The Law & the Transfiguration

There are many who teach that we need to obey the Old Testament Law.

If you press them about this by asking why we don’t sacrifice animals, they might say something about the ceremonial law having been done away with by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. They may tell you that now we are only responsible for keeping the moral law.

Traditionally, we remember the resurrection and the new life Jesus has given us each year at Easter. We celebrate the freedom we have in Christ by eating ham. This is a violation of an Old Testament dietary law. That we violate that law on Easter is a demonstration of the freedom Jesus has given us. Still, it is not a violation of the moral law.

Some people will insist that we are to obey the ten commandments. If you object that none of us can obey them fully, you’ll likely hear that at the very least we should use them as our yardstick to measure how well we measure up to the standard of God in our Christian walk.

Never mind that we have done away with the inconvenience of the Sabbath. Rather than resting from sunset on Friday night until sunset on Saturday night, we cut the lawn and run all the errands we had no time for during the work week. We cut the laws written in stone down to nine with great regularity, reshaping it by tradition into something called “the Lord’s day.” An idea found nowhere in scripture.

Still, many sort of rest on Sunday. They gather for worship and fellowship. To make it clear that this is the replacement for the Sabbath, they decry those who would open their shops. Even so, these days most businesses are open; but it makes some uneasy and vaguely irritable.

This line of thought is full of problems. It leaves us in a no-man’s-land where we are never quite sure if we have done enough to meet God’s requirements. Because of this seed of doubt, where we keep examining ourselves to see whether the things we are doing may be sinful. In our weaker moments, we cut ourselves some slack, but then the condemning thoughts come, and we take a harder, more honest, look at ourselves and find that we are not even close to living up to all that’s required for us to consider ourselves good Christians.

Some teachers will be progressive enough to point to the statements Jesus made to some religious scribes (“expert” interpreters of the texts) who asked about the Law.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (with all of your being)

38 This is the first and great commandment. (KJV)

That’s a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (KJV)

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

This one quotes Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” (KJV)

Jesus went on:

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Let’s look at what the Bible actually teaches about this.

Jesus told the religious scribes that loving God and loving others were the commandments upon which hung all the Law and the prophets. Here’s something else He said about the Law and the prophets:

Matthew 5:17 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” (KJV)

The importance of this would be hard to overstate. Jesus didn’t do away with the Law, or the admonitions and predictions of the prophets, but He fulfilled the Law, and He fulfilled the predictions of the prophets.

Predictions about the lamb that God would provide for Himself, about the rescue (the salvation) to be provided to Israel and to “the nations”, about new hearts, spirits, and the Holy Spirit being given to God’s people, about the blessings to be given to the righteous, and so many more.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 “25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (KJV)

This set out a completely new way of understanding and relating to God and His relationship to mankind. Notice what Ezekiel prophesied right at the end there, “I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

God said that He would cause us to be obedient. Paul understood this, saying in

Romans 6:17 “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” (KJV)

So, our new heart, our new spirit, and having the Spirit of God living in us, has practical value where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. Because of Christ, we are freed from the need to keep examining ourselves to see whether the things we are doing may be sinful. That constant worry about whether we are doing the right thing. That concern over whether we have done enough.

Paul frames it very well in Romans 8:2-4. There, he wrote, “2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (KJV)

Remember, the Old Testament Law required strict obedience and unless it was fulfilled completely, the result (the consequence or wage if you will) was death. Listen to the words of James. James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (KJV)

2 Corinthians 3:6-9 has some very interesting things to say about the Old Testament law, and the 10 Commandments in particular.

6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” (KJV)

The letter kills. The laws engraved on stone minister death and condemnation to people. This sure seems inconsistent with the promise of freedom and eternal life.

God painted a picture for us. It’s recounted in three of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Let’s look at Matthew’s account in Matthew 17:1-9 (KJV)

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

Now here are a couple of things interesting things to notice:

Peter said, “let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Peter is a good Jew. He honors the Scriptures, he honors the traditions, he does all he can to honor God, so this is a very logical thing for him to say. Both Luke and Mark add a comment, however. Mark 9:6 “For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.” Luke says that Peter didn’t know what he was saying.” (KJV)

I wondered for years why this was important. The answer lies in what happens next.

“a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

God tells the disciples to hear Jesus. To listen to Him. And the very next thing they know, both Moses and Elijah are gone, and only Jesus remains. Do you see that? God is foreshadowing the profound change that was about to take place.

Peter is thinking, “Hey, there’s room for the Law, the Prophets, and Jesus!” God is saying, “The Law and the Prophets are fulfilled and summed up in Jesus. They are fulfilled and summed up in God.

Jesus said they were not to tell anyone about what they had seen. This was important because the truth of this vision was not yet made real. The time had not yet come for the Law and Prophets to be fulfilled in Christ.

So, not telling anyone what they had seen is another incredibly important detail. Jesus knew that the old covenant was still in force. He didn’t want the disciples to go around confusing people about what the current covenant required.

This is helpful as we read the teachings of Jesus. Very often He is speaking to those under the Law, under the Old Testament, or covenant. It’s important that we not get confused and think He is speaking to us in those places. If we do, we begin to mix the two covenants and that is what causes all the confusion, angst, and frustration we find in the church these days.

Hebrews 8:13 “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” (KJV)

We cannot mix the two covenants. Hebrews makes it very clear that the old covenant was problematic because the people could not keep their end of the bargain. It tells us that there is a new and better covenant based on better promises.

Why are the promises better? Because they are no longer promises between people and God, now they are promises between God and Himself. Here is the difference.

Exodus 19:7-8 says, “And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.” (KJV)

God had His part and the people had their part.

Then in Hebrews 6:13-19 we find this much different covenant.

“13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.

15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:

18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;” (KJV)

Okay, as we look at the teachings of Jesus, we just need to take care to keep His words, and all of scripture, in context and consider the audience being spoken to.

There are also times when Jesus presents New Covenant truth.

Here is an example. In John 13:34 Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (KJV)

He knows that He is about to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, and He sets the stage for what is to come.

This new commandment is picked up throughout the New Testament. One of the clearest examples is found in 1 John 3:23 where John wrote, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” (KJV)

Paul echoes this thought in Romans 13:8-10 “8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (KJV)

We’ve seen that the Old Testament Law, including the ten commandments, have been fulfilled in Jesus.

We’ve seen that God underscored this by presenting a picture at the Transfiguration.

We’ve seen that because of what God has done for us, we are now obedient from the heart and that it’s His doing, not ours.

We’ve seen the importance of making a clear distinction between Old Covenant teaching and New Covenant teaching.

Let me be clear. The Law has not been taken away, but it has been fulfilled. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:8-11 “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, …for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.” (KJV)

The Law is for the unrighteous. It shows them that no matter how hard they try, they cannot make themselves righteous. They cannot make themselves acceptable to God.

But you are righteous, and as we read in Romans 10:4 “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (KJV) Romans 11:16 clarifies the point further. It says, “For if the firstfruit (Jesus) be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root (Jesus) be holy, so are the branches. (KJV)

The Old has gone. The New has come. Now, “sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14 (KJV)