Upside Down - How Jesus Fulfilled the Law
The early followers of Jesus turned their world upside down by seeking to live just like Jesus. That’s why the religious leaders said in Acts 17:6, “These people who have turned the world upside down are now here.”
It wasn’t because they were quoting scripture and pointing their fingers at other people, it's because they lived completely differently from the world.
A few years ago, my wife Kristy and the girls were visiting family in Nashville, TN. On the popular part of the touristy area, a street preacher known for pointing out people and declaring them to be in sin, shouted at Kristy and said, “What kind of mother are you for bringing your children down here?”
The scripture we’re looking at today is often the motivation for people like him. Religious people who stand on a box and lecture the world around them.
Matthew 5:17-20 (NLT2)
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
This passage of scripture often motivates religious people. They don’t want to be viewed as less in God’s Kingdom by ignoring God’s word. So they use the Bible in the wrong way and beat people up.
Now, look carefully at what Jesus said about the Old Testament:
I’m not here to do away with the law…
Not the smallest part of the Old Testament will pass away until it is accomplished…
Those who relax these laws are least…
Those who teach and do them are great…
Jesus' teaching should lead us to ask the question…Are followers of Jesus to obey the Old Testament and the New Testament? Be careful if your answer is yes.
The Old Testament has 613 commands…if we are not to ignore them, but to do them, it raises some potential conflicts in life…
Leviticus 11:7-8 (NLT2)
The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. 8 You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.Exodus 35:2 (NLT2)
Anyone who works on (the Sabbath) must be put to death.Leviticus 19:27 (NLT2)
“Do not trim off the hair on your temples or trim your beards.Exodus 21:7 (NLT2)
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.”
Do followers of Jesus pick and choose what parts of the bible to obey? If we are to turn the world Upside Down, shouldn’t we obey all the Bible?
In this passage, Jesus taught that EVERYTHING in the Old Testament was true and should be followed completely. In light of Jesus ’ words about “those who ignore these laws and teach others to do the same…” we must understand the Old Testament better.
The Old Testament Law had three layers: Civil, Ceremonial, and Moral
Civil: These laws determined how the Israelite Nation should be run. These were National laws. Citizens of Israel were expected to follow them, and if they broke the law, they were punished.
Does Jesus expect those of us who live outside the nation of Israel to obey these laws? The answer is no. You are not Jewish. You are not an Israelite. You are expected to obey the Laws of the good old USA.
Ceremonial: These are the laws about washing your hands, purifying your body, and getting right with God through sacrifices. These laws were given to the Nation of Israel, the people of Israel, to present themselves “holy” to God. They showed the world that they belonged to God and had been set apart from the rest of the world as his chosen people.
Does God expect you and I to follow these laws? No. Why? Again, I am not an Israelite….and the WAY to get right with God is through JESUS. I can’t scrub my hands enough to remove the stain of my sin…If we fell back into ceremonial law, we would be saying the sacrifice of Jesus was insufficient. “He got us clean…but he can’t keep us clean…”
Moral: These are the laws that are rooted in God’s holiness. These are the GUARDRAILS (refer to 10 Commandment sermon series) that God establishes to protect us and to bless us. These laws speak to justice, respect, and sexual conduct. Does Jesus expect us to follow these moral commands?
The answer is yes.
It is still wrong to murder.
It is still wrong to lie.
It is still wrong to commit adultery.
The moral commands were about relationships. If kept, we have perfection between ourselves and God and ourselves and others. But our relationships with others are not perfect. We lie. We betray. We try to hurt others. And, left up to ourselves, our relationship with God pretty much stinks too. So, can we keep all the commands perfectly? No. I am grateful for Jesus because…
Jesus kept the law perfectly because we could not
He obeyed all the commands not to prove it could be done, but so that you and I could be set free from the law. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” he wasn’t just talking about his suffering. He was declaring the end of the Old Covenant system. An end to the endless cycle of laws and sacrifices to try to make ourselves right with God.
Colossians 2:14 (NLT2)
He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.Ephesians 2:14a-15a (NLT2)
For Christ himself has brought peace to us. .. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations.
IT IS FINISHED means that you and I are under no obligation to fulfill the law at all. Jesus ENDED that old system. HE ended the old covenant. If you’re trying to earn God’s forgiveness by obeying Old Testament laws…you are guilty of believing the death of Jesus was insufficient. If you are a legalist…If you are a rule follower…If you live in fear that you must seek to be perfect in all you do… If you shame people over tattoos, pork chops, or energy drinks, you're trying to enforce a law Jesus already fulfilled.
I want you to hear this very simply…you are guilty of obeying the law that Jesus ended…so…repent and…
Stop obeying the old system Jesus ended
In light of what Jesus said about the LAW (That anybody who ignores the LAW in any way would be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven…), it sounds like I am teaching the exact opposite of what Jesus said! It's like I have a death wish. Am I really about to teach the opposite of what Jesus taught?
Galatians 3:25 (NLT2)
And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
The LAW was necessary to point out the fact that it was impossible for you and me to achieve HOLINESS on our own. Now that faith in Jesus has come, the law is no longer needed for those who have placed their faith in Jesus and become Christ followers. Paul isn’t saying the Bible is useless. He’s saying the Old Covenant, the system of laws and sacrifices meant to make us right with God, is finished for those in Christ.
Romans 7:6 (NLT2)
But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
So, for followers of Jesus, we no longer have to obey the letter of the law because something better has come along. If you have become a follower of Jesus, you are not supposed to obey the Old Testament law, we are to live IN the spirit. What does it mean to live in the Spirit? How do we know we are living in the spirit? We simply need to…
Start obeying Jesus
The New Testament has 1050 commands. There is one command that Jesus gave in the New Testament that summed up all 613 OT commands and all 1050 commands in the New Testament. A man asked Jesus which command of the OT was the greatest, and Jesus said:
Matthew 22:37-39 (NLT2)
“‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
So instead of judging people for not going to church, for getting tattoos, or for trimming their hair off their temples, Jesus wants you to love them.
Romans 13:10 (NLT2)
Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.
At Beach Church, our mission is to lead people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus. And the number one way we do that is through treating people the same way we want to be treated. You can turn your world upside down by loving others as you love yourself.
If you are looking for practical steps to begin to love your neighbor as you love yourself: Pick up the phone and let that person know that you stopped talking to that you forgive them.
Buy a gift card for your child's teacher. Let the person who has the grocery cart with more items than yours go in front of you. And if you are able to, buy their groceries. Mow the lawn for your widowed neighbor, not once, but for the rest of the grass-cutting season. That’s loving others.
And that kind of love will turn the world “Upside Down.”