8. Jesus and Old Covenant Moral Laws

Dale Ratzlaff, Feature, Sabbath In Christ, The Sabbath

You have heard that it was said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery.

In this chapter we will see a marked difference in the way Jesus treated the moral laws of the old covenant in contrast to the way He regarded the ritual laws. Perhaps the best illustrations of this are found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.

You have heard that the ancients were told, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER” and “Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, “You good-for-nothing,” shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, “You fool,” shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell (Mt. 5:21,22).

Here Jesus refers to the sixth commandment with its rabbinical interpretation. Note how Jesus starts with the old covenant moral law, which in itself, is actually quite narrow in scope dealing only with murder. He then contrasts His teaching which greatly expands the reach of this moral law by showing that the evil passions of anger and irate, insulting talk are sins that when committed bring guilt worthy of fiery hell. In other words, Jesus takes this moral law of the old covenant and expands it from the act of murder to the principle of angry emotions and insulting talk. This is no small change! In doing this Jesus raises the moral bar high above the old covenant law.

In Matthew 5:27,28 Jesus does the same thing with the seventh commandment.

You have heard that it was said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY”; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Again, Jesus quotes an old covenant moral law and then contrasts His Teaching which modifies and expands the old covenant act of adultery to include even the principle of a lustful look or thought.

Of special interest is Matthew 5:33–37 where Jesus refers to the law of vows found in Numbers 30:1–15 and Deuteronomy 23:21–23. I list this in the “moral law” section because making a vow (promise) to God is certainly a moral act and should be seen as an expansion of “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” which, by itself, is very narrow in scope.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, “YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.” But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; anything beyond these is of evil (Mt. 5:33–37).

Granted, the Jews of Jesus’ day were abusing vows, however, a careful reading of the above statement compared with the old covenant law indicates that Jesus is condemning something permitted, even approved, in old covenant law.

When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised (Deut. 23:21–23).

There is no hint in the law that making an oath is bad or even undesirable. Note the following record of Jephthah.

Now the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, so that he passed through Gilead and Manasseh; then he passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he went on to the sons of Ammon. Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering (Jug. 11:29–31).

Jephthah was horrified to see his daughter come out the door to welcome him. He sent her away to weep for two months and then we read,

At the end of two months she returned to her father, who did to her according to the vow which he had made…(Jug. 11:39).

Therefore, oath making was approved in the law1 and Hebrews 11:32 lists Jephthah in the faith hall of fame. Jesus, however, contrasts His better teaching on oaths. This better teaching corrected the abuse some of the Jews of Christ’s day were making with their oaths. Jesus transformed and simplified the old covenant law on oath taking to the universal principle of simply telling the truth.

In Matt. 5:43–48 Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

While Scripture does not say, “hate your enemy,” we should not be too quick to condemn the Jewish leaders for teaching this for it could be implied from other portions of the law. There are many statements in the law that show a distinction in the moral and ethical nature of how an Israelite was to treat a fellow Israelite compared to how he was to treat a foreigner. For example:

You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest… (Deut. 23:19,20).

Jesus contrasts His law of love with that of the old covenant. The old covenant law taught that one should love his Jewish neighbor. However Jesus modified and expanded this law beyond geographical and ethnic boundaries to include even foreign enemies who persecute us!

In doing this, Jesus is moving away from the old covenant which had an Israel/Palestine center, to the coming new covenant which had application to all nationalities, worldwide. While the new covenant did not come into full force until the death and resurrection of Christ, Christ’s teaching anticipated this change.

While there are many other examples that could be given,2 we can now make a generalized summary of Christ’s attitude toward the moral laws in the Mosaic Code.

Summary of Christ and Old Covenant Moral Law

  1. Jesus felt free to modify and expand the moral laws of the old covenant.
  2. The moral and ethical dimensions of Christ’s law are so far above the old covenant moral laws that Jesus could contrast His moral teaching with old covenant moral law.
  3. Jesus modified and expanded the moral laws of the old covenant changing them from legal rules to moral and ethical principles.
  4. Jesus modified and expanded the scope of the moral laws of the old covenant moving them beyond laws for Israel alone to ethical and moral principles for every nation tongue and people.3

Endnotes

  1. See also Deut. 6:13; 10:20 where there is a command to “swear by the His name.”
  2. See Alan Watson, Jesus and the Law, for a number of other examples.
  3. See Matt. 28:18–20.

 

Dale Ratzlaff
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