyone was going to be fired; so we pressed him on this; we asked him point plank. And he assured us directly, right to our faces, to some of the regular staff who (unlike us private contractors) have been working in the same job in the same building for 25 – 30+ years, that no they weren’t going to be fired. Everyone was so happy to hear a guarantee like that from someone as important as the Minister of Education.
That night many of the old employees who were now very relieved that they voted for this guy – Esquimalt, where this branch was, was that politician’s riding – they all turned on the TV that night to hear the minister announce that they ARE going to close our office immediately – their jobs are declared ‘redundant’. The next day the grief counsellors showed up first thing in the morning and one by one the employees were called into the office, received their pieces of paper and left in tears. This can be a devastating experience for anyone – I had a number of contracts sort of like this one where I was hired after (or just before) they had closed government offices and, at least once, a person we knew was so devastated that he took his own life. This time no one died but they all felt betrayed as their time working here was complete.
Jesus said, “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” (Matthew 5:17). For the Jewish people at this time, the Law provided a security even greater than a job that one has had for their entire working life. The Law affected every aspect of the Jewish people’s lives (cf. Galatians 3:10, Deuteronomy 27:26). To his fellow Jews, whose relationship to the Law they saw as an indication of their very salvation, Jesus went on to explain exactly what he meant by this statement.[1] To some of the people it must have had the same sort of effect as the announcement by the Minister of Education did on my friends.
Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law; however, Matthew 5:21-22, the Law says “…'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”[2]
Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law; however, Matthew 5:27-28, the Law says, “…'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law; however, Matthew 5:33-37, the Law says, “…'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: …Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law; however, Matthew 5:38-39, the Law says, “…'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Jesus said he did not come to abolish the Law; however, Matthew 5:43-44, the Law says, “…'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Interesting: the Minister of Education who came to speak to us the day before he closed down the learning resources branch probably didn’t lie to us when he told the regular employees they wouldn’t be fired: he may have said something like, “don’t think that I’ve come to fire you or your colleagues; I have not come to fire you but to declare your jobs fulfilled (redundant; everything is accomplished).”
Now to give the politician his due: he did promise that the employees wouldn’t be fired and indeed they weren’t exactly fired they were what was called ‘red-circled’. Does anyone know what it means to be red-circled? It is a union-government term. If a senior union employee’s job no longer exists due to closing a branch or something then the government is obligated to find him/her a new job and no matter what the new job is they need to continue to pay the employee the old wage. So if your higher paying job is declared redundant and the government/union puts you in a lower paying job; you still get your old higher wage for less work. An example is of this is the manager of the whole LRB warehouse: when they declared his job redundant the only job they had for him was as a stock boy at the liquor store – really – and so they had to pay him his old wage as a senior branch manager even though he was just stocking shelves. It was almost as good as a paid vacation for a while. What was that old commercial? Same great taste and only half the calories. Here it is, same great pay and only half the stress. Not a bad deal. That is what it is to be red-circled.
“Don’t think that I’ve come to fire you or your colleagues; I have not come to fire you but to declare your jobs fulfilled (redundant; everything is accomplished).”
“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” (Matthew 5:17) to Jewish people whose relationship to the Law they saw as an indication of their very salvation, as Jesus went on to explain this, to some of the people it must have had the same sort of effect as the announcement of the politician did on my friends.[3]
A couple of weeks ago we looked at Matthew 5:18, “I tell you the truth, 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.”[4] We decided then that the purpose of the Law and the Prophets were accomplished, that they were finished on between the cross and the empty tomb.[5] This is important. The Law is important. It is not something that was wrong or necessarily bad and so needed to be cancelled, not at all (Cf. Leviticus 26:42-44; Deuteronomy 7:9; Judges 2:1; Matthew 5:17-20, 24:35; Luke 16:17, 27:33; Romans 3:3-4, 31, 7:1-6; John 19:30). Rather, it was good in that it pointed to Christ who would complete it. Christ did complete it so its purpose has been fulfilled (cf. Romans 3:21, 4:1-25, 7:7, 9:12; Galatians 3:6-12, 4:21-22). The Law, like a Heavenly Learning Resources Branch of God’s Ministry of Education has been declared redundant; it is no longer needed now that Christ has raised from the dead ushering in this new Kingdom.[6] But this I think raises the question for us today (Galatians 3-5, Hebrews 8). If humanity’s previous relationship to God through the Law is now fulfilled, completed, declared redundant; and we are now red-circled until Christ returns when we will work forever alongside him in the new heavens or more likely on the new earth (cf. Romans 9:30-10:4, Galatians 3-4, Hebrews 8).[7] If the old life of working under the Law is now fulfilled, what does our new red-circled life look like as we are awaiting Christ’s return?[8]
This – while at first it must have seemed a little scary for people who had lived under the law for their whole working lives – this life as a red-circled employee of the Kingdom of Heaven is really quite neat.[9]
The old position under the Law we had all of these duties that we had to perform as we waited for Christ to come and declare the Law redundant, announce that the Law was now finished.[10]
About the context of this claim: we remember it is part of a sermon of Jesus’. We remember that this sermon of Jesus’, the ‘Sermon of the Mount’ (Matthew 5-7; cf. Luke 6:17-49), begins by telling his followers how important they are to him and encourages them, he encourages us calling us blessed as we continue to follow his teaching even as we are persecuted (Matthew 5:1-11). He then warns us against falling away, comparing us to salt (Matthew 5:13); and encourages us to preserver, comparing us to light (Matthew 5:14-16). After he tells us this, maybe some of those present and certainly some of Jesus’ adversaries would question whether what Jesus was teaching was based on the Law or not (cf. Matthew 26:59-61,John 5:18; cf. also Acts 21:21);[11] so he replies to that unspoken query with our text today “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” (Matthew 5:17).
He then explains what that means. In our old job under the now redundant Law we had the workplace policies and procedures, the rule and consequence of, “…'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' This is an important rule- of course. Society doesn’t work so well if God’s people are running all over the place killing each other (cf. Exodus 20:13, Numbers 35:16ff, Deuteronomy 5:17). Jesus tells us what the new policy and procedure will be after his resurrection and at least until he returns again. He says, “anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21). This is interesting.
He is not saying that it is bad or wrong to prohibit murder here in the now fulfilled Law. He is saying that the blessed people who are part of his Kingdom of Heaven on Earth have even more. We should settle matters quickly with our adversaries and as far as our fellow Christians are concerned, we have the opportunity to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters (Matthew 5:23-26).
Jesus does not say that we are no longer free from the prohibition against adultery (Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:18). Far from it, he says our freedom is even greater. We should now seek to be free from all lustful thoughts and even to defend our holiness, our separateness, and try to avoid sin at all costs (Matthew 5:27-30).
He doesn’t say that women are no longer have the security and protection that they had under the Law by their husbands requirement to give them a certificate of divorce rather than just picking up and leaving one day as may have been the case before Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Cf. Malachi 2:16). Jesus says that in this red-circled, proleptic Kingdom of God, men won’t even divorce their wives (except for marital unfaithfulness; but cf. Mark 10:1-12, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7) and that the women have the even extra added security that the man will not run off with the other woman because, the blessed will not even marry a divorced women. Jesus is here offering greater protection for women (Matthew 5:31-32, 19:1-9; cf. Mark 10:1-12, Luke 16:18, 1 Corinthians 7).
And about oaths, Jesus underlines the importance and the significance in his proleptic Kingdom. He says that Yes you should keep your oaths but you know what, your word should be good enough that you don’t even need to swear by anything! Your ‘yes’ should be ‘yes’ to people and your ‘no’ should mean ‘no’ (Matthew 5:33-37; cf. Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2-3, and Deuteronomy 5:11; 6:3; 23:21-23).[12]
This is great. This is what it looks like when Christ is our King. Whereas justice was sought through a policy of an ‘eye for an eye’ (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20), Jesus comments can remind us of the truth that vengeance really does belong to the Lord (Romans 12:19). As far as we are concerned, we do not need to even worry about resisting evil people. We can feel free to love our neighbours. We can love our enemies and so much more (Matthew 22:34-40; Cf. Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43, 6:33, 7:12; Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37; Romans 13:6-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). Jesus concludes this section of his sermon by telling us that in all this, we the blessed, we the salt, we the light, we can indeed be holy as the Lord our God is holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). We can – Matthew says – even be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48; cf. 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12).[13]
So today now that the Law has been fulfilled. Now that Jesus has been raised from the dead I invite us all to come forward and accept the security of salvation and the freedom of holiness.
Let us pray
http://www.sheepsepeak.com/
---
[1] Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), P.50 The antitheses may be intended simply to place Jesus over against other Jewish authorities of his day but in context it is more likely that it a contrast between Jesus and the Torah itself.
[2] Douglas Moo, “The Law of Moses or the Law of Christ.” In Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship between the Old and New Testament. Essays in honour of S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., ed. John S. Feinberg. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988. P. 205: “I say unto you” designates something new – not a restatement – from someone in authority.
[3] Paul Walaskay, Matthew 5:17-20 in Interpretation, 56 no 4 Oct 2002, p.17: “THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT in the New Testament. It is loaded with problems that are theological, exegetical, and practical.”
[4] Captain Michael Ramsay, “Matthew 5:18: Disappearing Act”, presented to Swift Current Corps (16 May 2010). Cited 27 May 2010. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/05/matthew-518-disappearing-act.html
[5] Captain Michael Ramsay, “Hebrews 8:13: The Old Covenant, New Covenant, Milkshakes, and Coming of Age”, Journal of Aggressive Christianity, issue no 64 December 2009- January 2010, p. 17. Available on-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_064.pdf
[6] Cf. M. Eugene Boring, ‘Matthew’ (NIB VIII: Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1995), 188. Jesus relocates the authority of from the Law to himself.
[7] R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 119Among the many nuances suggested for plērōsai, ‘fulfil’, the following are the main options: (a) to accomplish, obey; (b) to bring out the full meaning; (c) to complete (‘to bring to its destined end’, Davies, p. 100), by giving the final revelation of God’s will to which the Old Testament pointed forward, and which now transcends it (cf. the double meaning of Rom. 10:4, ‘Christ is the end of the law’: he both completes and transcends it). It is doubtful if any single translation or even paraphrase can do justice to plērōsai here, but (c) points in the right direction
[8] DA Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), Book Version: 4.0.2 offers a few different denominational, historical interpretations on the meanings of each of these commands.
[9] R.T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 51: “Israel prided itself as the people to whom God had given his law; it was the focus of their life and religion. It was concern for the law which had led the scribes to develop in ever-increasing complexity the detailed rules for correct life and worship which eventually went to make up the Mishnah, and it was the meticulous observance of these rules which was the chief distinguishing mark of the ‘scribes and Pharisees’ who figure so prominently in Matthew’s Gospel.”
[10] Cf. for a good discussion of the role, function, and traditional understanding of the Law, NT Wright, “The Law in Romans 2,” Paul and the Mosaic Law, ed. James D. G. Dunn (WUNT 89; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1996), republished with English translations of German essays (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001).
[11] Cf. William Hendricksen, ‘Matthew’ (NTC: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), p. 288.
[12] DA Carson. Expositor's Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)/3. The kingdom of heaven: its demands in relation to the OT (5:17-48)/b. Application: the antitheses (5:21-48)/(4) Oaths and truthfulness (5:33-37), Book Version: 4.0.2 :The Mosaic law forbade irreverent oaths, light use of the Lord's name, broken vows. Once Yahweh's name was invoked, the vow to which it was attached became a debt that had to be paid to the Lord.
[13] R.T. France: Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S.51: “fulfilment points not to a continued literal observance of all its regulations, but rather to a ‘greater righteousness’ (v. 20), which is explicitly set over against the legalism of the scribes and Pharisees, and which will culminate in the most radical demand imaginable: ‘You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (v. 48).”
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Acts 2: Scene 1
Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 August 2007
Presented to the Swift Current Corps 23 May 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
Presented to the Swift Current Corps 23 May 2010
by Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/acts-2-act-ii-scene-1_25.html
Friday, May 14, 2010
Matthew 5:18: Disappearing Act!
Presented to Swift Current Corps 16 May 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Last week was Mother’s Day when I was preparing for this sermon so I naturally thought that I would talk about rules, about laying down the law so to speak. Rules are very important this time of year – Stanley Cup play-off time. If anyone was ever looking for a way to be unpopular they might want to try refereeing a NHL play-off game. If you make a mistake enforcing the rules, there will be a consequence (for the teams). Likewise – in my house growing up, anyways – if you made a mistake interpreting mom’s rules, there would be a consequence.
It is the same in school. I remember Grade 5. It seems that my Grade 5 teacher enforced the rule of the law of the school quite vigorously. It seemed that he was much more effective at enforcing the law than I was at interpreting it; so as a result, I tended to spend a fair amount of time in the exclusive detention club after school. In those days, the teacher would write your name on the board the first time you did something wrong and if he didn’t take it off by the end of the day (because he figured you earned your time off for good behaviour) you would have to stay after school. Most days I would come into the class and find out that he just left my name up there from the day before – why waste all that effort to erase it when he’d just have to write it up there anyway. I certainly paid the price more than once for transgressing the school’s laws.
But I can take some solace in the teaching of Christ pertaining to the law, right? Jesus says about the Old Testament Law that can be as rigid and constraining as my Grade 5 teacher’s rules: Matthew 5:17 and 18: “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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law…” and Matthew 5:20: “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.” Okay, maybe there isn’t a whole lot of comfort necessarily here at this point but have you ever wondered what this passage means?
We studied the letter/sermon to the Hebrews a few months ago here and there it is recorded that “By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one [and the Law] obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13). But Jesus says that until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until it is fulfilled. And we Christians - since the resurrection of Christ - no longer follow all the rules and regulations that were laid out in the Law and the prophets. We aren’t forced to eat only kosher foods. I personally am very grateful for that: I really enjoy a good ham steak whenever I can get it – especially since my wife and daughters are all vegetarians. We, today, don’t live our lives by all the old pre-Christian ceremonies of the Law but Jesus says that not the least part of this Law will disappear until everything is accomplished. So how is that possible and what does it mean?
The Apostle Paul says about the Law and the important Jewish ceremony of circumcision (to the Christians in Galatia who were getting circumcised) he says, “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all” (Galatians 5:2). Circumcision had become a symbol of the Law and should someone be circumcised for religious reasons Paul tells us “In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, [those suggesting that people must obey the whole law and be circumcised, Paul says] I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves” (Galatians 5:11-12)!
These are harsh words about circumcision and the Law. Indeed Paul says that people were being even trapped by the Law and are even under a curse by still following it (Galatians 3-5). In Hebrews 8:13, it is recorded that the Law is “…obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
So how can this be? How can this Law that is so constricting that Paul calls us cursed if we remain under it be so irrelevant that it is even now obsolete will soon disappear and yet Jesus himself in our text today says, “I tell you the truth, 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 completed”, until it is fulfilled.
How can this be? Is Paul simply contradicting Jesus? (Some people have suggested that sort of thing) Or does Matthew not understand the teaching of either Jesus or Paul? To answer these questions, we should take a look at some more of Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’, of which this remark is a part. This sermon is quite interesting. Jesus says in it, “…I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets... I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, … will by any means disappear from the Law…” (Matthew 5:17-21) and right after this Jesus goes on to say ‘you have heard what the Law says about something but I say something completely different’
Not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law; however the Law says do not murder, 5:21, but he says something different. The law says do not to commit adultery, 5:27, but he says something different; the law says do not break your vows, 5:33, but he says something even more. Jesus says he hasn’t come to abolish the Law but relating to what it says, apparently, he says something entirely different.[1] Biblical Scholar Paul Walaskay, when faced with this conundrum involving this part of the Sermon on the Mount enlightens us with the following statement. He says, “THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT in the New Testament. It is loaded with problems that are theological, exegetical, and practical.”[2] Okay, so maybe that isn’t so enlightening
D.A Carson tells us that there are a few different perspectives on what this all means. [3] These are many historical denominationally distinctive views of this passage. I won’t run through them today but given that there is a great the historic diversity of thought on this text, what are we here in the early 21st Century to make of it? How can, as Jesus says, not the smallest letter of the Law disappear at the same time as, like Paul says, the Law is already disappearing and soon (in his time) be gone altogether?
Remember this question. First I want to share some interesting laws that I ran across on-line while researching the Law for this sermon; I thought you might enjoy these:[4]
- In Scotland, it is illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow.
- In Hartland, New Brunswick you are not aloud to make jokes about people with moustaches, unless that person’s first name begins with the letter "A" and last name begins with the letter "N";
- In BC, It is illegal to kill a sasquatch;
- A law requires jailers to bring convicts in debtors’ prison a pint of beer on demand;
- In Alberta, If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town;
- In Ottawa, on Sunday, it’s illegal to eat ice cream on Bank Street;
- In Toronto, on Sunday, it’s illegal to drag a dead horse down Yonge St.;
- In Toronto it is also against the law to swear at your mother in public;
- In Montréal, it is illegal to swear in French;
- In Quebec City it is illegal to swear in any language other than French;
- It is also against the law to impersonate a foreigner;
- And Montreal again, the owner of a hotel apparently can be fined if he cannot provide ‘proper accommodation’ for any guest with a horse.
There is one more that I remember from my younger days – it may just be a myth - but in Victoria it is apparently illegal to accompany a lady after dark if you are not carrying a sword.
One of the interesting things about many of these laws is that none of them were abolished; they are still on the books but many of them are no longer needed or no longer relevant – such as those relating to debtors’ prison, horses and swords. The time for these laws is fulfilled and even though not a word of them has disappeared from the law books, they are definitely obsolete and therefore they have disappeared from our daily practice and the police officers and judges application of the law. We no longer enforce a law about walking around with a sword when accompanying a lady at night because
a) We have a solid police force these days who can take care of matters;
b) Not a lot of people have swords in this day and age; and
c) Some ladies these days are much more capable of defending themselves then any of us men are at using a sword
It is similar with the Law. Paul says, as recorded in Romans 10, “‘Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who has faith’ (Romans 10:4). Followers of Jesus live in relationship with God by God's grace, not through the law (Romans 6:14).”[5]
There is even more to this pericope though. Biblical scholar, Robert Banks says that the best interpretation of these verses is that Jesus fulfils the whole Law and all that the Prophets foretold in that they point to Jesus as their fulfilment. “For Matthew, then, it is not the question of Jesus' relation to the law that is in doubt but rather its relation to him!”[6]
Scholar Douglas Moo says – You know Douglas Moo? He, among other things, is the head translator for the NIV Bible He says, – “The history of Israel reaches its ‘fulfilment’ in Christ (cf. Matthew 2:15)… Matthew presents a theology of salvation history which pictures the entire Old Testament as anticipating and looking forward to Jesus” and “Jesus’ new, eschatological demands do not constitute an abandonment of the law but express that which the law was all along intended to anticipate.”[7]
And Jesus says that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it and he says that as a result we don’t need to be tripped up by sin we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can be holy as the Lord our God is holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7) - or as Matthew says, perfect as the Lord our God is perfect (Matthew 5:48; cf. 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12) - not by worrying about rules about murder or adultery for who can add a moment to our lives or a hair to our head by worrying (Matthew 6:24-34; 7:7-12; Luke 12:1-11, 22-34)? We citizens of this Kingdom don’t need to get angry with our brothers; we should reconcile with our enemies and not even entertain temptation (Matthew 5:17-48). Jesus says along with this that as we simply do unto others, as we would like them to do unto us – he says, this really sums up the Law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12) that Jesus has come to fulfil. Jesus finished the Law between the cross and the grave. He said it wouldn’t disappear before it is accomplished, before it is fulfilled. And this is what the accomplished, the fulfilled Law and the prophets should look like now in the Church and in Jesus’ proleptic kingdom on earth: we should love God and love our neighbour (Matthew 22:34-40; Cf. Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43, 6:33, 7:12; Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37; Romans 13:6-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). The Law pointed to Jesus.
Jesus has now come and the Law is now completed, accomplished through his death and resurrection; and it is only because it is now fulfilled that it can now fade away and indeed even now has already disappeared (Hebrews 8; Romans 10:4). The Law pointed to the coming of Christ and now Christ has arrived. So the Law – and all that it encompassed – with all its societal and dietary regulations which were no longer practiced in the early church even in the time of Matthew, the time and the place for the Law is now fulfilled. Jesus, who declared ‘it is finished’ on the cross; Jesus through his incarnation, death and resurrection, has indeed fulfilled the Law. He said that it will not disappear before it is fulfilled and now indeed, praise the Lord, it is fulfilled and has disappeared. [8]
The primary purpose of the Law and the prophets and the history of Israel (and indeed the whole world) were to point to the Messiah who will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Law was like a lookout waiting for reinforcements and the lookout is no longer needed when the one you are looking out for arrives (Cf. Galatians 3-5).
The Law is also like a babysitter that God gave us until He returned in Jesus’ incarnation. Now that Jesus has indeed come, the purpose and effect of the Law has been fulfilled and this is exciting. The Law then, like a babysitter or even like your mother sometimes may have said, the Law called out to us from history, ‘wait till your father gets home’… well, our Father has come home and he has sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ and He loves us and He cares for us. And as all of history hits its most important moment with the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus; as God has defeated sin and death so that the lookout of the Law, the babysitter of the Law is no longer needed; so God loves us and Jesus is coming back soon. So with that in mind let us turn our whole lives over to Him who is the fulfilment of the Law, the prophets and all of history. Let us turn our whole lives over to Jesus and be holy as the Lord our God is holy. Amen.
www.sheepspeak.com
---
[1] Douglas Moo, “The Law of Moses or the Law of Christ.” In Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship between the Old and New Testament. Essays in honour of S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., ed. John S. Feinberg. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988. P. 205: “I say unto you” designates something new – not a restatement – from someone in authority.
[2] Paul Walaskay, Matthew 5:17-20 in Interpretation, 56 no 4 Oct 2002, p.17
[3] DA Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] See the following links: http://www.lufa.ca/news/news_item.asp?NewsID=7235 , http://www.changinggears.ca/articles/legal/legal31.html , http://www.mundayweb.com/weirdlaws.php , http://www.weird-websites.info/Strange-Laws/Canada-Canadian-laws-most-stupid-weird-10-old-legal-rules-online.htm , http://weird-websites.com/justweird/strangelaws.htm
Paul Walaskay, Matthew 5:17-20 in Interpretation, 56 no 4 Oct 2002, p. 417.
[6] Robert Banks, "Matthew's Understanding of the Law: Authenticity and Interpretation in Matthew 5:17-20," JBL 93 [1974]: 226-42. Cited from: The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)/3. The kingdom of heaven: its demands in relation to the OT (5:17-48)/a. Jesus and the kingdom as fulfilment of the OT (5:17-20), Book Version: 4.0.2
[7] Douglas Moo, 205; Cf. Greg L. Bahsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics (Nutley, NJ: Craig, 1977), p.48.
[8] Alternative ending: "So now instead of following rules and regulations and everything else with the Law that pointed to Jesus, all we need to do is turn our eyes upon Jesus and he will make us holy. There is no name under heaven be which people may be saved. Let us pray..."
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Last week was Mother’s Day when I was preparing for this sermon so I naturally thought that I would talk about rules, about laying down the law so to speak. Rules are very important this time of year – Stanley Cup play-off time. If anyone was ever looking for a way to be unpopular they might want to try refereeing a NHL play-off game. If you make a mistake enforcing the rules, there will be a consequence (for the teams). Likewise – in my house growing up, anyways – if you made a mistake interpreting mom’s rules, there would be a consequence.
It is the same in school. I remember Grade 5. It seems that my Grade 5 teacher enforced the rule of the law of the school quite vigorously. It seemed that he was much more effective at enforcing the law than I was at interpreting it; so as a result, I tended to spend a fair amount of time in the exclusive detention club after school. In those days, the teacher would write your name on the board the first time you did something wrong and if he didn’t take it off by the end of the day (because he figured you earned your time off for good behaviour) you would have to stay after school. Most days I would come into the class and find out that he just left my name up there from the day before – why waste all that effort to erase it when he’d just have to write it up there anyway. I certainly paid the price more than once for transgressing the school’s laws.
But I can take some solace in the teaching of Christ pertaining to the law, right? Jesus says about the Old Testament Law that can be as rigid and constraining as my Grade 5 teacher’s rules: Matthew 5:17 and 18: “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. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law…” and Matthew 5:20: “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.” Okay, maybe there isn’t a whole lot of comfort necessarily here at this point but have you ever wondered what this passage means?
We studied the letter/sermon to the Hebrews a few months ago here and there it is recorded that “By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one [and the Law] obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13). But Jesus says that until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until it is fulfilled. And we Christians - since the resurrection of Christ - no longer follow all the rules and regulations that were laid out in the Law and the prophets. We aren’t forced to eat only kosher foods. I personally am very grateful for that: I really enjoy a good ham steak whenever I can get it – especially since my wife and daughters are all vegetarians. We, today, don’t live our lives by all the old pre-Christian ceremonies of the Law but Jesus says that not the least part of this Law will disappear until everything is accomplished. So how is that possible and what does it mean?
The Apostle Paul says about the Law and the important Jewish ceremony of circumcision (to the Christians in Galatia who were getting circumcised) he says, “Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all” (Galatians 5:2). Circumcision had become a symbol of the Law and should someone be circumcised for religious reasons Paul tells us “In that case the offence of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, [those suggesting that people must obey the whole law and be circumcised, Paul says] I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves” (Galatians 5:11-12)!
These are harsh words about circumcision and the Law. Indeed Paul says that people were being even trapped by the Law and are even under a curse by still following it (Galatians 3-5). In Hebrews 8:13, it is recorded that the Law is “…obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”
So how can this be? How can this Law that is so constricting that Paul calls us cursed if we remain under it be so irrelevant that it is even now obsolete will soon disappear and yet Jesus himself in our text today says, “I tell you the truth, 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 completed”, until it is fulfilled.
How can this be? Is Paul simply contradicting Jesus? (Some people have suggested that sort of thing) Or does Matthew not understand the teaching of either Jesus or Paul? To answer these questions, we should take a look at some more of Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’, of which this remark is a part. This sermon is quite interesting. Jesus says in it, “…I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets... I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, … will by any means disappear from the Law…” (Matthew 5:17-21) and right after this Jesus goes on to say ‘you have heard what the Law says about something but I say something completely different’
Not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law; however the Law says do not murder, 5:21, but he says something different. The law says do not to commit adultery, 5:27, but he says something different; the law says do not break your vows, 5:33, but he says something even more. Jesus says he hasn’t come to abolish the Law but relating to what it says, apparently, he says something entirely different.[1] Biblical Scholar Paul Walaskay, when faced with this conundrum involving this part of the Sermon on the Mount enlightens us with the following statement. He says, “THIS PASSAGE IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT in the New Testament. It is loaded with problems that are theological, exegetical, and practical.”[2] Okay, so maybe that isn’t so enlightening
D.A Carson tells us that there are a few different perspectives on what this all means. [3] These are many historical denominationally distinctive views of this passage. I won’t run through them today but given that there is a great the historic diversity of thought on this text, what are we here in the early 21st Century to make of it? How can, as Jesus says, not the smallest letter of the Law disappear at the same time as, like Paul says, the Law is already disappearing and soon (in his time) be gone altogether?
Remember this question. First I want to share some interesting laws that I ran across on-line while researching the Law for this sermon; I thought you might enjoy these:[4]
- In Scotland, it is illegal to be drunk and in possession of a cow.
- In Hartland, New Brunswick you are not aloud to make jokes about people with moustaches, unless that person’s first name begins with the letter "A" and last name begins with the letter "N";
- In BC, It is illegal to kill a sasquatch;
- A law requires jailers to bring convicts in debtors’ prison a pint of beer on demand;
- In Alberta, If you are released from prison, it is required that you are given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so you can ride out of town;
- In Ottawa, on Sunday, it’s illegal to eat ice cream on Bank Street;
- In Toronto, on Sunday, it’s illegal to drag a dead horse down Yonge St.;
- In Toronto it is also against the law to swear at your mother in public;
- In Montréal, it is illegal to swear in French;
- In Quebec City it is illegal to swear in any language other than French;
- It is also against the law to impersonate a foreigner;
- And Montreal again, the owner of a hotel apparently can be fined if he cannot provide ‘proper accommodation’ for any guest with a horse.
There is one more that I remember from my younger days – it may just be a myth - but in Victoria it is apparently illegal to accompany a lady after dark if you are not carrying a sword.
One of the interesting things about many of these laws is that none of them were abolished; they are still on the books but many of them are no longer needed or no longer relevant – such as those relating to debtors’ prison, horses and swords. The time for these laws is fulfilled and even though not a word of them has disappeared from the law books, they are definitely obsolete and therefore they have disappeared from our daily practice and the police officers and judges application of the law. We no longer enforce a law about walking around with a sword when accompanying a lady at night because
a) We have a solid police force these days who can take care of matters;
b) Not a lot of people have swords in this day and age; and
c) Some ladies these days are much more capable of defending themselves then any of us men are at using a sword
It is similar with the Law. Paul says, as recorded in Romans 10, “‘Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who has faith’ (Romans 10:4). Followers of Jesus live in relationship with God by God's grace, not through the law (Romans 6:14).”[5]
There is even more to this pericope though. Biblical scholar, Robert Banks says that the best interpretation of these verses is that Jesus fulfils the whole Law and all that the Prophets foretold in that they point to Jesus as their fulfilment. “For Matthew, then, it is not the question of Jesus' relation to the law that is in doubt but rather its relation to him!”[6]
Scholar Douglas Moo says – You know Douglas Moo? He, among other things, is the head translator for the NIV Bible He says, – “The history of Israel reaches its ‘fulfilment’ in Christ (cf. Matthew 2:15)… Matthew presents a theology of salvation history which pictures the entire Old Testament as anticipating and looking forward to Jesus” and “Jesus’ new, eschatological demands do not constitute an abandonment of the law but express that which the law was all along intended to anticipate.”[7]
And Jesus says that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it and he says that as a result we don’t need to be tripped up by sin we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can be holy as the Lord our God is holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7) - or as Matthew says, perfect as the Lord our God is perfect (Matthew 5:48; cf. 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12) - not by worrying about rules about murder or adultery for who can add a moment to our lives or a hair to our head by worrying (Matthew 6:24-34; 7:7-12; Luke 12:1-11, 22-34)? We citizens of this Kingdom don’t need to get angry with our brothers; we should reconcile with our enemies and not even entertain temptation (Matthew 5:17-48). Jesus says along with this that as we simply do unto others, as we would like them to do unto us – he says, this really sums up the Law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12) that Jesus has come to fulfil. Jesus finished the Law between the cross and the grave. He said it wouldn’t disappear before it is accomplished, before it is fulfilled. And this is what the accomplished, the fulfilled Law and the prophets should look like now in the Church and in Jesus’ proleptic kingdom on earth: we should love God and love our neighbour (Matthew 22:34-40; Cf. Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43, 6:33, 7:12; Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-37; Romans 13:6-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). The Law pointed to Jesus.
Jesus has now come and the Law is now completed, accomplished through his death and resurrection; and it is only because it is now fulfilled that it can now fade away and indeed even now has already disappeared (Hebrews 8; Romans 10:4). The Law pointed to the coming of Christ and now Christ has arrived. So the Law – and all that it encompassed – with all its societal and dietary regulations which were no longer practiced in the early church even in the time of Matthew, the time and the place for the Law is now fulfilled. Jesus, who declared ‘it is finished’ on the cross; Jesus through his incarnation, death and resurrection, has indeed fulfilled the Law. He said that it will not disappear before it is fulfilled and now indeed, praise the Lord, it is fulfilled and has disappeared. [8]
The primary purpose of the Law and the prophets and the history of Israel (and indeed the whole world) were to point to the Messiah who will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven. The Law was like a lookout waiting for reinforcements and the lookout is no longer needed when the one you are looking out for arrives (Cf. Galatians 3-5).
The Law is also like a babysitter that God gave us until He returned in Jesus’ incarnation. Now that Jesus has indeed come, the purpose and effect of the Law has been fulfilled and this is exciting. The Law then, like a babysitter or even like your mother sometimes may have said, the Law called out to us from history, ‘wait till your father gets home’… well, our Father has come home and he has sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ and He loves us and He cares for us. And as all of history hits its most important moment with the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus; as God has defeated sin and death so that the lookout of the Law, the babysitter of the Law is no longer needed; so God loves us and Jesus is coming back soon. So with that in mind let us turn our whole lives over to Him who is the fulfilment of the Law, the prophets and all of history. Let us turn our whole lives over to Jesus and be holy as the Lord our God is holy. Amen.
www.sheepspeak.com
---
[1] Douglas Moo, “The Law of Moses or the Law of Christ.” In Continuity and Discontinuity: Perspectives on the Relationship between the Old and New Testament. Essays in honour of S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., ed. John S. Feinberg. Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1988. P. 205: “I say unto you” designates something new – not a restatement – from someone in authority.
[2] Paul Walaskay, Matthew 5:17-20 in Interpretation, 56 no 4 Oct 2002, p.17
[3] DA Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] See the following links: http://www.lufa.ca/news/news_item.asp?NewsID=7235 , http://www.changinggears.ca/articles/legal/legal31.html , http://www.mundayweb.com/weirdlaws.php , http://www.weird-websites.info/Strange-Laws/Canada-Canadian-laws-most-stupid-weird-10-old-legal-rules-online.htm , http://weird-websites.com/justweird/strangelaws.htm
Paul Walaskay, Matthew 5:17-20 in Interpretation, 56 no 4 Oct 2002, p. 417.
[6] Robert Banks, "Matthew's Understanding of the Law: Authenticity and Interpretation in Matthew 5:17-20," JBL 93 [1974]: 226-42. Cited from: The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Matthew/Exposition of Matthew/II. The Gospel of the Kingdom (3:1-7:29)/B. First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1-7:29)/3. The kingdom of heaven: its demands in relation to the OT (5:17-48)/a. Jesus and the kingdom as fulfilment of the OT (5:17-20), Book Version: 4.0.2
[7] Douglas Moo, 205; Cf. Greg L. Bahsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics (Nutley, NJ: Craig, 1977), p.48.
[8] Alternative ending: "So now instead of following rules and regulations and everything else with the Law that pointed to Jesus, all we need to do is turn our eyes upon Jesus and he will make us holy. There is no name under heaven be which people may be saved. Let us pray..."
Saturday, May 1, 2010
1 Samuel 17:46–47:The Battle belongs to the Lord
Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on July 6, 2008
and Swift Current Corps on May 2, 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
and Swift Current Corps on May 2, 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay
Click HERE to read the sermon: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/07/1-samuel-1746-47-battle-belongs-to-lord.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
