The Law Fulfilled

In the latter part of chapter 5 in Matthew, Jesus was speaking about several of the Jewish laws. Jesus started by pointing out the well-known 'do not murder' command. But he said that wasn't enough - our anger alone could bring judgment down on us. Next, he reminds the crowd that you are not supposed to commit adultery, and as everyone starts nodding in agreement, he takes it to the next level and says that if you even allow your heart to lust after another woman, you have sinned. You have broken God's law. Then he says 'Love your neighbor', and everyone knows that - of course you're supposed to love your neighbor. But he goes one step further and says we are to love our enemies. If we don't, we are sinning. This is crazy talk! What is he saying?

I remember the 'Tin Lizzy' ride at Opryland as a kid. I was probably 8 or 9 and I was going to get to drive one of these cars! How awesome is that? My biggest goal at the stage of life was speed. The faster the better! The concrete track was set up with a steel divider in the middle so that you cannot drive off of the route. If you start to drift too far to one side, the guides under the car would hit the rail and force you the follow the route. It would also kill your speed so the trick was to avoid the divider. If you were a skillful nine-year old driver, you could go all the way around the circuit without touching the guide and maybe set a new track record!

Following God's law had become a skill of avoidance to the Jewish people. Just like on the track, every time you relaxed your resolve, everyone could hear the grind of steel and knew that you had hit the rail. And so that became the goal: don't break the law - don't cross the line.

At nine years old, I probably thought it would be a good idea to jump the curb and cut through the grass on a joyride over to the Wabash Cannonball. I thought it was the divider that held me back when really it was keeping the car where it would find the least resistance...on the road. I didn't realize the only way to break the speed record was to keep the tires on the hard track.

Christ came to show us the road to heaven. Jesus becomes our guide and, without even thinking about it, we are following the law. We don't even know the rail is there.

If we are willing to accept Christ's teaching and keep our vehicle on course, we will zoom through life on a smooth ride. Save for a little whiplash from the car behind.