Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Jesus came to "fulfill" the law????
(Matt 5:17-26)
Don't think that I came to do away with the law or the prophets.
I didn't come to do away with but to fulfill.
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one stroke of a pen will1 absolutely not2 pass away from the law until everything takes place.
Therefore3, whoever does away with one of the least of these commandments and teaches thus people, least4 he will be called in the kingdom of the heavens.
Now whoever does/keeps and teaches-- this one, great he will be called in the kingdom of the heavens.
For I say to you that if your righteousness doesn't abound much more than the scribes and Pharisees, you will absolutely not enter5 into the kingdom of the heavens.
You heard that it was said to the ancestors,
"You will not murder."
Now whoever murders, liable he will be to judgment.
Now I say to you
that everyone being angry with his brother, liable he will be to judgment.
Now whoever says to his brother, "Fool," liable he will be to the Sanhedrin.
Now whoever says, "Worthless fool," liable he will be to the Gehenna/hell of fire.
Therefore6, imagine7 you are offering your gift upon the altar,
and there you remember
that your brother has something against you.
Leave there your gift before the altar,
and go.
First be reconciled with your brother,
and then, coming, bring your gift.
Make friends with your accuser quickly,
while you are with him on the road,
lest you, your accuser hands over to the judge,
and the judge to the attendant,
and into prison you are thrown.
Truly I say to you, you will absolutely not get out from there until you pay back the last penny.
In Matt 5:1-12, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with what is basically a 3 word message: "You are blessed."
When we look around the world, who do we think is blessed?
Who has God's favor?
Do we think it's Bill Gates?
LeBron James?
Taylor Swift?
Jesus says, No. It's you.
It's people who follow Jesus, who long for righteousness, who are peacemakers, who are persecuted for their faith.
We are blessed.
We will be called God's children.
We have the promise of being heirs of God's kingdom.
We will be comforted.
Then, in 5:13-16, Jesus talks about being salt and light.
Basically, when you choose to follow Jesus, submitting to him as King, you repent of your sins and choose to live in service to him.
Right?
And what that means, very concretely, is putting God and his kingdom first, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being a peace-maker, being willing to suffer persecution.
There are times in our lives when doing all of this is easy.
We love God, we are thrilled to serve him, and it's easy to praise God for everything.
There are other times when we are suffering, or when we are distracted by worldly things, and all of this is very hard.
When we became Jesus' disciples, we chose to be salt, to be light to the world.
But sometimes we'd rather not be.
We'd rather turn into not-salt.
We'd rather not shine very brightly in the world.
13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 "You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.15
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
(ESV)
Basically, what Jesus is saying here can be summed up in 3 words as well.
"Accept your responsibility."
Because you follow Jesus, you are salt.
So be salt.
You are light.
So be light.
So are we all on the same page so far?
In Matt 5:1-12, the message is simple: "It is you who are blessed."
Then in 5:13-16, it's simple: "Accept the responsibility that comes with this." "Be salt."
"Be light.
Shine in the world through your good works."
But what exactly is God looking for?
What kind of good works does God want?
I've known many Christians that are terrified of good works.
They hear "good works," and they wet themselves, worrying that we are suddenly talking about legalism, rushing to talk about faith instead.
This is nonsense.
You are a light in the world, and God expects you to shine.
God expects you to do good works, so that people will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
People at [my workplace] are supposed to look at me, at work, and see my good works-- that I work hard, that I don't gossip, that I don't complain, that I care about my co-workers, that I am filled with joy.
And when I work rightly--I don't always, but when I do-- there is the chance that people will praise God.
Maybe that will bring him glory, when I let my light shine at work.
Shine!
Be lights!
So let's go back to this question: "What exactly is God looking for?
What kinds of good works does God want?"
We can be more specific, because there's a pressing question we need to answer.
What do good works have to do with keeping the Mosaic covenant?
It's when we get to this point, that we are ready for today's passage.
Let's start by rereading verses 17-18:
"Don't think that I came to do away with the law or the prophets.
I didn't come to do away with (them) but to fulfill (them).
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one stroke of a pen will absolutely not pass away from the law until everything takes place."
There's something about Jesus' teaching that's open to misunderstanding.
It'd be easy to get the impression that Jesus is doing away with Mosaic covenant-- and the OT.
And when we look at the church, and how they understood Jesus' words, this impression is strengthened.
Are we circumcised?
Do we follow the food laws?
Do we celebrate the Passover?
So this is a legitimate question.
How did Jesus view his relationship to the law and the prophets?
This is what Jesus said: "Don't think that I came to do away with the law or the prophets.
I didn't come to do away with them but to fulfill them."
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