The Sermon on the Mount: Applying Scripture to Our Life
In the fifth in his series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Shane examines how Jesus approached the Old Testament, and by extension, how we should approach Scripture today. Click here for the recording of this 2/9/25 Service, and you can fast-forward to 21:46 to get to the start of the sermon.
Our text comes from Matthew Chapter 5.17-20
17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!
19 Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Introduction…
Again, the scene is a hillside, on which Jesus is elevated, so that a large audience of people can see and hear Him
He is laying out for them the basics of what He sees as important during His earthly ministry; because He’s omniscient, He knows He has about 3-3.5 yrs on earth to impact people; He’s on a clock
Each of us in this room is on a clock; our time is finite; are we ready to stand before Him and give account?
The text before us today lays out how He sees Scripture, and how we in turn should do the same
What do you do with these sermons each week?
v17
“Don’t presume (evidently He knew they were) that I have come to abolish/destroy the Law and the Prophets” He’s referring to the entirety of the OT
“I didn’t come to abolish it, but to fulfill (Pleroo- to make full) it”
Ex- filling a glass of water to overflowing, and then getting down to eye level to examine the rim of the glass…
v18
“Until heaven and earth pass away [and this will happen one day; see Rev 21]
not the smallest letter (iota- a minute amount; the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet)
or pen stroke
will pass from the law (nomos- Mosaic law)
until all of it has happened”
Jesus believed and taught the fulfillment of Scripture
v19
“Therefore [conjunction- connecting what is before to what is after] whoever nullifies (luo- break, destroy) the smallest/least of the commandments
And teaches (didasko- instruct or influence) others to do the same shall be called least/smallest in the Kingdom
Does this mean those who break the Law are still a part of the Kingdom, albeit in the smallest of roles?
Let’s look further
”Those who practice and teach others the Law shall be called great (megas) in the Kingdom of Heaven”
Heaven is keeping a record of what we
Do in our life
What we influence others to do in their life
v20
“Unless your righteousness far surpasses (polus perriseuo- great abundance) that of the
Scribes- teacher or expert in the OT Law; they later challenged Jesus on His disobedience to traditional practices of the Law; they likely took part in His trial; Paul saw them as skilled debaters in the Law, who were foolish in light of the finished work of the Cross
Pharisees- “the separate ones;” a numerous and powerful sect of the Jews, distinguished for their ceremonial observances, and apparent sanctity of life, and for being rigid interpreters of the Mosaic law; but who frequently violated its spirit by their traditional interpretations and precepts, to which they ascribed nearly an equal authority with the OT Scriptures [themselves] (stepbible)
You will not enter Heaven”
Their righteousness only dealt with external behavior; in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says they/we must go much deeper
This seems to negate what He said in 19b- you won’t enter Heaven unless you go beyond external behavior, but to the heart
One more thing…
The Scribes and Pharisees were the most ”religious” people of their day, yet Jesus called them serpents and vipers, headed for Hell, Mt 23.33
They honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him
Clean dishes on the outside, dirty on the inside
Whitened tombs on the outside, full of bones and rotting flesh
They did what they did to be seen of men
How we apply this to our life
Jesus had a high view of Scripture; He modeled that for us; “modeling is the strongest form of teaching” - Dobbins
We are to live out the Scriptures every day
You only believe what you do
We are to influence others to do the same
We decide, every day, whether we will influence others for good, or for ill
Knowing your Bible and living it out are two very different things; Bible scholars and pastors will populate Hell because they did not practice what they taught; the ignorant will populate Heaven because they practiced what little they knew
