Matthew 5:19 Commentary and Bible Study

Because there is not the smallest part of the law, not a single jot or tittle, that will be annulled, abolished, destroyed, or set aside, until the very end of time, then God’s commandments given in the Old Testament all remain in force for Christ’s disciples in this new age that begins with his coming into the world. Christ could not have set a higher value on them or more highly honoured the Old Testament. Some may be described as ‘least commandments’, but not one of them is optional. Who is man to think he can score God’s individual commandments and decide what commandments are relevant to him? No man can pick and choose what he wants to obey. That is in effect to say that God should not have included certain laws and statutes in his word. Did God fail to foresee our situation, or did he lack the wisdom to design commandments that were applicable for all times and all places? We must treat all of them with the utmost seriousness, for God will measure us by our attitude to his law. Justification is by faith and these words do not teach anything different, but every true disciple of Jesus Christ is committed to lifelong obedience, the obedience that comes from faith. Any moral system that tries to replace one or more commandments of the law is objectionable to God. The law is perpetual and is the standard by which the world will be judged, and by which Christians must live. It is true also however that we must obey with understanding. The ceremonial law is not in force today, and we are under no obligation to circumcise our children, offer blood sacrifices, observe the distinctive food and clothing laws taught under Moses. We do not keep the Jewish feast and follow the Jewish calendar. We do none of these things literally, and yet all these things have a place in our lives. We carry out these statutes of the ceremonial law in a far more meaningful way than any unconverted Israelite ever did, for we understand their spiritual significance, and we observe them in Christ. We are circumcised in our hearts by the Spirit; we rely on the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ and we come to him as our abiding high priest. We recognise the distinction between holy and unholy not in terms of food and clothing, but in terms of moral attitudes and behaviours; we keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We keep the Passover in Jesus Christ and we come regularly to the Lord’s Table where we remember his sacrifice for sin, and the other feasts also have spiritual significance for us. We see the Old Testament types and shadows embodied in him, for he is the fulfilment of the ceremonial law. Nothing is set aside if in fact it is taken up by the Christian in its richer, more abiding, and more real spiritual form.To be least or to be great in the kingdom of heaven is about God’s estimation of individual men and women. To be called least in the kingdom of heaven does not imply that such a person is in the kingdom but is a lowly member of it. The fact that the Pharisees are said in verse 20 not to be in the kingdom at all, and a similar warning is given to would-be disciples of Christ, indicates that this is a dangerous position to be in which risks losing heaven altogether. But to be great in the kingdom is to receive the approval of God.