Kingdom Character, pt.3: Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17-20 orients kingdom character around life under King Jesus. Jesus has already been challenging the way people think, because the world produces a same-old, monotonous character that often leaves people confused and brought down. The Beatitudes turn human logic upside down, and the salt and light image shows that kingdom citizens affect the people around them in a good way. Jesus now reveals what it actually takes to belong in God’s kingdom.

“Do not think” pushes against the habit of making up the mind too quickly and then slapping a label on reality. Jesus does not abolish the law or the prophets. Jesus fulfills them. The sacrifices, covenants, promises, and prophets all point to him, because everything God has been doing has been moving toward Jesus. Jesus is the complete message of God, and God’s purpose has always been after the same thing: the heart.

Being more like Jesus is the simple answer, but it is also hard because it cuts across the grain of human identity. The call to be like Jesus does not mean God makes puppets or erases personality. Jesus does not flatten people into sameness. Jesus meets people where they are, like Peter, with all his stubbornness, hard headedness, conviction, and passion. Jesus did not erase Peter’s personality. Jesus redeemed it.

God’s word still matters because Jesus takes God’s word seriously. Not the smallest letter or least stroke disappears until everything is accomplished. Jesus is not dragging disciples back under the Mosaic system, because he has fulfilled what that system pointed toward. Jesus is showing that God’s word still reveals the God who gave the law, and kingdom citizens need to be familiar with that word.

Righteousness stands at the center of the issue. Jesus says that unless righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, entrance into the kingdom does not happen. Righteousness means being right with the Creator, and human effort cannot hold the level God requires. Jesus can, and Jesus did. Kingdom citizenship is not about being morally superior or checking enough boxes. Kingdom citizenship comes through the righteousness of Jesus, and the character of Jesus becomes the shape of life in God’s kingdom.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus fulfills God's whole story. The law, the sacrifices, the covenants, the promises, and the prophets are not loose pieces scattered through history. Jesus gathers the whole story into himself and shows where God was taking it all along. A disciple does not begin with personal purpose and then add Jesus later, because God’s purpose is already revealed in Christ. [48:52]
• 2. Personality is redeemed, not erased. Jesus does not call people to become puppets with no color, humor, conviction, or particularity. Peter’s stubbornness and passion were not thrown away, but brought under the reign of Christ and turned toward holy usefulness. Kingdom character does not destroy personhood, but heals it and aims it toward the King. [44:45]
• 3. God's word still really matters. Jesus treats even the smallest part of God’s word as weighty, trustworthy, and alive with divine purpose. Scripture is not background noise for religious people, but the Creator reaching through the page and saying, “Let’s do this today.” A kingdom citizen learns the God who speaks by staying close to the word he has given. [52:14]
• 4. Righteousness comes through Jesus alone. The Pharisees and teachers of the law had a serious moral reputation, but Jesus points to something deeper than visible rule keeping. Being right with the Creator cannot be achieved by human effort at its best. Jesus fulfills the righteousness God requires, and his character becomes the life his people are called to reflect. [55:49]
• 5. Kingdom citizenship demands a choice. The contrast is plain: citizenship in the world or citizenship in God’s kingdom. The world’s way of thinking can keep shaping people downward, or Jesus can train the mind and heart into a different kind of life. The question is not merely religious interest, but where a person actually wants to live.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [26:27] - It Is Well and Father’s Day
• [28:52] - Summer Fellowship and Service
• [30:54] - Kingdom Character in Matthew Five
• [32:20] - Thinking Differently from the World
• [34:09] - What Kingdom Citizenship Takes
• [36:03] - Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets
• [37:47] - Citizen of the World or Kingdom
• [40:33] - Jesus Embodies Kingdom Character
• [42:32] - Redeemed Personality, Not Puppets
• [45:56] - Jesus Reveals God’s Purpose
• [51:34] - Jesus Confirms God’s Word
• [55:03] - Jesus Defines God’s Righteousness
• [57:11] - Engaging Scripture This Week
• [61:11] - Prayer for Bible Reading

Bible Reading

Matthew 5:17-20
“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 say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” [36:03]

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” [40:09]

Ephesians 1:9-10
“making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Ephesians 5:1
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 5:17-20, what are the three things Jesus says about the law and the prophets: what he did not come to do, what he did come to do, and what will not pass away until all is accomplished? [51:34]
2. In Matthew 5:20, whose righteousness does Jesus mention, and what does he say is required to enter the kingdom of heaven? [55:03]
3. What repeated phrase in Matthew 5:17 slows people down before they make assumptions, and what habit does that phrase push against? [46:07]
4. What kinds of qualities in Peter were named, and what happened to those qualities under Jesus rather than being erased? [44:45]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. What does it mean to say that the sacrifices, covenants, promises, and prophets were all moving toward him? [48:52]
2. Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Why does kingdom citizenship rest on a relationship with Jesus rather than on moral effort or box-checking? [40:33]
3. Jesus treats even the smallest part of God’s word as important. How should that shape the way believers read the Old Testament now that Jesus has fulfilled what it pointed to? [53:58]
4. Jesus says righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. If even serious religious effort is not enough, what does that reveal about the kind of righteousness people actually need? [56:12]

Application questions

1. There is a real choice between living as a citizen of the world and living as a citizen of God’s kingdom. Where does the pull of the world feel strongest right now in thought patterns, habits, or priorities? [37:47]
2. Being more like Jesus pushes against the grain of human identity. What part of personal identity is hardest to surrender to Christ right now? Pride, control, independence, comfort, image, or something else? [41:34]
3. Jesus redeems personality rather than erasing it. What is one part of personality that could be brought under the reign of Christ and turned toward holy usefulness this week? [45:04]
4. God’s purpose has always been after the heart. What would it look like in a very concrete way to give God the heart each day instead of beginning the day with the self? [49:36]
5. If God’s word mattered to Jesus, it should matter to his people too. What usually keeps consistent Bible reading from happening, and what simple change could help this week? [52:57]
6. Righteousness means being right with the Creator, and that cannot be achieved by human effort alone. When is the group most tempted to trust in being “pretty good” instead of resting in the righteousness of Jesus? [55:33]
7. Jesus’ character becomes the shape of life in God’s kingdom. What is one area this week where becoming more like Jesus could change the way someone speaks, reacts, works, or treats another person? [57:37]