Introduction
Today’s passage has been suggested by some to be “the most difficult passage to be found anywhere in the Gospel.” [1] Its difficulty involves interpreting certain key words like “abolish” and “fulfill”. What does Jesus mean when he says that he had not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill them? How does one enter into the kingdom of heaven? How is it possible for anyone’s righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees? Is this an impossible task? Was Jesus praising them or condemning them? One can easily imagine the look of puzzlement on the faces of Jesus’ disciples and his direct audience when he spoke these words. [2]
Let’s take a deeper look at these intriguing four verses.
Jesus begins by making clear that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them. What is “the Law and the Prophets”? [3] The Law refers to the Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. The Prophets refer to the writings of the Prophets in the Old Testament. When referenced together, they often denote the whole of the OT. The Torah is considered the most sacred set of books found in the Jewish Bible. The term Torah literally means “instructions”. It contains more than just rules and regulations, even though there are many “do’s” and “don’ts” especially in the book of Leviticus. The Torah provides guidelines for the Jews on how they ought to worship their God, and how they should live with one another. It contains a historical account of their past, stories about their ancestors and who they are in this world.
One commentator describes it this way. “The Law defined the identity of the Jewish people. [4] The Law is their way of life. During the Holocaust, Hitler instructed for all Jewish Bibles to be burnt. In a recent WW2 movie, The Monument Men (2014), this was said: “You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground, and somehow they’ll still find their way back.
But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements, then it’s as if they never existed. That’s what Hitler wants, and that’s exactly what we’re fighting for.”
Some Jews may have believed that Jesus was trying to replace the Law with his “new religion” and commandments. This may explain why Jesus had to clarify his intention right from the beginning. In Jewish terms, any attempt to abolish the Law was unthinkable. This was clearly not Jesus’ intention. Instead, Jesus reaffirms the importance and integrity of the Law. That, he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. How so? What does fulfillment mean?
1. Christ came to fulfill the Law
Throughout the NT, much has been written also about how Jesus fulfills the role of prophet, priest, and king. It is common to understand fulfillment in relation to the fulfillment of prophecies as foretold by the Prophets. Jesus, in obedience to the will of God, came into our world in fulfillment of the prophecies. To a certain degree, that is true, but if this is all we understand “fulfillment” to be, then, we may miss out the larger significance of such a term.
However, fulfillment, especially in the Matthean context, is more than just making the prophecies of the past come true. Here, in our passage, the term “fulfill” must be understood in connection with the term “abolish”. They are counterparts. If we understand “abolish” as “destruction” or “annulment”, that the Law is no longer in its rightful place, nor as essential or important to the Jewish life, then, “to fulfill” the Law is to be doing the exact opposite from abolishing it, that is, to make it full, complete and significant.
One Greek interpreter defines the word “fulfill” (πεπλήρωταιplērōsai) in this manner: to give the true or complete meaning to something—‘to provide the real significance of’ something. [5]
“The idea of “fulfillment” is more than just obedience (i.e., keeping the law), although that is included…[however] Jesus not only fulfills certain anticipated roles, but also that his interpretation of the Scriptures completes and clarifies God’s intent and meaning through it.” [6]
In short, Jesus fulfills the Law by interpreting it as how God intends it to be. Jesus tells us what the Law really is. He is the perfect divine human who knows the will of his Father and does it accordingly.
A question comes to mind.
2. What is the purpose of the Law as God intends it to be?
Paul reminds us in Gal. 3:19 that the law was necessary because of our transgressions. The law illumines our sinfulness, but it was never meant to keep us away from God. Rather it was to help us to repent and return to God, through sacrifices and mediation. But since Christ has already come, he is our ultimate sacrifice and the True Mediator. Now, through Christ, the purpose of the Law has come to pass into perfection. Jesus fulfils the Law by being and becoming the Law itself. Jesus does not abolish the Law, but transforms the Law upon himself. He is the ultimate expression of the Law.
He is the Law par excellence. He epitomizes what the Law was meant to accomplish, that is to bring people back to God. This was God’s intention for the Law from the very beginning.
Paul tells us in Gal. 3:23-26,
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (ESV)
Both Jesus and the Pharisees were concerned with God’s righteousness. But the Pharisees tried to instill this righteousness from an exterior performance of the law, rather than an interior transformation of the heart. Keeping the law becomes a burden rather than grace. In contrast, Jesus fulfills the Law by being the ultimate peace bridge between God and humanity. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus gathers all unto him and gives them peace. Jesus performs the work of reconciliation. We are righteous because of Christ, and not by our works. The Law is a gift of grace. The Law is Christ!
Rom. 10:4,
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
3. Christ teaches “inside-out righteousness”
As parents, we make rules for our children. When they break these rules, they are taught to say sorry. That is often easy. But when you ask them why they are sorry, they may not always know the reason for it. Saying sorry is just a way to get out of trouble.
Singaporeans are best known for following rules for the sake of following rules. I remember when I first passed my driving test, I was driving along a really long road late one night, there was no one else on the road except me. I needed to make a U-turn, but I wouldn’t make a U-turn until I see a U-turn sign, even though it was perfectly safe for me to do so.
Do you litter? We say, of course not! Why not? Because you will get fined! Not because we want to keep the country clean. This is why Singapore is such a fine country.
The Pharisees had the same problem. They were following the law without understanding the purpose of the law. The Pharisees with their 617 laws and commandments were concerned with an external form of righteousness. This outward righteousness places emphasis on keeping the laws which dealt with issues of ritual cleanliness and sacred work. What kind of food is considered clean and unclean? And how to work without actually breaking the Sabbath laws? Many of these laws were extensions from the Levitical laws in the Old Testament. The Pharisees did not fully understand the purpose of the Law. Keeping the law became a personal pursuit for self-righteousness. Instead of keeping the law as it was meant to be, they were merely keeping up with the appearance of the law.
The most puzzling statement of the four verses today has to be the one in v. 20:
[20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Is he praising the Pharisees? No. Instead, Jesus is proposing a different kind of righteousness, an inside-out righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. Followers of Jesus are called to a different kind and quality of righteousness. Jesus’ inside-out righteousness is not “a personal attainment of ethical purity. Righteousness belongs to the realm of grace.” [7] We must be careful not turn this form of righteousness into another work of human pursuit. It is a righteousness that comes from grace rather than works. A righteousness which begins with repentance and transformation. Dallas Willard calls it the renovation of the heart.
The only way our righteousness can exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees is to accept that we are only righteous because of Christ. It is by grace that we are saved. It is to allow the grace of God to work in our lives and allow the Spirit to perform its work of transformation in us. This proclamation of good news is open to all, even to the scribes and Pharisees.
How does this inside-out righteousness look like? This righteousness is essentially being Christ-like. The Beatitudes is the best place to learn what it means to be in Christ-likeness. To mourn with those who mourn, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be peace-makers of this world. The only reason we can do this is because Christ has already done it for us on the cross. In gratitude, we can only live out this righteousness full-heartedly in the world. This inside-out righteousness begins with Christ in us. We are righteous only because of Christ who is The Righteous One.
“The function of the text today consists perhaps in reminding the church that Christian faith is praxis in the world.” [8] Our faith is only good when it is put into practice in the world. Bonhoeffer believes that Christians must belong in the world for others. The church must be a church for the world. It must not stay closed up within, and away from the outside world. Just as Christ came to be among us, in the world, for others, we must do likewise.
Conclusion
In conclusion, let us consider the hypothetical question? Who might the scribes and teachers of the law be today? Technically, they would most likely be seminary professors, scholars, pastors, and religious leaders. But as I ponder further…who might have been identified today by Jesus as having a righteousness like that of the scribes and the Pharisees? Who is concerned with an external form of righteousness? Politicians? Militant terrorists? Perhaps, the recent shooting at a satirical magazine office in Paris, Charlie Hebdo, 4 days ago (7 Jan 2015) by two militant gunmen, killing 12 and injured 11 might be a relevant example. [9] BBC reports: “Witnesses said they heard the gunmen shouting “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad” and “God is Greatest” in Arabic (“Allahu Akbar”) while calling out the names of the journalists. In 2011, the satirical publication was firebombed after naming the Prophet Muhammad as its “editor-in-chief”. They had taken offence at how Prophet Muhammad was depicted by the cartoonists and they are now taking revenge on his behalf. It could have been politically or religiously motivated. These gunmen tried to express a form of external righteousness through acts of violence against their perceived perpetrators of their faith. The latest report tells us that the two gunmen have been killed by the police. It is the deadliest terror attack in France since 1961 during the Algerian war. It is a sad day for all humanity.
A sense of righteousness that does not stem from a love for others, a love for human lives, such righteousness CANNOT be true righteousness. It is merely an appearance, a façade, a lie. True righteousness can only be graciously accepted through the work of Christ.
The message for us today is this. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but fulfills it by reaffirming, reinterpreting, and renewing the true purpose of the Law. By transforming the Law upon himself, he becomes our righteousness. The Law is Christ! This is the only way our righteousness can ever exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees. For Christ has already made us righteous by dying for us on the cross. Let us live as righteous men and women of faith in the world, loving them and serving them in the smallest ways possible.
Let us pray.
