What should we do with the Old Testament?
Matthew 5:17-20
All through the Old Testament God promised that in the future He would come to earth as a man – fully God and fully man – who would show us who God is, die on the Cross to pay for our sin, rise from the dead, and pour out His Spirit by whom our hearts would be changed and we could know and experience God. This was promised throughout the Old Testament.
So all through the Old Testament God’s people waited. Watched. Hoped. Prayed. And then – just as the Old Testament taught -- He came – and did everything the Old Testament had promised. But He also taught some things different from the Old Testament – that the food laws were no longer important, that the Passover was changed, that circumcision was no longer important.
So everything the Old Testament said about Him happened – but then He taught some things different from the Old Testament. So this raised the question – what are we supposed to do with the Old Testament? Do we follow the Old Testament? Move on from the Old Testament? What do we do with the Old Testament?
Imagine that we were fishing for fish – fish of faith, joy, peace, righteousness, wisdom, encouragement, hope, love – fish we really want to catch. And we discover a tackle box called the “New Testament.” It’s full of lures for catching fish. And we try these lures – they work great! We’re catching encouragement, strength, comfort, faith – awesome!
But then we notice another tackle box with the name “Old Testament” on it. It’s also full of lures. Different lures. Can we use these? Will they help us catch more fish? What are we followers of Jesus supposed to do with the Old Testament?
That’s what Jesus explains in the next section of the Sermon on the Mount. Turn to Matthew 5 in your Bibles. If you need a Bible go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Matthew 5 is on page 809 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Look at what Jesus says --
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 For 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.
19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So what does Jesus do with the Old Testament? Jesus tells us in v.17 --
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.
Here Jesus is talking about the Law and the Prophets. That’s one way of describing the whole Old Testament. Sometimes the Old Testament is described as “the Law,” sometimes as “the Law and the Prophets,” sometimes as “the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets.” So here Jesus is talking about the whole Old Testament.
And Jesus says He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets – He came to fulfill them. What does that mean?
Does it mean that He perfectly obeyed the Law? He did. Or does it mean that He perfectly explained the Law? He did that, too. But I don’t think either of those is what Jesus is talking about.
The reason I say that is because neither of those fit what Jesus says in v.18. Notice that v.18 begins with the word “for” – which shows that here Jesus is giving the reason why we can know that Jesus came to fulfill the Law.
So how can we know that Jesus came to fulfill the Law?
18 For 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.
See, the whole Old Testament – the Law and the Prophets – is pointing ahead to what God is going to do in the future. And Jesus is saying that He will fulfill everything pointed to by the Old Testament – He will accomplish everything pointed to by the Old Testament.
Jesus has already fulfilled much of what the Old Testament pointed to. He came as the Messiah, born of a virgin, died on the Cross, rose from the dead. He has already fulfilled much. But there is still much to be fulfilled. The final tribulation has not come. The gospel has not been brought to every people group. The new heavens and earth have not yet arrived. But Jesus will bring to fulfillment everything in the Old Testament.
So when Jesus says he came not to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them – He’s talking about how He perfectly fulfills everything in the Law and the Prophets. Everything the Law and the Prophets pointed to would be fulfilled in Jesus.
Take Old Testament commands, for example.
Jesus fulfills some commands by changing them. Take the Passover command, for example. Israel was enslaved in Egypt. And God was going to kill every first-born child in Egypt. The only way anyone could be saved was kill a lamb and smear its blood on the door posts.
But the Passover command pointed ahead to what Jesus would do on the Cross. So right before the Cross Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, and said “this is my body, broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.” So since the Passover pointed ahead to the Cross, and was fulfilled in the Cross, Jesus changed Passover into Communion.
But Jesus fulfills other commands by affirming them. Take the command to love God with all our heart, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Those commands point ahead to what will be true of Jesus’ followers, because Jesus died, rose from the dead, and poured His Spirit upon them. So Jesus fulfills those commands by affirming them.
And then think about Old Testament prophecies.
Jesus fulfills some prophecies by what He did 2,000 years ago – He was born of a virgin, He healed the sick, He set free those imprisoned by sin, He suffered for our sins, He rose again.
But there’s other prophecies which Jesus is still fulfilling – like saving men and women from every tribe, tongue, and nation, punishing all those who continue in rebellion against God, and creating a new heavens and new earth.
So Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets. He came to fulfill them – everything the Old Testament pointed to is fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ.
So how should we view the Old Testament? Jesus answers that in vv.18-19. Let’s start with v.18 --
18 For 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.
What’s an iota? What’s a dot? The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. An iota probably refers to the smallest letter – yod. The dot might refer to small little sections of letters that determine what the letter actually is.
But the point is that until heaven and earth pass away no part of the Law – not the smallest letter, not the smallest brush-stroke – will pass away. Every single part of the Old Testament will be accomplished. Everything the Old Testament pointed to will be fulfilled in Jesus.
Then in v.19 Jesus spells out what this means for us --
19 Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Notice that what’s at stake here is not whether we are in or out of the kingdom of heaven. Both groups are saved from their sins and enjoying God’s kingdom. But some are least in the kingdom – and some are great in the kingdom. What’s the difference?
It’s how we respond to Old Testament commands – as explained by Jesus.
So – if someone relaxes one of the least of the commandments of the Old Testament – as explained by Jesus -- and teaches others to do the same – he or she is least in the kingdom of heaven. If someone does and teaches all the commandments of the Old Testament – as explained by Jesus -- he or she is great in the kingdom of heaven.
So take the Passover laws. Jesus taught that we no longer obey the Passover Laws. But still – if someone says – Passover laws? That’s Old Testament. I don’t do Old Testament. So they never read the Passover story, they never worship Jesus through the Passover story, they never let the Passover story fill out their understanding of the Cross – they will still be in the kingdom – but they will not be as strong -- as great -- they could have been.
But if someone understands that every iota and dot of the Old Testament has meaning for us today – as explained by Jesus – and so they read the Passover story, worship Jesus through the Passover story, let the Passover story fill out their understanding of the Cross – they will be stronger – greater – in the Kingdom.
Here’s another example – let’s take the laws about harvesting your fields. Israel was told not to harvest every single stalk of barley, to leave the edges and corners for the poor. Remember the story of Ruth?
So if someone says – that’s Old Testament. I’m New Testament – I don’t do Old Testament. And so they never read about leaving barley for the poor, they never let that stir their heart for the poor, they never think about how they could better care for the poor – they will still be in the kingdom – but they will not be as strong as they could be.
But if someone understands that every iota and dot of the Old Testament has meaning for us today – as explained by Jesus – and so they read about leaving barley for the poor, they let that stir their heart for the poor, they let that make them think of how they can better care for the poor – they will be stronger – greater in the Kingdom.
So Jesus is saying that every part of the Old Testament has meaning for us today. So we should take the Old Testament as fulfilled in Jesus – and love it, study it, read it, memorize it, enjoy it.
But at this point Jesus knows his listeners might misunderstand Him. The problem is that everyone thought the Scribes and Pharisees were obeying the Old Testament. As we will see in the rest of this chapter, the Scribes and Pharisees completely distorted the Old Testament. They were not at all in sync with the Old Testament. But Jesus’ listeners could have thought Jesus was saying – be like the Scribes and Pharisees.
So in this next verse Jesus answers the question – does this mean we should be like the Scribes and Pharisees? Jesus’ answer would have shocked his listeners. Look at 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.
This is shocking. Jesus is saying that the Scribes and Pharisees are not great in the Kingdom. They are not even least in the Kingdom. They are not IN the Kingdom. Even though they are always quoting the Old Testament – they are not even IN the Kingdom.
Why not? Because as we will see in the rest of this chapter – even though they quote the Old Testament – they are not following the Old Testament. They have distorted the Old Testament. They have ignored the Old Testament’s focus on the heart – a heart of trust in God, a heart of love for God, a heart of love for others -- and they focused only on outer actions by which they can impress others. So they are not righteous at all.
So – Jesus says to all his listeners and to us – “Even though I am encouraging you to love the Old Testament -- don’t think I am calling you to imitate the Scribes and Pharisees. They are not even close to following the Old Testament. They are not even IN the Kingdom. To be IN the Kingdom, your righteousness must exceed theirs.”
So if we are going to enter the kingdom, our righteousness must exceed theirs. But how do we do that? Not by trying harder. Not by will-power. But by going back to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.
When we come to Jesus poor in spirit – confessing to him that we are unrighteous, relying on His death to forgive us, His resurrection power to change us – and when we do that – the power of the kingdom goes to work in us and we will start to grow in righteousness. And this will confirm to us that we are in the kingdom.
Now at this point let’s stop and see if there are any questions.
So what does this mean for us? Jesus’ point is to urge us to love the Old Testament as explained by Him, read the Old Testament as explained by Him, follow the Old Testament as explained by Him. So ask yourself – how much do you love, read, follow the Old Testament?
Let’s go back to the two tackle boxes. We are fishing for fish of faith, joy, peace, righteousness, wisdom, encouragement, hope, love – fish we really want to catch. And Jesus has given us a tackle box – with the name “New Testament” on it. And these lures work great.
But there’s another tackle box -- with the name “Old Testament” on it. It’s also full of lures. Different lures. And what Jesus is saying is – if we use the New Testament lures – and the Old Testament lures as explained by Him – we will catch even more fish.
If we will also use these lures – and read the Old Testament, memorize the Old Testament, obey the Old Testament as explained by Jesus, trust the Old Testament promises which will all be fulfilled in Jesus – we will catch even more faith, joy, peace, righteousness, hope, and love.