IMPROVING NOT REPLACING

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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 tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:17-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever had a radical change come into your life?

I know I have.

Maybe that change is for the better; maybe that change brings challenge and hardship to us but two things are sure about radical change:

1. You can be certain it’s going to happen at some time or another.

and

2. It’s usually something we don’t like to deal with, especially when it changes things for the worse.

So why don’t we like change?

Because at the core of our human selves, we like structure and routine. It’s true, right?

Our days are typically structured. We know when we like to wake up. We know how we like to get prepared for our day. We prepare ourselves, eat, and usually depart to do what we do each day at the same time and in the same way. If we work, we go to our jobs, get done what needs to be done, and then go home, usually with an idea of things we want to do there which includes a certain time that we like to shower and get ready to sleep for the next day’s events.

Yes, we are definitely creatures of habit who like to keep schedules and follow certain patterns and ways.

This is why we are so adverse to change. It alters the status quo for us and that’s something we’re not comfortable with. It’s true today and as we will see in this devotion, it’s something that was true in the days of Jesus as well.  Before I get to that, let’s look again at these verses from the Gospel of Matthew as Jesus continues teaching during His Sermon on the Mount:

“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 tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

Think about how much things changed when Jesus started His ministry. It was definitely a radical change within the Jewish nation of Israel which had a set way of conducting spiritual business for years. That spiritual business was grounded in the scriptures which were referred to here by Jesus as “the Law or the Prophets”. These scriptures dictated the way Jewish believers were supposed to live and these scriptures were taught by appointed teachers of the law and enforced by Jewish religious authorities like the Pharisees and Sadducees who ensured the Jews complied with the many statutes contained within the Law. Now with Jesus on the scene, He was bringing new teachings within the synagogues, teachings that were acknowledged by the Jewish listeners as having special authority, authority that they had never heard before. This teaching, as well as the healing and driving out of demons He performed, had drawn crowds of people to Him from all over Israel, and this in turn drew the attention of the Jewish religious authorities.

Surely, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the teachers of the law were nervous because they saw Jesus as a threat to their system. They were unnerved by thinking that Jesus had come to completely change the Law, to replace their current decrees with His own and in doing so, make them irrelevant within the Jewish religious culture.

Perhaps Jesus sensed this angst and tension within the hearts of the Jewish religious leaders because He took time to give the matter attention early within His first extensive teaching to the masses, the aforementioned Sermon on the Mount. Jesus wanted to make it clear that He had not come to abolish the standards that the Jews had been following for generations before He was born. In fact, He promised that He wouldn’t even edit the Law (“not the least stroke of a pen”). He even went on to promise reward (greatness in the kingdom of heaven) for anyone who “practices and teaches” the commands within the law and judgment on anyone who would try and modify or amend it saying that anyone who did so would be considered “the least in the kingdom of heaven”. The former statement should have appeased the Jewish religious authorities, showing them honor for their godly fervor; the latter statement should have shown everyone that Jesus was serious when He promised the Law or the Prophets would not be abolished.

But note that while Jesus was saying these things, there’s one thing He didn’t say. He didn’t say that He wouldn’t be enhancing the Law or the words of the Prophets through His own teaching. He didn’t say it because His teaching was all about improving and as we will see in a series of devotions beginning tomorrow, taking the Law of God to the next level, teaching in a way that would lead His followers to a righteousness that would exceed that of the Jewish religious leaders, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

As mentioned, we’ll see Jesus elevate the ideals within the Law to new heights when I begin a new series tomorrow. See you then.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com