New Covenant
I am going to choose to approach verses 5:16- 5:48 as one thematic section closing with the phrase “Therefore be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”.
Many of you may not be aware of the controversies surrounding the issue of covenant. The Old Testament or Old Covenant was given to Israel. It was an agreement between God and them to define their relationship. It is referred to as the Law of Moses. It was given specifically to Israel and not to the whole world. However when a person puts their faith in Christ the Messiah they are brought into the kingdom and we say are part of spiritual Israel. And as we look at OT foreshadows of this new kingdom we will see that one aspect of it is that it would go out to include the non Jews, the gentiles.
So the controversy is based on the issue of applying the Law of Moses into the New Kingdom, how much stays behind and how much is brought into the New Kingdom? I hope this study will help us clarify that issue. As I said in the introduction I will approach this sermon from three perspectives; first the OT background, second the sermon itself and life of Jesus, and third how the early Christians interpreted Jesus. This statement of Jesus is without doubt the pivotal reference point for this discussion but I hope you will bear with me until the end as we also look at how he was interpreted by the later NT writings.
Covenant is a word we don’t use much in our modern world. Covenant is more than a contract but one aspect of it is the contractual part. So I will use the analogy of the employee/employer contract. If an employee is hired to do a particular job and a designated wage what right does the employee have to waver at will from his assigned duties? If the employee is hired to wash dishes and decides to move himself over into the cook’s job or the book keepers job is the employer even obligated to pay him? The employee is breaking the contract. The employee is obligated by contract to do the job assigned by the employer and nothing else. So people often say that God does not change and if God required Israel to keep the Law of Moses then likewise for us Christians. Well continuing with the analogy; if the same employee is promoted from dishwasher to cook then he has a new contract and is rightly obligated to do just what the employer has asked him to do. He will not get paid extra for trying to do the waiter job or for washing dishes. He is under contract to do just what the employer asks of him. So I am proposing that we look seriously at the terms of the New Covenant into which our Lord has bound us so that we might be faithful to obey Him.
In the introduction we touched on the idea of Jesus being foreshadowed as the prophet and lawgiver superior to Moses, now we look to the Old Testament scriptures that announce a coming covenant that will replace the Old Covenant.
“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt–a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NRSV)
As you look at this prophetic verse about the New Covenant what do you see as the main elements? First would be the law written on the heart. Wow there is a concept to explore! Is the emphasis on personal conscience? Is it an empowerment to fulfill what is already written? Is it an emphasis on personal relationship? With the completion of the sentence “And I will be their God” the emphasis is on relationship and a fulfilling of what was started very early in the Bible. Then comes the promise that we can all know the Lord, because of the complete forgiveness of sin! This New Covenant sounds incredible, yet scary. It sounds like God is taking too much risk. It sounds like God is being too liberal. But the real question for our heart is; are we willing to embrace this new covenant? When Jesus tells the parable of the new wineskin this is exactly what he is referring to; the new wine of the Spirit must be poured into a new container, it would burst the old covenant law. And if Jesus experienced resistance to the New Covenant then we should be cautious of a resistant spirit within ourselves.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” This statement has two parts; not to abolish, and to fulfill. Some people will quote only the first half insisting that the law is still the covenant we live under and some people quote only the second insisting the law is irrelevant. This is one of the many paradoxes of the Bible. Paradox means pair of doctrines, or two truths. The Biblical way is that both truths be held in tension. This tension is uncomfortable for humans and we will choose one truth over the other. Imagine two pillars representing two truths and yourself being suspended by bunji cords between these two pillars. The tension becomes unbearable and you desperately must cling to one or the other. But this verse is an example of the universal principle of paradox.
When Jesus says he came not to destroy the law or prophets it reminds me of a contrast to my fellow rebellious hippy friends who want to tear down the establishment. We see the evil corrupt social system we live within and it seems like the only way is to tear it all down. But Jesus does not join that crowd. Many people wish he would but he refuses. Instead Jesus builds on the old foundation without tearing it down. And as we have seen, the old kingdom is awaiting this transition.
18 “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” A difficult verse because “all is accomplished” likely refers to the last words of Jesus on the cross saying, “It is finished”. And with this all was accomplished for the completion of the Old Covenant and entrance to the new. However, when Jesus refers to heaven and earth it is implied that as long as man is alive on this planet God’s law is the same. I believe the proper way to approach this is to see the OT law as the foundation that Jesus is building upon. It is always in the background but there is a new building. To bring the old law into the foreground is to miss the point of the New Covenant. If there were no need for a new covenant then it would not have been anticipated. I want to challenge believers with fully embracing new covenant living. I believe this is the point of many of the letters written to believers. As we go on we will seek to understand how the Christians reflected back on these teachings. I believe that will be the real key to understanding this sermon of Jesus.
19 Therefore, whoever 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What is being referred to in “these commandments”? Is it the Law of Moses or the commandments he is about to give? This is that paradox tension again. I believe it is both. It is the Law of Moses as transformed into the New Covenant. But please pay attention to the transformation.
