If we are honest, we will admit that we have an uneasy relationship with the law, and we have to keep careful watch over both the civil law and the moral law. While they ought not conflict, the truth is, sometimes they do, and we need to be very clear about which one we choose to obey. Let’s remember that the law is a guide, not a goal, and that’s the conflict Jesus addresses in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Those who take offense at Him have chosen to see the law as a goal, and they think that just keeping the law makes them righteous. Jesus says otherwise: the law leads to righteousness. Again, it is a guide, not the goal.
Jesus insists that He came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. If anyone thought that Jesus was abolishing the law, they have not listened to the Sermon on the Mount. If the law was tough before, it gets tougher after Jesus. Now, it’s not just murder that will put someone on trial. It’s anger. No longer is it adultery that needs our attention, but now it’s the lust that leads to it.
To truly keep the law is to go beyond it, or maybe get behind it to explore why the law is there. In doing so Jesus speaks about the little things that can erode our relationships with God, with ourselves, and with each other. Ignored or left unattended, the “little things” erode relationships with God, self, and others – escalating into major offenses. Fulfillment of the law means going deeper, getting into the very heart of what the law points to.
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Speak, Lord, I’m Listening: https://youtu.be/87QoP21iM6A
