Defend or Support the Textus Receptus?

Recently I read someone who started his essay on Matthew 5:17-20, and he called it ‘quoted to defend an understanding of preservation that supports the Textus Receptus and the Hebrew Masoretic.’  Nope, that’s not how it works with passages.  I’ve preached through the whole book of Matthew.  I’ve begun again, and I’m right now in Matthew 5:17-20, spending two weeks on that text so far.

In its place in Jesus’ sermon there on the north slope of the Sea of Galilee, Matthew 5:17-20 has several applications.  It’s not a matter of finding passages to defend the Received Text of scripture.  No, as one of its applications, even its interpretation, it teaches the perfect preservation of scripture.  This teaching in Matthew 5:17-20, as well as other places in the Bible, supports the Textus Receptus and the Hebrew Masoretic.  That’s not all it teaches, but it does at least that.

Those who deny God’s perfect, providential preservation of scripture are the ones who seem to go to these passages with purposeful elimination of that interpretation and application.  They must not see perfect preservation of scripture and its general availability and accessibility anywhere in the Bible.  It becomes a scorched earth activity, as if Jesus really said, “I am actually come to ensure the destruction of the law or the prophets.”

Matthew 5:17-20

Here is Matthew 5:17-20:

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Let’s get started.  Religious leaders in Israel expected the Messiah to destroy the law or the prophets.  As part of His fulfillment of the new covenant, He would abolish the old.  Jesus said, “Think not that.”  They were obviously thinking that.

How does this section fit into the previous context of this sermon?  The light that shines before men from those who inherit the kingdom of heaven is not something arbitrary (cf. Matthew 5:1-16).  It is scripture.  The light shines through the keeping of scripture.  Jesus elaborates on this.  First, he debunks this misnomer that the Messiah would do away with “the law or the prophets.”

The Law or the Prophets

First, what is the law or the prophets?  This is crucial for understanding what Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-20.  The article I read by the aggressive non-preservationist, who myopically attacks the doctrine of perfect preservation, says:

The aspect of this purpose most relevant to our discussion is the fact that Matthew intends to address the major issue of how Jesus and his teaching relate to the Law of Moses.

That interpretation is false, but it is also typical of those who cannot, must not, see the doctrine of preservation in Matthew 5:17-20.  He continues:

Since Gentile inclusion in the Great Commission forms the climax of the Gospel, explaining the specifics of Jew/Gentile relations is a major part of what Matthew intends to do.

Is that what Jesus is doing?  Dealing with Gentile inclusion in the Great Commission?  I would call that eisegesis.  You do not see that in Jesus’ sermon.

Not Just the Law of Moses

“The law or the prophets” is not isolated to the law of Moses.  That expression refers to the entire Old Testament text, what was all of written scripture at that time.

God couples law and prophets ten other times in the New Testament (Matthew 7:12; 11:13; 22:40; Luke 16:16; 24:44; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 28:23; and Romans 3:21).  The joining of these two refer to all of the Old Testament scripture.  Sure, “the law” refers to the first five books, but “the prophets” refers then to the rest of the Old Testament.

In the next verse (verse 18), Jesus says, “the law,” without “the prophets.”  That doesn’t mean He is referring to just the law.  Actually, He must continue meaning all of the Old Testament.  The Greek conjunction gar (“for”) at the beginning of verse 18 connects “the law” in verse 18 to “the law or the prophets” in verse 17.  The fulfilling in verse 17 is not distinct from it in verse 18.  They’re identical.  The conjunction starting verse 18 require “the law or the prophets” and “the law” to be the same.

Fulfill?

“Fulfill” also points to the whole Old Testament with an emphasis on Jesus’ Messianic fulfillment of the Old Testament.  In the sermon, Jesus made a statement about the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament.  Luke 24:44 is especially a clue about this, a parallel passage:

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

The Mosaic law-only view is very difficult to prove in this context.  I would say, impossible.

“These commandments,” whether least or greatest, must reflect the meaning of the previous two verses.  Jesus says, “therefore.”  In other words, based on what I just said.  Based on what Jesus just said, He makes the conclusion of verse 19.

The Gospel

All written scripture is the light that shines before men through those receiving the rule of King Jesus in their lives.  Those who acquiesce to Him as King will live a life according to scripture, all of it, not just the so-called “least” of it.  This does debunk the Pharisees and also relates to the gospel.  The gospel changes someone’s life so He can live what God says, all of it.  This isn’t legalism.  This is what Jesus taught.  Matthew Henry writes on this:

The rule which Christ came to establish exactly agreed with the scriptures of the Old Testament, here called the law and the prophets. The prophets were commentators upon the law, and both together made up that rule of faith and practice which Christ found upon the throne in the Jewish church, and here he keeps it on the throne.

More to Come