Matchless: The Life and Love of JesusSample

Day 3: The Teacher

Read Matthew 11:28-29 and then watch the video. 

Now, read Matthew 5:17.

This is one of the most important sentences that Christ issued during His lifetime. Really. 

Jesus is telling His disciples that He isn’t getting rid of the Ten Commandments, but He is explaining their truest meaning in order for people to understand the spirit of the law and simply not the letter of the law.

This is important because if He had busted onto the scene telling them that the Ten Commandments never existed and the prophets of the Old Testament were just a bunch of nutty guys who made up stories, He would have been written off as a blasphemer before He taught His first lesson.

But He doesn’t, which is why it was so tricky for His enemies to pin Him down.

Think about this: your Teacher is a Jewish man. He is a man who knows the Old Testament better than any scribe or Pharisee ever could. How do you condemn a man who appears to be your superior in knowledge and is well-loved by His many followers? 

Go to Matthew 5:21 and then 27,33,38—you get the point. What is the repeated phrase? 

Jesus is telling them that He knows the law, and He also knows the way it has been twisted and used in ways it was never meant to be.

And here’s the kicker: He’s not really loosening up on the important rules; He is actually tightening the reins. 

Read Matthew 5:27-28. How did Jesus tighten the reins here?

Does it sound like He’s removing that law? Um, no. He just made it about ten million times harder.

Now it isn’t just about the outward behavior, it’s about the inward motive.

And there is no place in Scripture where He says it’s going to be easy. In fact, He says that it will be hard—that we will have to die to ourselves, carry our crosses, and expect to be persecuted and despised.

WHERE DO I SIGN UP????

I know. It’s an odd marketing strategy. And if that were the end of the story, I would probably be a forensic psychologist who moonlights as a Dateline anchor.

Drumroll: it isn’t.

More times than not, our knee-jerk reaction is to do, and it’s no different with our faith. 

How does our faith become about doing rather than being? How does this hinder our relationship with Christ?