Matthew
Jesus, Kingdom Message Clearing up what you have Heard
Jesus begins to address the false things that people had heard
About Heaven and Himself
Jesus starts with
"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. Matthew 5:17
Jesus is greater than Moses and the Prophets
He will not only teach, but fulfill all that Moses and the prophets had said
Jesus then speaks of 3 positions we can have concerning the Kingdom of Heaven
All relate to our actions and what we say (teach)
Being least in the Kingdom of Heaven
Anyone 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,
Being great in the Kingdom of Heaven
But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Not able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven
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.
It is after these words, Jesus says six times from Matthew 5:21 to 48
“You have heard, but I tell you”
Matthew
Jesus, Kingdom Message, Clearing up what you have Heard
Chapters 3-7…
The Kingdom of Heaven is announced.
Jesus after being led by the Spirit into the wilderness
where He is tempted by the Devil
began to preach the Kingdom.
From that time on Jesus began to preach,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Matthew 4:17
Jesus up to this point, in Matthew 5,
has gained a reputation.
Large crowds were following Him.
It became clear that as more and more people
were following Jesus…
That the religious leaders of the time
were not accepting Him or His Message.
Remember Matthew 4:23-25 is leading
up to the Sermon on the Mount.
These verses tell us Jesus was
teaching in the synagogues.
Jesus’s message of the Kingdom
was demonstrated with miraculous signs
of healing and deliverance.
With all this popularity…
Many of the Jewish leaders were
rejecting Jesus and His Message.
The people following Jesus were
hearing from the Jewish leaders that…
Jesus was breaking the law,
like healing on the Sabbath.
The Jewish leaders also were calling Him a false prophet…
Saying He did the things He did by
the spirit of Beelzebub, prince of devils.
So, Jesus began a series of “you have heard”.
This is why Jesus says…
"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.
Matthew 5:17-18
The “Torah” can refer to all of traditional
Jewish learning.
But “the Torah” usually
refers to the Torah she’bi’ktav.
The written Torah, also known as
(the five volumes or Pentateuch,
sometimes referred to as the Five Books of Moses).
Genesis through Deuteronomy are the story
leading up to the death of Moses.
Moses became a savior to God’s people,
delivering them out of bondage and giving the people the law,
instruction, on how to love God and love one another.
The rest of the Old Testament is mostly the messages
from the Prophets, God’s mouth piece.
So, when Jesus says He came
to fulfill the Law and Prophets…
He is saying He has come as the fulfillment
of the Old Covenant or Testament.
The word Covenant means…
Agreement.
The word Testament means…
A person’s “will”.
An act by which a person determines
the disposition of his or her property after death.
The Old Testament from creation to the time of Jesus
was a time of looking for a greater one
than Moses and the Prophets.
Moses and the Prophets pointed to
the Messiah, the Promised Deliver.
Hebrews 8:5 tells us…
The Old Covenant served as a copy
or shadow of what is in heaven.
Hebrews 10:1 says…
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming
— not the realities themselves.
The religious leaders who were saying
Jesus was breaking the law…
They could not seeing Jesus as the fulfillment
of the very Law and Prophets they taught.
As great as Moses and the Prophets are,
they could only tell us about God and Heaven.
Jesus is greater than Moses and the Prophets
because He is the Son of God.
Jesus came from Heaven to give us
first hand account of the Kingdom of Heaven.
The religious leaders, up to the very end,
persecuted Jesus and mocked Him,
saying all manner of false things about Him.
Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
Matthew 27:39-44
So, we find here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus,
setting straight the things that were falsely
said about Him and the Kingdom.
One of the greatest problems to understanding
the Kingdom of Heaven for the people of Jesus’ time
was they were looking for a king, deliver, to over throw
the earthly nations and set up a kingdom on earth.
You have heard it said…
“He is so heavenly minded he is no earthly good”.
But the reverse is also true…
“He is so earthly minded he is not heavenly good”.
Jesus is the only One who can help us get
our thinking and actions right.
Jesus began to address the false things
the people had heard about Heaven and Himself.
Jesus starts with…
"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.
Matthew 5:17
Jesus is greater than Moses and the Prophets,
He will not only teach,
but fulfill all that Moses
and the prophets had said.
Jesus than speaks of three positions
we can have concerning the Kingdom of Heaven.
All relate to our actions and what we say (teach).
Being least in the Kingdom of Heaven…
Anyone 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,
Being great in the Kingdom of Heaven…
But whoever practices and teaches these commands
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Not able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven…
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.
It is after these words, Jesus says
six times from Matthew 5:21 to 48…
“You have heard, but I tell you.”
Let’s get it straight...
What has God said?
Because…
Whoever practices and teaches these commands
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 5:17-20 NIV
17 "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. 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. 19 Anyone 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. 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.
