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Synoptic Gospels: Ethics I. Kingdom ethics and discipleship A. Jesus called for a radical commitment to himself – forsaking all else, submission to him as king and Lord. 1. This is a major difference between Jesus and other ethical teachers. His ethics are an expression of obedience to one’s Lord who has all authority. 2. Jesus taught with supreme authority as God himself (Matt 7:28-29) 3. His authority was even greater than the Law (Matt 5:20-22, 27-28, etc. “you have heard it said, but I say to you”). 4. This is unlike the Jewish rabbis who pointed to the Law as the authority and based their teachings on the traditions of other rabbis (Matt 7:28-29; Mark 1:22). B. To fulfill Jesus’ commands one must first obey his most central command: Jesus must be first in one’s life. 1. One’s love and commitment to Jesus should be so great that by comparison to love for Jesus, everything else appears to be hatred (Lk 9:58-61; 14:26) 2. Take up your cross – death of self, personal ambition and self-centered life (Mt 16:24). 3. Love God above all else and with one’s whole being (Mark 12:28-30; Matt 22:37-40; Lk 11:43). C. This supreme love for God expresses itself in love for one’s neighbor. 1. This is even greater than the love of neighbor expected in Judaism (limited to fellow Jews). 2. Love should extend to all people: Anyone in need (Lk 10:29f–good Samaritan), enemies (Mt 5:44). 3. This two-fold law of love is the summation and heart of Jesus’ ethical teachings (cf. Gal 6:2). D. One’s relationship with God and service to God are of the highest value in life. 1. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Mt 6:33) 2. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” (Mk 8:36) 3. When riches become the chief aim, it crowds out the things of God. (Lk. 12:16-21, 30) 4. Jesus did not say that the world and the pleasures of human life are evil in themselves a. Jesus enjoyed the physical pleasures of eating, drinking and partying with friends. b. Yet the physical world is not the highest good. c. Material possessions are fleeting. Only what one invests in eternity will last. (Lk 12:15-21) II. The relationship of Jesus’ teachings to the Law of Moses. A. There are elements of continuity and discontuity of Jesus’ teachings with the Law (Mt 5:17-20) B. Continuity of Jesus’ teachings with the Law. 1. The Law is the Word of God – no part “shall pass away . . . until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:18) 2. The Law pointed to Jesus – “I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it” (Mt 5:17) a. His perfect obedience fulfilled all that the Law demanded. b. The entire OT points to Jesus: His life and ministry fulfilled predictive prophecy and topology. c. The sacrificial system pointed to the need for a sacrifice for atonement. His death met the sacrificial demands of the Law, and went beyond it with a perfect sacrifice. C. Discontinuity of Jesus’ teachings and the Law. 1. Although the Law of Moses continues to have validity, its role is different than under the Old Covenant. 2. Jesus instituted the era of the New Covenant, the time of the messianic salvation (Lk 16:16; 22:20). 3. Since Jesus fulfilled the Law, he now is the center of ethical demand and the focus of God’s work. a. Jesus is the authority for the Christian, not the Law. b. For the Christian, the Law does not the provide the basis of what should do, but Jesus’ own teachings that provide that basis c. Jesus does not say “thus says the Lord” as the prophets but he says “I say to you.” Copyright © 2016 Dr. Harry A. Hahne

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Synoptic Gospels: Ethics

I. Kingdom ethics and discipleship

A. Jesus called for a radical commitment to himself – forsaking all else, submission to him as king and Lord.1. This is a major difference between Jesus and other ethical teachers. His ethics are an expression of

obedience to one’s Lord who has all authority.2. Jesus taught with supreme authority as God himself (Matt 7:28-29)3. His authority was even greater than the Law (Matt 5:20-22, 27-28, etc. “you have heard it said, but I

say to you”). 4. This is unlike the Jewish rabbis who pointed to the Law as the authority and based their teachings on

the traditions of other rabbis (Matt 7:28-29; Mark 1:22).

B. To fulfill Jesus’ commands one must first obey his most central command: Jesus must be first in one’s life.1. One’s love and commitment to Jesus should be so great that by comparison to love for Jesus,

everything else appears to be hatred (Lk 9:58-61; 14:26)2. Take up your cross – death of self, personal ambition and self-centered life (Mt 16:24).3. Love God above all else and with one’s whole being (Mark 12:28-30; Matt 22:37-40; Lk 11:43).

C. This supreme love for God expresses itself in love for one’s neighbor. 1. This is even greater than the love of neighbor expected in Judaism (limited to fellow Jews).2. Love should extend to all people: Anyone in need (Lk 10:29f–good Samaritan), enemies (Mt 5:44).3. This two-fold law of love is the summation and heart of Jesus’ ethical teachings (cf. Gal 6:2).

D. One’s relationship with God and service to God are of the highest value in life.1. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Mt 6:33)2. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” (Mk 8:36)3. When riches become the chief aim, it crowds out the things of God. (Lk. 12:16-21, 30)4. Jesus did not say that the world and the pleasures of human life are evil in themselves

a. Jesus enjoyed the physical pleasures of eating, drinking and partying with friends.b. Yet the physical world is not the highest good.c. Material possessions are fleeting. Only what one invests in eternity will last. (Lk 12:15-21)

II. The relationship of Jesus’ teachings to the Law of Moses.

A. There are elements of continuity and discontuity of Jesus’ teachings with the Law (Mt 5:17-20)

B. Continuity of Jesus’ teachings with the Law.1. The Law is the Word of God – no part “shall pass away . . . until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:18)2. The Law pointed to Jesus – “I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it” (Mt 5:17)

a. His perfect obedience fulfilled all that the Law demanded.b. The entire OT points to Jesus: His life and ministry fulfilled predictive prophecy and topology.c. The sacrificial system pointed to the need for a sacrifice for atonement. His death met the

sacrificial demands of the Law, and went beyond it with a perfect sacrifice.

C. Discontinuity of Jesus’ teachings and the Law.1. Although the Law of Moses continues to have validity, its role is different than under the Old

Covenant.2. Jesus instituted the era of the New Covenant, the time of the messianic salvation (Lk 16:16; 22:20).3. Since Jesus fulfilled the Law, he now is the center of ethical demand and the focus of God’s work.

a. Jesus is the authority for the Christian, not the Law.b. For the Christian, the Law does not the provide the basis of what should do, but Jesus’ own

teachings that provide that basisc. Jesus does not say “thus says the Lord” as the prophets but he says “I say to you.”

Copyright © 2016 Dr. Harry A. Hahne

Synoptic Gospels: Ethics Page 2

d. Even his statement about the Law not passing away is rooted in his authority “I say to you.” He hasauthority over the Law to specify its continuing significance.

4. Jesus rejected the oral Law (Scribal interpretations and extensions), which Jews considered equal inauthority to the written Law.

5. Jesus approached various commandments of the Law in different ways, but always rooted in his ownauthority:a. Sometimes he intensified the demand of the Law (murder and anger, lust and adultery)b. Sometimes he made the requirements more flexible (“Sabbath was made for man not man for the

Sabbath”; he frequently broke a strict interpretation of the Sabbath laws)c. Sometimes he annulled commandments of the Law (food laws, ceremonial washings, Mk 7:18-19).

6. Righteousness in the kingdom is no longer mediated by the Law but a new redemptive action of God,through the work of the Spirit (as the prophets and John Baptist predicted would be the case under theNew Covenant).

7. Unlike the Law, Jesus’ ethical teachings do not simply focus on outer behavior but also one’s inner life.a. Lust is an inner form of adultery and anger is an inner form of murder (Mt 5:21-22, 27-28).b. Jesus is looking for an inner heart transformationc. Conduct is the manifestation of inner character (Lk 6:43-45; Matthew 7:17).

8. Righteousness greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees is necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven(Mt 5: 20).a. Not just external behavior or complete obedience to the Law is enough.b. Perfect righteousness is required (Mt 5:48: “you shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”).c. This sets the stage for the message of grace – throwing ourselves on God’s mercy, since no human

being could possibly achieve such righteousness.

III. Are Jesus’ ethics in the Sermon on the Mount legalistic?

A. Many believe Jesus taught a legalistic ethic that indicates how to enter the kingdom (e.g. Sermon on theMount).1. Classical liberalism saw Jesus’ ethics as the center of his teachings.2. Albert Schweitzer: interim ethics only until the kingdom comes, which Jesus expected immediately.

Salvation depended on obedience to these commands. The Sermon on the Mount is a religion of works.3. A. N. Wilder (1950): These ethics are the entrance requirements to the coming eschatological kingdom.4. Classical dispensationalism: The ethics of the Sermon on the Mount are for the future Davidic kingdom,

not the Church Age. It is a legalistic ethic promising blessing based on human merit. Some recentdispensationalists (e.g. New Scofield Bible) have softened this to say it expresses the legal demands ofthe kingdom which can only be met by grace.

B. But if these are the requirements to enter the kingdom, no one will enter, since no one perfectly fulfills them.

C. Jesus’ ethics describe the person who he is a member of the kingdom, not how to enter the kingdom.1. It does not say how to be saved, but what a person looks like who is saved

a. It describes in idealized terms the person in whose life the reign of God has been absolutely realized.b. It is not how to get in the kingdom, but how to live once you’re in.c. The Sermon on the Mount is for those who are already believers.

2. There is no contradiction between Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith and Jesus’ kingdom ethics.

D. Although on one level Jesus’ ethics are similar to Jewish ethics, for Jesus the kingdom of God has invadedhuman history and people are called to a new measure of righteousness as they experience the reign of God.1. It is an ethic in light of a relationship with God, not simply a list of moral commands.2. On one level Jesus’ ethics in fact are unattainable and idealized.

a. They show how perfect one must be to gain salvation through your own righteousness and thusprepare a person for grace.

b. These ethics will only be completely fulfilled in the New Age, when evil has been banished and weno longer struggle with our sinful nature.

Synoptic Gospels: Ethics Page 3

3. Yet Jesus’ ethics are an indication of God’s will for the Christian.a. The Sermon on the Mount is not for the future kingdom only. b. Otherwise Jesus’ saying that we are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth would be

meaningless, since this presupposes the Christian lives in a sinful society (Mt 5:13-16).4. Jesus’ ethics are the standard toward which Christians are to move.

a. The commands are idealized, but they are a standard to grow into (Mt 5:48: “be perfect as yourheavenly father is perfect”)

b. The teachings of other parts of the new Testament about the Holy Spirit show that only by God’spower can Jesus’ teachings be fulfilled.(1) E.g. Jesus’ command to love our enemies does not simply mean an external act of kindness

while holding a bitterness and desire for revenge. Rather it means a deep desire for the bestwelfare of someone who would seek our harm.

(2) The reflection of God’s character is the evidence of the reign of God in a person’s life.

E. There is much in Jesus’ teaching that show that entrance into the kingdom and eternal reward is a matter ofgrace, not works.1. All that God gives us is ultimately a matter of grace

a. Jesus healed people and cast out demons by grace.b. He freely forgave people’s sins without them deserving it (Mk 2:5; Lk 7:48)c. If we seek God’s kingdom first, all the needs of life will be given to us by grace (Lk 12:31-32).d. Although the word “grace” does not appear in the Gospels, the concept is expressed in many ways.

2. Salvation is ultimately by grace.a. Mt 20:1-6: In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, those who worked 1 hour received the same

reward as those who worked the entire day. The blessings of God are not payment but sheer grace.b. Lk 18:9-14: The one who comes to God trusting in his own righteousness is not justified. The one

who is justified is the one who trusts in God’s gracious forgiveness (“be merciful to me a sinner”).c. It is through repentance from sins and faith in Jesus that one gains entrance into the kingdom and

salvation, not righteous deeds (Lk 17:19; cf. Mk 5:34; 10:52)3. There is reward for faithful service. But even opportunities for service are a gift and the reward is out of

proportion to the work done (parable of talents, Mt 25:14-30).4. Jesus’ ethical teachings are not the way to get into the kingdom, but the goals for the life of those who are

part of God’s kingdom. 5. Although “grace” is a Pauline word and the concept is more clearly expounded in depth by Paul, the

principles of grace are in Jesus’ teachings. His teachings are far from the legalism of Judaism of the timesthat based God’s blessings on merit.