Matthew 5:18-20 and the doctrine of Jesus
“For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 5:18-20
The following commentary was written by the ICC – International Critical commentary. Amazon says this regarding the ICC:
“For over one hundred years, the international critical commentary series has held a special place among works on the bible. It has sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis – linguistic nd textual no less than archaeological, historical, literary and theological – with a level of scholarship unmatched by any other series.”
ICC – for the book of Matthew, written by:
SR Driver: Professor of Hebrew at Oxford
A. Plummer: Master of university College, Durham
C.A. Briggs: Professor of Biblical Theology, union Theological seminary, NY.
“The meaning of the words is clear. Christ did not come to overthrow the authority of the Mosaic Law, which was to be eternally binding upon the hearts and consciences of men. So long as the world lasted, its authority was to be permanent. If any of his disciples taught men to disobey any of its commandments, he would be placed in an inferior position in the coming kingdom. If he was a faithful servant of the law, and upheld its authority before men, he would receive high rank in the Kingdom. Commentators have exhausted their ingenuity in attempts to explain away this passage, but its meaning is too clear to be misunderstood.”
What an unexpected commentary on Matthew 5 made by three gentile Christians. One can assume that they are not Torah observant, yet even they admit that the standard interpretation is wrong.
Jesus didn’t come to teach new doctrine or do away with what God has already established:
“My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” – John 7:16,17
What is the doctrine of the one who sent Jesus? That we obey his Torah and believe his son, the Messiah that was promised through prophecy all over the Old Testament:
“If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” – John 5:46
“He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’” – Luke 24:44
The Father’s doctrine is good:
”For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.” – Proverbs 4:2
Paul tells us that Jesus was subject to the Torah since birth:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” – Galatians 4:4
Jesus was allowed to offer his own body to death as the ultimate sacrifice for sin, because he led a sinless life: 1 Peter 2:22, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 3:5 .
If Jesus was without sin, and if sin is transgression of the Torah – this means that Jesus never transgressed the Torah. He was 100% Torah observant all of his life – he never once broke it.
Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32 – establishes the Torah commandment to not add to or take away from the Torah.
If Jesus ever removed from the Torah by teaching against Torah or a single Torah commandment, he would have sinned. Therefore he never taught against it and he never disobeyed it. Every time we think that he may have taught against the law, we need to think again, because that would have been a sin. And Jesus never sinned.
Jesus came to RESTORE a true understanding of what it meant to follow the Torah the way God intended.
HOBBY HORSE TEXT:
ReplyDeleteMatthew 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
a. What is a "jot" or "tittle"?
- Jots and tittles are letters and pen strokes in Hebrew. A jot is the tenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the smallest.
- A tittle is even smaller than a jot. It's a letter extension (or pen stroke) that can show the difference in one Hebrew letters.
b. To understand what ANY Scripture text says you have to follow (what I call) the law of elimination. That means eliminating with a text does NOT say.
- It doesn't say, "one commandment or one law shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
c. If a jot or tittle is a individual letter or marking of the Hebrew alphabet, then what Christ is meaning is that not one RECORDING of the law shall be past till all be fulfilled.
- How do we know that? This is where you cross reference and compare scripture with scripture. And all you need is the English text to do it:
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my WORDS shall not pass away.
Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my WORDS shall not pass away.
d. To apply this verse as meaning that all the laws still apply, then answer these questions:
- If nothing changed, then answer these:
1. Why don't we stone people anymore?
2. Why aren't we doing sacrifices?
3. Why aren't we following the feasts EXACTLY how God told us to?
4. Why aren't we following the cleansing and sanitary laws like he said to?
e. If your answer is,
"Well we don't have a temple or the priesthood. So we can't do those things."
Then you proved my whole point. If your right, then Christ lied.
So basically you believe the verse actually means...
5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one law or one statute shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. So you shall continue in those things.
But we can't do 70% of the laws anyways. So Christ lied and expects what you cannot do.
That's crazy.
This is from me. Anthony
ReplyDeleteVerse 19,
ReplyDeleteWhosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Rebuttal
a. What Commandments is he talking about as being the least?
Did he mention anywhere The Ten Commandments, dietary laws, even the feast days? No he did not.
b. The context is the Commandments he gave in chapter 5. Has nothing to do with the feast days.
- Now you ask "What commandments?"
11 before the verses and 19 after. It is illogical to imply or assume that he is connecting what he said to the feasts.
c. if you believe that this is applying to the feasts, then the verse would read like this:
"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least feasts, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do the feasts and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
- If that is true, then you would have to complete every duty connected to the feasts, which are sacrifices, offerings, slaughtering animals, afflicting your soul by fasting, etc.
If you don't keep every duty and if you don't believe you have to, then you are breaking those feasts and teaching others to do so.
Where's the consistency???
a. What is a "jot" or "tittle"?
ReplyDeleteIt seems you do have a sense that when Jesus spoke, Jesus spoke in the language of Hebrew and in the context of Hebrew. As you say:
"Jots and tittles are letters and pen strokes in HEBREW. A jot is the tenth letter in the HEBREW alphabet and the smallest. A tittle is even smaller than a jot. It's a letter extension (or pen stroke) that can show the difference in one HEBREW letters."
The early "Church Fathers" unanimously agreed that the gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew:
Papias (150 - 170 C.E.)
Matthew composed the words in the Hebrew dialect, and each translated as he was able. - Ecc. Hist. 6:25
Ireneus (170 C.E.)
Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect. - Against Heresies 3:1
Origen (c. 210 C.E.)
The first [Gospel] is written according to Matthew, the same that was once a tax collector, but afterwards an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, who having published it for the Jewish
believers, wrote it in Hebrew. - Ecc. Hist. 6:25
Eusebius (c. 315 C.E.)
Matthew also, having first proclaimed the Gospel in Hebrew, when on the point of going also to the other nations, committed it to writing in his native tongue, and thus supplied the want of his presence to them by his writings. Ecc. Hist. 3:24
Pantaenus... penetrated as far as India, where it is reported
that he found the Gospel of Matthew, which had been
delivered before his arrival to some who had the knowledge of
Messiah, to whom Bartholomew, one of the emissaries, as it is
said, had proclaimed, and left them the writing of Matthew in
Hebrew letters. - Ecc. Hist. 5:10
Epiphanius (370 C.E.)
They [the Nazarenes] have the Gospel according to Matthew quite complete in Hebrew, for this Gospel is certainly still preserved among them as it was first written, in Hebrew letters. - Panarion 29:9:4
Here are the facts:
Matthew was originally written in Hebrew
Jesus was speaking in Hebrew
Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience
Therefore, the most accurate interpretation of the event in Matthew 5:17-20 should be thoroughly Jewish in it's context.
Since Jesus spoke Hebrew to a Hebrew speaking Jewish audience, Instead of the mention of "Jots and tittles" (as we read in our English Bibles) Jesus would have made a mention of the Yod (Translated into English as "Jot") and nekudah (translated into english and "Tittle").
The Yod was a familiar reference to his audience - especially the way he used it. There is a Jewish "Midrash" involving the letter Yod:
"When God gave the Torah to Israel, He inserted therein positive and negative commands and gave some commandments for a king, as it says: ‘Only he shall not multiply horses to himself... Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither silver and gold (Deut. XVII, 16-17)’. But Solomon arose and studied the reason of God's decree, saying: ‘Why did God command, " He shall not multiply wives to himself? Is it not " That his heart turn not away "? Well, I will multiply and still my heart will not turn away." - Exodus Rabbah 6:1
DeleteAccording to the Midrash, in an attempt to remove the commandment against an Israelite King from taking multiple wives, Solomon removed the letter Yod from a word in the phrase ( evidently the Hebrew word is: Yarbeh). This completely changed it's meaning, thus liberating Solomon from the prohibition. The letter Yod is said to have ascended to God in order to offer a plea to correct the matter:
"Our Sages said: At that time, the yod of the word yarbeh went up on high and prostrated itself before God and said: ‘Master of the Universe! Hast thou not said that no letter shall ever be abolished from the Torah? Behold, Solomon has now arisen and abolished one. Who knows? Today he has abolished one letter, to-morrow he will abolish another until the whole Torah will be nullified? ' God replied: ' Solomon and a thousand like him will pass away, but the smallest tittle will not be erased from thee.’ …" Exodus Rabbah 6:2-3
What was so devastating about the smallest removal of a Yod? The meaning of the Torah commandment was changed. The context behind the Midrash is that no force can prevail against the commandments of the Torah - not even for the purpose of removing just one small Yod to change the meaning of one commandment.
"Abolish" and "Fulfill" are Jewish Idioms (this is discussed in a previous post) meaning to offer a false interpretation (Abolish) or to handle the Torah correctly by reading and applying it with a true understanding/interpretation (Fulfill).
If we put the whole passage in context, this is what Jesus is in essence saying:
"I have not come to lead you astray with false doctrine or interpretation. On the contrary, I came to reveal the true interpretation of the Torah and how to properly obey it according to the way God intended. Do you remember the Midrash? (reference to the Yod) As it says, nothing can prevail against God's purpose to preserve the Torah and it's meaning. Anyone who seeks to interfere with this purpose by breaking it and teaching against it will be the least in the Kingdom of heaven. Anyone who seeks to assist God in this purpose by walking according to the Torah and teaching it will be great in the Kingdom of heaven."
You seem to have the impression that the goal to our Torah observance is to obey and fulfil the law perfectly. We have to rid our minds of any notions that we can obey the law perfectly:
Delete"Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight..." - Romans 3:19,20
"We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified." - Galatians 2:15
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." - Romans 3:23
Paul maintained that to place ourselves "Under the Law" (By attempting to earn our salvation/righteousness) is a salvation forfeiting ambition. This is because, since no man is without sin, the Law does nothing but condemn us:
"I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me." - Romans 7:9-11
"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold [m]into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me...Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" - Romans 7:14-20,25
The Law therefore is our schoolmaster to lead us to faith. It reveals to us our utter hopelessness and need for a saviour - exactly because we can't perfectly obey it. If we can't perfectly obey it - and since we can't perfectly obey it in order to earn our righteousness does this mean we should discard the Torah? No, Paul says we still uphold it:
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." - Romans 3:31
We don't obey the Torah under the delusion that we are obeying it perfectly. We don't obey it under the delusion that we can earn our righteousness either. We obey it because we want to express our love to God. Even though we can't obey the Torah perfectly, we should still strive to obey the Torah the best we can. This should includes all the commandments within our realm of our control to keep. Since there are many commandments we cannot keep because of various circumstances (for example, there is no standing Temple) God does not hold it against us, the same way God no longer holds our sin against us when we place our faith in Jesus. In fact sin and transgression of the Torah is the same thing.
We do what we can, when we can, out of obedience and love. If mistakes our made and we fall, we are to dust ourselves off and continue to strive to live like Jesus in full confidence that through faith we are granted grace/righteousness and our sins are atoned for.
This is what it means to be "Under Grace." Now if we obeyed the Torah "Under the Law" then yes, small mistakes and various tiny details missed (because of causes within or without or control) would indeed work against us by condemning us. Thank God we are under grace!
To answer your questions:
Delete1. Why don't we stone people anymore?
The consequence of any transgression against the smallest commandment is death (Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:23). It's true that some transgressions were regarded as severe enough to require the expedited death of the guilty through stoning. However, Jesus took upon himself the wrath we all deserve for our sin. It has been paid for and finished. Therefore it's my opinion that the need for stoning has been fulfilled through Jesus. However, let's say stoning is still a requirement. We couldn't commence religious stoning even if we wanted to, since the procedure would require the authorisation of a Sanhedrin and we of course don't have an active Sanhedrin.
2. Why aren't we doing sacrifices?
There is no standing Temple. However the Bible makes it clear that sacrifices will continue in the Messianic Age.
3. Why aren't we following the feasts EXACTLY how God told us to?
Circumstances that are out of our control prevent us from perfectly obeying the Torah. However, as I have already gone over - the point of Torah observance is not about placing ourselves "under" it to earn anything, or to keep it perfectly. We do what we can to honour God and God responds in joy regarding our heart and intention to keep it.
4. Why aren't we following the cleansing and sanitary laws like he said to?
To be blunt, for the sake of answering the question I wash myself after having relations with my wife. The purity laws also forbid relations during Menstruation. Now the issue of avoiding the wife during that time or avoiding touching the things she touches - that is all for the purpose of avoiding being made unclean or spreading impurity in the case of a standing Temple. Impurity/purity only really applies when there is a Temple since the consequences for impurity is death when one walks into the Temple unclean. Unless there is a standing Temple and one lives in the Holy land, being made "unclean" is not a concern. It's quite inevitable if one is married.
Here are the facts:
Jesus was born under the law
While under the law he never sinned
This means that he never taught against the law
His doctrine was not his own but his Father's
He therefore taught the Torah