Daily Devotion 

There’s an old song from the 1960’s called, “I Fought the Law and the Law Won.” I was reminded of that song when I read Matthew 5:17-20, today.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

This can be a challenging passage. Jesus is addressing an accusation by the Jewish religious leaders, that Jesus was trying to do away with the Law, which they had received from God. Jesus, however, counters their attack by saying that He wasn’t there to abolish the Law but fulfill it.

There were two primary Jewish religious leaders of the day.

• Scribes – The Scribes studied and copied the Scriptures (the Old Testament) and other religious writings and knew them backward and forward. They helped with legal disputes and they taught the Law of God. They were very concerned about the knowledge.
• Pharisees – The Pharisees also knew the Law well, but also followed other Jewish traditions known as the oral law. They were primarily focused on following the Law…and making sure everyone else did as well.

Both these groups looked very religious and looked like they were the ones who were the holiest. However, their faithfulness to the Law was primarily outward. They had lost the internal obedience to the Law, to love the Lord with all their hearts and love their neighbor. It was all about the rules, for them, not the love.

Why did Jesus have so many run-ins with the Scribes, Pharisees, and other leaders?
Jesus sounded like He was teaching something contrary to the Scribes and Pharisees. This is because the Jewish leaders had lost the real message of the Law and the Prophets and Jesus was teaching the true meaning.

Today, we still see this in the church.
We see people who are totally focused on the Law. You have to do this and don’t do that. This can be a problem. It’s not that the Law isn’t good, it absolutely is, but if you aren’t seeking to follow the Law out of a love for God and our neighbor, you’re missing the point and we aren’t truly following the Law. As Paul writes in Romans,

“Love is the fulfillment of the law.” – Rom 13:10b

In addition, our relationship with God isn’t based on following the Law, something the Scribes and Pharisees taught and many churches today still teach. Our relationship with God is based on faith. We follow the Law in response to what Jesus has done and because it is good for us and our neighbor.

So, what does all this have to do with a song from the 60’s?

When we try to make ourselves worthy of God through the obedience of the Law, we lose. We always lose. We simply always come up short. When we look at our lives honestly in the light of the Law, it always condemns us. We are sinners and can never achieve righteousness through our works.

This leaves us in a scary place. As Jesus said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” We are forced to respond like the disciples in Matthew 19:25,

“Who, then, can be saved?”

It’s at this point that the Law has done its primary job. It’s shown us our sinfulness and shown us we can’t save ourselves. We can only look to Christ.

It is Jesus who perfectly fulfilled the Law, lovingly obeying the Father in all things, even unto death. In His death, Jesus took our sins upon Himself and took our punishment. He became sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Through faith in Jesus, we not only have our sins forgiven, but we have Jesus’ perfect righteousness imputed to us (put on us like it was our own).

By faith we have been declared righteous, more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees. We could never achieve that righteousness ourselves, but God has given it to us as a gift. So, when we look at the Law and it accuses us, we can respond as Paul does in Romans 7:24-25a

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

I confess that Your Law is good. I also confess that I have not obeyed Your Law. I ask for Your gracious forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus. I cling to the promise You have made that by faith I have been cleansed of all my sin and made righteous in Your sight not by what I have done, but what Jesus has done in His perfect fulfillment of the Law. Thank you.

Amen.

If you have been following the Law of God out of fear or a desire to make yourself righteous, let the fear and self-righteousness go. It is by faith you are made right with God. Rest in that grace and then go love your neighbor in joy.