16th July 2023 (am) – Matthew 5:17-20
 | Andy Bruins preaching from Matthew on Sunday 16th July 2023. |
The Beatitudes and Jesus’ statements about being salt and light form an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount that grabs the attention and draws us in. Now Jesus makes some very bold statements about the standards by which His people are to live and their relationship to the Law that God has given over the preceding centuries.
Q What impression do you think people generally have about the OT law?
Q Read v17-18. What does Jesus say that He (a) has and (b) has not come to do? How long for? So, what is the standard that God’s people need to live up to (cf. v48)?
Q Read v19-20. Who were the Pharisees and what was wrong with their form of righteousness (take a look at Matthew 23:13-28)?
Q How will the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven acquire the righteousness that God requires (see v3-4 and 2 Corinthians 5:21)?
Q What do you think Jesus means when he says that He came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets? (you might have more than one idea!) – the quote below might be helpful.
How does this help us to understand how we should relate to the OT law as NT people?
How does this help you to answer some of the misconceptions that critics have about the OT Law?
“It is inadequate to say either that none of the Old Testament applies unless it is explicitly reaffirmed in the New or that all of the Old Testament applies unless it is explicitly revoked in the New. Rather, all of the Old Testament remains normative and relevant for Jesus’ followers (2 Tim 3:16), but none of it can rightly be interpreted until one understands how it has been fulfilled in Christ. Every Old Testament text must be viewed in light of Jesus’ person and ministry and the changes introduced by the new covenant he inaugurated” (Craig Blomberg)
