Setting the Bar
Setting the Bar by Rev. L. John Gable
August 14, 2022
Have you ever found yourself thinking that you like the Jesus of the New Testament more than you do the God of the Old Testament? That Jesus is the kind and gentle and approachable One while God comes off as being harsh and vindictive and utterly unapproachable? If you have you certainly aren’t alone. People have been asking that question about Jesus from the start, many even wondering if He really was the One who came to fulfill the ancient prophecies and promises regarding the coming Messiah or if He was starting something altogether new on His own.
Even asking that question, then or now, we would do well to keep in mind that the so called “angry, wrathful, mean-spirited” God of the Old Testament is also repeatedly described as being “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”, so He can’t be all bad. And Jesus Himself referred to Him affectionately as “Father. Abba. Daddy. Poppa.”, and even went so far as to say, “I and the Father are one.”
Yet to listen to Jesus speak and teach and touch and heal, their approach seems so different that it makes sense that people, then and now, might be a little confused. The single most often asked question about Jesus, then and now, is “Who is this guy?”
He came speaking about the coming of the Kingdom of God but He did so in a way no one had ever spoken about it before, relating it not so much to something then and there, but here and now, something which He alone could offer.
He touched the sick, the blind, the lame and diseased, people the Old Testament Law called “untouchables”, with His love and healed them. And more than that He forgave them and made them truly whole. Who can do that but God alone?
People called Him “Rabbi”, “Teacher”, but He spoke like no rabbi they had ever heard before. The traditional style of rabbinic teaching relied on the authority of those who had gone before. Their pronouncements were prefaced with “You have heard it said in ancient times” but then Jesus comes along and says, “You may have heard it said in ancient times, but I say to you…” On whose authority is He speaking? His own? Who does that?
He dared to challenge the authority of the religious leaders and flaunt the teaching of the Law by healing people on the Sabbath? Such that it infuriated the authorities and astonished the crowds? Is it any wonder then that they were asking, who is this guy?
Even as we hear Him teach, as we have in the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, His approach and presentation is different than anything we have ever heard before. He begins by speaking to the down-cast, the outsiders, the pitiable and poor, saying “You are the blessed ones!” He tells those who have no standing or status from a worldly perspective, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.” As Glenn McDonald reminded us so well last Sunday, speaking to the least likely, He told them, “You are exactly what the world needs”. Really? That doesn’t sound very Old Testament, doom and gloom, to me.
So, the question makes sense: who is this guy, Jesus? His words and actions are radical and counter-cultural. He seems to be abandoning the old, time honored, well established ways of tradition and starting something new! But then we come to our lesson for this morning from the Sermon on the Mount and listen as He addresses that concern by saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill it.” And we wonder, once again, who is He?
These few, short, power-packed verses form something of a transition, a link, a bridge, in Jesus’ teaching between what He has said before, the so called “You ares” and what He is about to say, which we will look at in the coming weeks, “But I say to you.” Clearly, Jesus is not abandoning the old ways of the Law and the Prophets, the Scriptures He would have called His Bible which He quoted throughout His ministry, much less the One He calls, “Abba, Father!”; but He certainly is reinterpreting that ancient Law and reminding His listeners, then and now, of the original intention of the Law, its purpose and its beauty which clearly had been mistaken or forgotten.
Recall the Law, referring primarily to the 10 Commandments which we read this morning, was originally given to the Children of Israel after God had released them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. This is an important point to keep in mind whenever we read Scripture, or try to understand the character of God, Old or New Testament versions, “Grace always comes before the Law.” God’s gracious act of deliverance came before He gave them the list of “do’s and don’ts”. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with the blessing of the “You ares” before He moves on to the “but I tell yous”. Forgiveness always precedes instruction. “You are saved by grace through faith, this is the gift of God, not the result of works, lest anyone should boast”, the Apostle Paul will tell us before he goes on to tell us how to live responsibly and fully in that life of grace, in right relationship with God and one another.
The original intention of the Law, the 10 Commandments, was to shape and form and instruct this newly freed people in to how to be the people of God. So the instructions God gave about honoring Him and parents, keeping the Sabbath, keeping your hands off of other people’s stuff and so on, were not given as a form of punishment but of instruction and guidance as to how to live rightly with one another, and with God. But somehow through the centuries that beautiful, God-given Law became misinterpreted as being little more than a punitive list of “dos and don’ts” intended to be a way for God to get us and punish us. Over the course of time those 10 Commandments became 613 separate laws, with countless other rules and regulations that the religious leaders of the day told the religious people of the day they were supposed to follow, and if they didn’t, well? The God who was supposed to be so “gracious and loving, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” would turn angry and mean and vindictive. It wasn’t the Law that had changed, it was the people’s interpretation of the meaning and purpose of the Law that had changed. It was the result of poor theology, a poor understanding of the nature and character of God, and that is what Jesus came to change.
So, when Jesus says, “I came not to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill it”, what He is really saying is, “I came, not to get rid of the Old and start something new, not to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater, but to re-remind you of what the original purpose of the Law was, to shape you and form you as the people of God, living rightly with God and one another, and in this way to restore and fulfill it for you.”
Think for a moment of the rules and guidance you gave to your children when they were young about respect for others, caring for pets, cleaning their rooms, brushing their teeth, eating their vegetables, obeying their teachers. Even though those are the things parents and children have argued and struggled over for generations you know that you didn’t insist on them because you hate your children, but because you love them. While they may have thought, or still think, your rules and demands were too strict and unkind and unfair, you knew that what you were giving them was intended for their own benefit, to help them be and become the kind of people you one hope one day they would be and become. Hopefully our children eventually come to this understanding of our intentions for their well-being, and once they do they realize the guidance we’ve given them is not intended to be a bunch of external dos and don’ts they are supposed to follow, but rather to be internalized as good guidance for good living.
This is what Jesus came to do and this is what we will want to keep in mind as we continue looking at His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. It is radical and counter-cultural and challenging if we take His words to heart and do not simply gloss over them. Is he abandoning the Law and the Prophets? Absolutely not! He is lifting them up, honoring them and fulfilling their best intention. So important is this ancient Law that Jesus says, “Not a letter or even a stroke of a letter (not a jot or a tittle) will pass from the Law until all has been accomplished.” He is instructing us to love Scripture, as He loved Scripture, and then to follow it, keep it, live by it, for our benefit and blessing.
But then, just when we think Jesus has lessened the demands of the Law and made them less onerous, He appears to raise the bar and lower the hammer, making them even more burdensome, by saying “Anyone then who breaks even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, and anyone who does them and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Truly I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter in the Kingdom of Heaven.” My dad used to say to us kids, “I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that you will be harder on your kids than we are on you”, and Jesus seems to be doing exactly that. Rather than relaxing the standards of the Law He appears to be raising them. And why is that? Let me suggest several reasons:
First, as a reminder to us that God’s laws, God’s rules for Kingdom living, are timeless and true. Debate their meaning all we want, but few could argue that life would be so much better for everyone if only we were to live by the good and gracious guidelines He has given us: love God and care for neighbors.
Second: He is reminding us that the Law is given to us not as an “external” binding of “dos and don’ts” which must be followed and obeyed lest we suffer God’s punishment. Fear is not the motivation here. Rather these are intended to be “internalized”, “written on our hearts” as God’s good guidance as to how we should live in right relationship with Him and others, out of love, not fear of punishment.
Third, while it is true that “grace comes before the Law” and that we are “saved by grace not by our good works”, that does not mean there isn’t something we need to do to “work out our faith” or “work out our own salvation” as the Apostle Paul writes. Grace comes first, “You are blessed”, but the Law is still given for our guidance, “So I say to you…” Jesus tells us that Scripture is to be both loved and honored AND kept and followed, and about that we will be talking in the coming weeks.
And finally, when Jesus sets the bar so high as to say, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees you will never enter in to the Kingdom of Heaven”, He is not doing so to defeat or discourage us. Rather, He is speaking a truth to us that we need to hear and He is offering us an invitation that we need to accept. What He is saying is, “I know this isn’t something you can do on your own. There is much you can and must do, but your good efforts alone won’t get you where you need to be. So, I came not to abolish the Law or the prophets but to fulfill. That is something only I can do, and I have. I have done for you what you cannot do for yourself. So please hear, and know and understand and accept this as the Good New I promise you it is: I have done this for you and that’s why you need Me.” And, friends, that is the Good News!
Rev. L. John Gable
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church
Indianapolis, IN