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 address 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?
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 in the beginning of the Bible? I finished listening to them a while back as part of a daily through the Bible 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. But there are many parts, particularly the sacrificial system of sacrificing animals to show sorrow for their sin, that was very burdensome 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 the sacrificial system disappeared because Jesus came to be the sacrifice. 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 heavens... the reality of that would break my heart. Christ once and for all accomplished this for us. His sacrifice should move our hearts to the core. 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 through Christ for us! 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, us who belong to Him, are actually new creations, like new Adam and Eve's who can live a whole new life beyond the power of sin in Him. (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-17)
So, back to our 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 or pursuing Him, rather 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 the illustration of recognizing the type of a tree by the fruit it produces. (Matt. 7:15) The book of Matthew continues with helping His disciples "see" the difference between true discipleship and hypocrisy, but using the Pharisees as an example NOT to follow. Some of His strongest words 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 mine. 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, changed by the heart of God to be like the heart of God. What does the heart of Christ looks 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.
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