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esus was a false teacher to the Jewish rabbis. His teachings did not agree with what they taught and He was not a member of the scribes, Pharisees, or Sadducees. Much had already happened before Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had been baptized, tempted in the wilderness, sought after by maybe thousands for healing and had been confronted by these religious leaders. Jesus had already corrected the religious leaders when a crowd was present. It was the rabbis who were the false teachers and not Jesus. The conflict must have been obvious to the people.
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (NASB) Matthew 5:17-19 Abolish the Law? The beatitudes which Jesus taught disagreed with the rabbis’ teachings.
For example, the Rabbis would have never taught that those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness would
be satisfied. For them it was what you did - it was how much money (alms) you gave that pleased God. It was
your efforts and contributions that gave you favor with God - that was satisfaction. Christians can fall into
the same trap today. Jesus even disagreed with the great Jewish Rabbi Hillel who had said, “My humility
is my greatness, and my greatness my humility.” To the crowd sitting on the hill Jesus taught, “Blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The religious leaders had corrupted the
Word of God. In Luke 16:16 Jesus implies His teaching was different,
The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached. (NASB) Luke 16:16 They considered Jesus to be a heretic, and it appears from Matthew 5:17-19 that the crowd sitting on the
hillside may have been wondering the same thing. The crowd may have been quietly whispering to one another
while He taught.
Why He Came. Jesus responds with, “Do not think I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets . . . but to fulfill.” The Greek word Jesus uses for “think” has the idea of “coming to a conclusion.” Jesus was saying, “Wait, do not conclude that I am came to change the Law.” Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Now some have read this passage too quickly and concluded that Jesus did kept the sacrificial system. If we read Jesus’ words that way, we have a problem. We would need to rebuild the temple, follow the feast days, have a Levitical priesthood, and do the sacrifices. But that is not necessary since Jesus made the sacrificial system obsolete when He died and returned to life,
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment [the Law] because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God . . . For if that first covenant [the Law] had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second . . . When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear . . . By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD . . . Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. (NASB) Heb. 7:18-19; 8:7,13; 10:10-12, 18 |
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| Sermon on the Mount | |||||