Matthew 5:19 (ESV)
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.
What does Jesus mean when he says that “whoever does (the commandments of
the law) and teaches them will be called great?” Clearly he is thinking about
something other than religious conformation to the Law for he says in the very
next verse that his listeners must have a righteousness that “exceeds that of
the scribes and Pharisees.” They were painstakingly meticulous in their
conformity to the Law. How could one exceed that? Everything that follows
through the end of chapter 5 and beyond explain what Jesus meant. “You have
heard . . . but I say . . .” is the formula throughout the rest of the chapter.
Jesus explains that the true intent of the Law was not outward conformity, but
inward transformation. Of course, the weakness of the Law is that it cannot transform,
it can only demand conformity and point to the one who can transform. Jesus life,
death, and resurrection fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. It is in Jesus that
we find the righteousness which exceeds that of external conformity.
One of the great dangers to genuine faith is our propensity for rules and
laws. We somehow think that they act like fences keeping us from danger. If we
can only make enough rules we can surely transform ourselves and our world.
Have we learned nothing from Jesus? True transformation is from the inside out,
not the outside in. May we build fewer fences and grow deeper in Christ. There
is where we find genuine transformation. Jesus said, “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” (Mt 5:17).
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