The Law in a New LightSample

Jesus Reframes the Law - 1

What does fulfilling the law look like? How can we avoid relaxing any of the commands of Jesus? The next verses, Matthew 5:21-48, enumerate for us how Jesus reframes the Law. “But I say to you …” By saying this, Jesus isn’t negating the law. He is declaring the purpose of the law is summed up in the first two commandments – loving God and loving others. He is thus fulfilling the intention and trajectory of the law, rather than just enjoining obedience of the bare minimum. This is a basic human tendency exemplified in the comments about divorce.

But he is also saying more – what they’d heard said was from Moses, their greatest prophet. Jesus is saying he is more than Moses, and he is not saying anything less than Moses. Jesus exceeds Moses in every way. His authority exceeds that of Moses, but he is in the same tradition of God’s revealed word. As we know, Jesus is God’s revealed Word.

Murder makes us liable to judgment. This isn’t hard to understand. But Jesus states that anger and ensuing verbal abuse make us liable to judgement, the council, and the hell of fire. Not murdering isn’t not murdering.

Most anger isn’t justified, as it is a personal reaction. We have here two examples – a brother and an accuser. Both cases assume we are at fault. Firstly, there is the brother who has reason to be upset with you. You can’t hope to come to God with a gift but not reconcile with an offended brother/sister. Your gift isn’t acceptable until you reconcile. This refers to a fellow believer who has good cause to have something against you.

Secondly, the accuser is someone who is taking you to court. It is best to deal with it before you get there, as it may go very badly for you. “Paid the last penny” is an ominous statement and indicates you will not get out of jail in a hurry. Don’t allow the anger of an accuser to determine your future if you can help it. And similarly, don’t allow the anger of a brother to destroy him, to determine his future. He is your brother after all.

These verses give a reason for all of us to pause and reflect, to see if Jesus’ reframing of the Law speaks to us. Love informs these responses. If we love we will not call people worthless fools. We will reconcile with an aggrieved brother or sister. We will come to terms with an accuser as quickly and quietly as possible. This is what the Law now looks like.