May 28, 2009

Breaking the Law


The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached Part X

Reflections on the Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5-7

(Commentary by Guy Glass and Scott Hescht)


Matthew 5:17-18 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For 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.

Guy: Jesus makes it clear that though the Son of Man (a bold Messianic label from Daniel 7:13 by which He referred to Himself) has come into the world, He is not telling people to scratch the words of the Law or prophets. Instead, He points people to the Law and Prophets. He proclaims that He is the fulfillment of the types. He is the fulfillment of the prophecies spoken about the deliverer to come. He is Israel’s redeemer and the light to the Gentiles. Jesus embodies all the promises in the Law and from the Prophets. All who trust in Jesus Christ will receive Him as their enduring treasure and those promises, as well as life, will be theirs for all eternity.

He is also the only human (fully God and fully man) to ever fulfill, or live up to, the Law of God. Along with being the only Son of God, the reason Jesus could be our substitute on the cross and be an acceptable atoning sacrifice is because He had the means wherewith to pay the debt that we owe. It was because He fulfilled the Law when no other man or woman could that gave Him the ability to say to the Father, “I’ll pay their debt. I have the means to pay it; I’ve fulfilled Your Law. Judge them by the life I lived, not theirs.”

Above, in verse eighteen, He says, “Until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” In John 10:35, Jesus says that the Scripture can not be broken. Jesus is establishing the inerrancy of all of Scripture. He is establishing the infallibility of the Bible. When He mentions the iota and dot, He is saying that things as small as our apostrophes and accent marks in the writing of Scripture are the words of God and they will come to pass.

The Gospel of John begins like this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:1-4).

It is appropriate that Jesus, the Word of God (the Logos), fulfills the Word of God and in Him, who created the world, life and light is found. His light shines into the darkness of creation and illumines it and gives hope to mankind and He will not be overcome by anything. Let’s run to Him, out of the darkness and into the loving arms of the Life and Light.

Scott: Jesus is about to turn up the heat. He makes it clear that He isn’t some rebel who rode into town to change or abolish God’s law. In fact He upholds God’s law and the bar is set high. “Don’t break the commandments of God.”

The law itself is good. The reason the world needed a savior, however, was because obedience to the law could not save a person. In fact it is impossible to be obedient to the law because of sin. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law and thus make a way by faith through Him. Jesus Christ is the end of many of the ceremonial laws found in the Old Testament, however, the moral code of God stands forever.
The Apostle Paul confers, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law... Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Romans 3:28,31).

Jesus goes on to say that our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees. To the many outcasts that He was preaching to, this must have been devastating at face value. The scribes and Pharisees were the religious elite, but Jesus saw through their fraudulence. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28).

God isn’t looking simply for external religion. He doesn’t want somebody who looks good on the outside, but inside isn’t sincere. He wants people that are full of love and faith, trusting in His righteousness and not their own. Man sees outwardly, but God knows a person’s true heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

R. C. Sproul illustrates the point that looks can be deceiving:

A man and his wife returned home from church and enjoyed a Sunday supper. After dinner they decided to go for a ride in the country. During their leisurely tour the husband was startled to see a pig with a wooden leg in a pasture by the road. “Look at that!” he said to his wife. “There is a pig with a wooden leg!”

The man ‘was amazed that a farmer would be so humane as to provide a ‘wooden leg for his wounded pig. He insisted that they stop at the farmhouse and inquire about the circumstances that led to his porcine prosthesis. He knocked at the farmer‘s door and introduced himself to the farmer.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but I am intrigued about the pig you have with a wooden leg. Would you mind telling me how it came about?”
Not at all,” said the farmer. “A few months back my grandchildren were here for a visit. One afternoon they wandered into a pasture where our bull was grazing. The bull charged them in fury. The pig noticed the danger and put himself between the children and the bull and headed the bull off. That pig saved my grandchildren’s lives. The very next day one of the children fell in the farm pond and was drowning. That pig dove into the water and saved her life.
“So you see,” said the farmer, “the pig is almost like family to us. That’s why it has a wooden leg. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat that pig all at one time!”[1]



[1] R.C. Sproul, Pleasing God (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), 51-52.


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May 05, 2009

True Values


What are your values? The question may seem simple, however, often what many people (even companies and organizations) list as values are actually “aspired” values. They are either what the person desires to be or would like to think of as possessing. The truth is though, that our actual values are what we are and not what we desire to be. If I say I value family but never spend quality time with them then I’m lying. Likewise, if I say that I value honesty, yet I find myself constantly telling little white lies, then I do not value honesty.


We would do well to take the time to evaluate our day to day activities and take note of our actions. Where do our finances go? What do our spending habits say about us? What does our use of time say about us? If people were to be truly honest (see above) with themselves, some may find that they actually value entertainment, money or status more than the (aspired) values they claim to possess.


Now, maybe you’ve been a professing Christian for several years now, or like me you made a profession as a child (read my testimony here). In other words, what you are saying is that you value Jesus Christ. After all, that is what it means to be a Christian. It is not a profession that makes a believer a believer.


Once somebody has been truly convinced of who Jesus Christ is (the Son of God) then that changes everything (by the power of God). Really getting it; that He is Lord and Savior will make Him become your Treasure. How can it not? Imagine suddenly realizing that this world is not what you thought it was (remember the Matrix). How can that not change an individual? Besides this, when somebody truly believes, it is a working of God. It’s basically a miracle. It’s what the Bible calls becoming a new creation or being born again. God changes the heart. Though not perfect, the desires of the individual have been changed and he or she now has their heart set toward God.


So now it’s time for self evaluation. Do you value Jesus Christ? Do you read His Word seeking to know Him and His will? Do you spend quality time with His in prayer and worship? Do you desire to obey His commandments? Are you actively involved in His church? If you’re honest with yourself, you just might find that you value the things of this world more than the Savior. Truth be known, some may even find that they have never really been born again and are destined for eternal judgment because their sin still stand in the way of them and God.


However, if that’s you and you’ll be honest with yourself there still is good news. Turn in repentance and you will be saved. He has been waiting for this moment your whole life. God has not forsaken you.



"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

(Matthew 13:44-46)



"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:19-21)



- Scott Hescht


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