Journey to Freedom week 10 – Exodus 20:1-17 and Matthew 5:17-29

The Old Testament Still Applies for us.

Law and Prophets – way of speaking about the whole Bible.

Not one jot or punctuation mark will pass away until heaven and earth disappear. Revelations 21:1-3

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.

He fulfilled the prophecies.

• Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:35
• Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:4-6
• Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 14:16-21

He embodied perfect obedience to the Law. 2 Corinthians 5:21

He paid the penalty for breaking the Law.

• Speeding Ticket – we fulfill Law through obedience or paying the ticket.
• Romans 8:1-4

We are to live out the intention of the Law (without discounting the importance of our behavior).

Remember the context. The Beatitudes. Jesus just preached about turning the existing order upside down. In that context Jesus says – don’t assume that the Scriptures are to be thrown out.

Example: Thou Shall Not Murder (#6 of God’s Big 10) – Matthew 5:21-22

• Jesus got angry.
• Jesus called the Pharisees fools.
• Raca – hard to define. Means “nothing”. Contempt and disdain.

Mark 10:17 – 21

Our Righteousness is to exceed the Pharisees.

• Pharisees were the monks and Amish of their day.
• Everything about their life was highly regulated by the Law.
• Jesus’ words would have shocked his audience.
• The point is – we can’t do it on our own. Only through faith in Christ.
• Romans 3:20
• We will never be poor in spirit until we understand the standard of being perfect as Father in Heaven is perfect.

How are we to approach the Old Testament?

From the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Captain Barbossa says – “First, your return to shore was not a part of our negotiations nor our agreement so I must do nothing. And secondly, you must be a pirate for the pirate’s code to apply and you’re not. And thirdly, the code is more of what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules.”

Sola Scriptura versus Prima Scriptura

Sola scriptura is a Latin phrase that translates to “by scripture alone”. It is a Christian theological doctrine that holds that the Bible is the sole source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The phrase is made up of two words: sola, which means “alone,” “ground,” or “base,” and scriptura, which means “writings”. The doctrine states that Scripture is the supreme authority in all spiritual matters. It means that all truth necessary for salvation and spiritual life is taught in Scripture, either explicitly or implicitly. 

Prima scriptura is a Christian doctrine that states that canonized scripture is “first” or “above all” other sources of divine revelation. It suggests that there are other guides for what a believer should believe and how they should live, such as the Holy Spirit, created order, and traditions.

“What about sola Scriptura? While Scripture itself is the main criterion of the church’s faith, “Holy Tradition completes Holy Scripture in the sense that it safeguards the integrity of the biblical message” (Common Declaration of the Anglican-Orthodox Doctrinal Commission, Moscow, 1976). Tradition isn’t a separate kind of authority for the Orthodox; it is the continuing process of the church interpreting Scripture and faithfully passing on the apostles’ teachings to the next generation. This does not forbid individuals from making personal judgments about the meaning of the Bible. It does mean that private opinions, as learned as they might be, do not have the same weight as the common faith of the whole church, as defined by the Ecumenical Councils and the church’s tradition. The church, the Bible, and tradition form an unbreakable unity of checks and balances wherein Scripture is given the most authoritative voice on matters of faith and practice.” https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2008/october/in-what-way-are-early-church-councils-authoritative-for.html

The Wesley Quadrilateral (scripture, tradition, experience and reason)

Helpful suggestions from the Bible Project

• Read each law (1) within its immediate literary context, and (2) within the larger narrative strategy of Torah and Prophets.
• Read the laws in their ancient cultural context in conversation with their law codes.
• Study related laws as expressions of a larger symbolic worldview.
• Discern the “wisdom principle” underneath the laws that can be applied in other contexts.
• Refract every law through Jesus’ summary of God’s will: love God and love people.

QUESTIONS:

Why does it matter that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law?

Which Scriptures does Jesus fulfill? The Protestant Bible or the Catholic Bible? What about other scriptures not included in the cannon of the Bible?

How do you address Old Testament Laws that seem culturally outdated (dietary laws, divorce, slavery)? Throw them out? Ignore them?

What authority does Scripture have in your life? Is it a sole authority? A primary authority? Is there anything else you turn to as an authority in discerning truth?

What connections do you see between Jesus and Moses?

You Shall Not Steal. Exodus 20:15

“Actually, many modern biblical scholars think that the word steal is a mistranslation. A closer word would be kidnap. You should not kidnap people and force them into slavery. This would be easier to follow. I could do that for a year. But it also feels like a cop-out. So I’m going to stick with the traditional on this one, especially since there are plenty of other “do not steal” commands in the Bible (such as Leviticus 19:11).

I informed Julie that I can no longer raid the Esquire supply closet for manila folders for personal use. I’ve also stopped with the wireless piggybacking—we’ve seen what that can lead to.

And today I clamp down on some attempted theft at Starbucks. We are out for a walk: Julie, Jasper, and Julie’s stepdad, who looks and acts exactly like George Burns. We stop for a coffee at Starbucks, and Jasper grabs a handful of straws from the counter. He’s got a straw fetish. He loves to unwrap a dozen or so at a shot, perhaps thinking that the next one will have a special surprise, maybe a Willy Wonka–like invitation to tour the straw factory. “No, Jasper. Just one.” Starbucks doesn’t have a strict straw policy. But I think there’s an implicit contract—you are supposed to take one straw for every beverage.

Does Starbucks need my money? Not so much. But the Bible’s command is absolute. It doesn’t say “Thou shalt not steal except for small things from multinational corporations with a faux Italian name for medium.” It says, “Thou shalt not steal.” There’s no such thing as “petty theft.” “Just one,” I repeat. “Let him take ’em,” says Julie’s stepdad. “No, we’re supposed to take only one. Otherwise it’s stealing.” “Let him take a few. It’s not stealing.” “What if I took five thousand straws in a Starbucks every day?” I say. “Would that be stealing?” “Well, there’s got to be a relative—” “Why? Why should it be relative?” “Well, look,” says Julie’s stepdad. “One murder is OK. But fifty murders isn’t OK.” I’m stopped short. “Got you there, huh?” he says. I’m not sure how to answer a man who has stolen my argument.

Jasper screams and grunts and points for about forty-five seconds. I stand my ground; I’ve got to ratchet up that justice-to-mercy ratio. Finally, I give him a napkin to rip up, which calms him down. I could have rationalized the straws. That’s one thing I’ve noticed this year. I can rationalize almost anything. For instance, I could take the utilitarian approach: The amount of pleasure it gives Jasper outweighs the couple of cents it’ll cost Starbucks. Or I could argue to myself that, in the end, it helps out the struggling straw industry.

Same with when I stole the internet connection in my apartment building; I could have rationalized it by saying that I was using the internet to learn about God and make myself a better person. I have a tendency toward ends-justify-the-means thinking. But this year isn’t about that. It’s about following the rules. Strictly. To the letter. And seeing what happens.

I know of only one other person who follows the “no stealing” commandment to the letter. My dad. Whenever we’re on a road trip, he refuses to pull over at any old Holiday Inn or McDonald’s to use the bathroom. Not unless we buy something. Otherwise, he says, we’d be stealing their soap and paper towels. So I feel like I’m honoring my father here as well.

Jacobs, A. J.. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible (pp. 139-140). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

QUESTION:

What does it look like to obey the command to not steal? Where do you struggle with this command?