Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The Sermon on the Mount seems to have made a shift with these verses. The beatitudes revealed the character of God’s kingdom and all those who will enter into it; verses 13-16 revealed the purpose of the citizens of God’s kingdom on earth, to be salt that effects change and light that reveals Jesus as the Truth. Jesus then immediately shifts the attention from those entering God’s kingdom to His role as the gate by which we all must enter. We often quote John 14:16, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” This was not a stand-alone statement though; it was in the midst of a conversation. Jesus was preparing the disciples for His death, He told them not to let their hearts become troubled, that He was leaving them to prepare a place for them and that He would come again so that they could be where He was going and then He said, “And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas, deeply concerned asked Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Then Jesus responded, He wasn’t preaching, He wasn’t teaching, He responded to the question and the concern of a friend, of a brother and a son. I envision that He looked at him; He may have even put His hand on His shoulder and said, “Thomas, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It is not a doctrine, it is intimate, loving and kind, it is revelation that changes one man’s fears into peace and I believe it reveals Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law. Throughout His time on earth Jesus said: “I am the door”; “I am the gate”; “I am the bread of life”; “I am the light of the world”; “I am the resurrection and the life”; “I am the good shepherd” and “I am the Vine”. In each of these what Jesus is doing is revealing Himself as the fulfillment of everything that has been waited for and the source of everything that has been eternally promised. This morning we are going to talk about the fulfillment of the Law once more, what does it mean and where does the law’s fulfillment lead us? Those that were born under the law were living for its fulfillment, those of us living under the fulfillment of the Law should have an entirely different purpose, focus and desire—if the Law has been fulfilled on our behalf then we should be living for the One who has fulfilled it and for the age to come in which He receives His glory, His honor and His reward.