2023_04_10 Insight Post- Kim Feld

This week’s plan has us reading Exodus 19-20 and Matthew 5. This is the first time I can recall explicitly reading the Ten Commandments and Beatitudes together. It has opened up areas I would like to explore more. Jesus quotes from the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus in Matthew 5 and brings what the people know as the Law into clear and personal focus. For example, one of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall not murder.” Still, Jesus takes it even further, calling us to examine our hearts.

One takeaway I hope we are all receiving from this Bible reading plan is that the Old and New Testaments are tightly woven together. So let’s look at what Jesus has to say about it in Matthew 5:17-20:

¹⁷ “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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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.

Jesus didn’t cancel the law; He fulfilled it. He is the embodiment of the Law and the Prophets. And incredibly, He is God with us, Immanuel.

The same God who appeared in the fire on the mountain in Exodus 19-20, appeared as the man Jesus who went up on a mountainside and taught in Matthew 5: 1-2. Look at the fantastic picture in Exodus 19:16-19:

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. ¹⁹ As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

Now look at Matthew 5:1-2:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

God knew we could never keep the Law and make our way to Him, so He came for us. That’s Easter’s story, our personal exodus from the bondage of sin and shame. Jesus is our deliverer, our risen Savior, Christ our King.