After Jesus rose from the dead and He had met with His eleven disciples, He told them to go to Galilee and to meet Him on a certain mountain. When they got there and saw Him, they worshiped Him. Then He spoke to them and gave this message that we call the Great Commission. (The first part of the verses below were covered a post called His Great Commission):
"I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commandments I have given you.
And be sure of this; I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Matthew 28: 18-20 NLT
One of the things in this post that you don't hear about very often is:
"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commandments I have given you."
Have you ever wondered what commandments He wants us to obey? How did Jesus feel about the law and all the commandments that the Jewish people were required to obey? Did He bring us a new perspective on the laws?
In His Sermon on the Mount, He said:
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| Sermon on the Mount - Carl Bloch |
But I warn you - unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the Pharisee's,
you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven".
Matthew 5:17-20 NLT
Very strong words Jesus gives us!!! We should take them seriously. Have you read the Torah, the five books of the law written by Moses? It is in the beginning of the Bible. I finished listening to them a while back as part of a daily walk through the Bible's chronological reading plan. Wow! Most of the law is really important for society and in fact much of laws for the US government were originally written from the law of Moses; as it builds a civil society when people respect one another's rights. There are many parts to the law of Moses especially the sacrificing of animals to show sorrow for their sin. That was a very burdensome system to pay for their own sins. And I feel sad for the animals. But I find it interesting that Jesus said in the verses quoted above that:
"Don't misunderstand why I have come.
I did not come to abolish the
law of Moses or the writings of the prophets.
No, I came to accomplish
their purpose..."
So during the time Jesus was alive on earth; there was a sacrificial system of sacrificing an animal to pay for their sins. It had to be perfect, without any blemish on it. It was killed on an altar much like what Abraham did in Genesis 22. This is when the sacrificial offering began. "...God tested Abraham, and said to him '"Abraham!", And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer Him there as a burnt offering." Abraham set up to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac... And Abraham took his knife to slay his only son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am". And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me." clips from Genesis 22:1-19... It is worth reading it all.
When the ANGEL of the LORD stopped Abraham, he saw a ram caught in a thicket. Then Abraham sacrificed the ram in place of Isaac. This was the beginning of animal sacrifice that was practiced for over a thousand years. These animal sacrifices eventually were of no value. Why? Because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice to save all of humanity who believed in Him. He achieved the law's purpose of sacrifice through His own sacrificial death. No longer do human beings need to sacrifice animals to deal with their sins. Thank You LORD. Jesus Christ, once and for all accomplished this for us. His sacrifice should move us to the depth of our hearts. Check out what it says in Hebrews about this
"The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come... The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing... But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins...
"He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect.
For God's will was for us to be made holy
by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time."
Hebrews 10: 1-10 NLT
Amazing what God has provided for us through Christ! We should never tire of being in awe of Him and what He has done for us. It is His love that compels us to no longer live for ourselves, but to live for Him who died and was raised for us. And this actually means that we who belong to Him are actually new creations, like new Adam and Eve's. In Him we can live a whole new life beyond the power of sin. (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-17)
So, back to our original text; how else did He come to fulfill the purpose of the law?
As Jesus continues in the Sermon on the Mount, He gives them a higher calling of the Ten Commandments. He makes the point that murder begins in the heart, with anger and broken relationships. Adultery also begins in the heart with lust. (See Matt. 5: 21-32, 15:19) He teaches us to rise above vengeance and retaliation and to respond with love. Then He teaches how to be honest before God, not as hypocrites, seeking admiration from people. Our prayers and acts of righteousness should be to please God alone. Rather than stand on street corners, go into a secret place to approach God in private and in that place pray before God alone. He teaches us to be loyal to God, not divided in pursuing wealth. Rather we should pursue Him, to trust Him in everything. (Matt. 6:19-34) He teaches us to not be critical of others, but to be honest and deal with our own faults. This is all about our hearts. Then He makes obeying the law very simple, by giving us The Golden Rule:
"Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
This is the essence of all that is in the law and the prophets."
Matt. 7:12 NLT
What did the disciples think, when Jesus said:
"But I warn you - unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the Pharisee's,
you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven".
Matthew 5:17-20 NLT
How could their righteousness ever exceed that of the "holy" Pharisee's, their "spiritual" leaders? He begins to teach them how to recognize a true follower of God by giving an illustration of recognizing the type of a tree by the fruit it produces. (Matt. 7:15-20) The book of Matthew continues with helping His disciples "see" the difference between true discipleship and hypocrisy, by using the Pharisees as an example NOT to follow. Some of His strongest words are against the Pharisees are in Matthew 23. It is all about the heart.
So in summery, what commandments should we obey and teach others to obey? How do I apply this today? Remember this is all about your heart, and mind. Have I fully given my heart to Him, so that He can change it? No one can just obey all the commandments in their human ability. It takes a changed heart that is given to us through God's own heart. What does the heart of Christ look like in our life? We will look at this more in the next post. For now, be honest in your relationship before God, not a hypocrite... seek Him alone and not the praise of others. And then to treat other people like you want them to treat you. The next post will be:
The Greatest Commandment.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all you soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 22:37-40
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