A surface level reading of Paul and Jesus seems to present a contradiction on if Jewish Christians were required to keep the law after Jesus’s death. Jesus tells his disciples that Torah wouldn’t pass until all things are fulfilled when heaven and earth pass away and so they should continue to practice every letter the law until that time.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Although the heaven and earth described here are metaphorical and this passing was expected to occur in their generation when he returned (Matthew 5:18, Matthew 24:34-35, Luke 21:22), Paul doesn’t wait until this time to tell Christians they are no longer obligated to keep the law (Romans 6:14, Romans 7:2-4, Galatians 3:24-25, Galatians 4:4-6, Galatians 4:21, Galatians 5:18, 1 Corinthians 9:20, 2 Corinthians 3:17).
Galatians 3:23-25 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian
So based on Jesus’s words, if Paul was teaching Jews not to follow the law, why shouldn’t he be called “least” in the kingdom of heaven? To resolve this conflict, we can take a closer look at the words of Jesus and Paul and see that they are really teaching the same thing.
Law keeping was not necessary for salvation
Peter and Paul say keeping the law was not necessary for salvation (Acts 15:10-11, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 3:10). Jesus also says that a person is saved by believing in him (John 3:14-16, John 5:24). In the passage in question, notice he does not say that those who break the least of these commands and teach others to do the same will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He says they still enter, they are simply called least. The inverse of this statement is true. They could break the law and teach others to do the same and still enter the kingdom of heaven. So then this passage is not talking about salvation through law keeping but possibly earning some kind of reward.
So how does keeping the law make them great?
So how does keeping the law make them “great” or not keeping it make them “least?” It couldn’t be so that they can boast in their works or it would be contradicting Paul (Philippians 3:3-9, Galatians 6:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, Matthew 23:5). Paul and Jesus also say that they wouldn’t be cursed for failing to keep the law (Galatians 3:13-14, John 5:24, Matthew 26:28). Jesus gives us the reason later on:
Matthew 20:26-28 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 9:34-35 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Keeping the law was a way of serving. But serving what need? Paul connects the dots:
1 Corinthians 9:19-20 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
Keeping the law was a way of serving the unbelieving Jews so that more of them would be saved. How does keeping the law help Jews to be saved?
1 Corinthians 10:31-33 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
If the Jewish Christians did not keep the law, their behavior would have been offensive to unbelieving Jews and those unbelieving Jews would have pointed to such behavior as an excuse to reject the gospel.
When in Rome do as the Romans do
Paul seems to believe this is just what Jesus was communicating:
1 Corinthians 9:1 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
When Paul is preaching among the Gentiles, he comes “outside the law,” that is the Mosaic law, but not so far as to escape from God’s law (the law of the Gentiles, the law God places upon every man’s conscience) and he does this to be obedient to “Christ’s law,” which is Jesus’s statement in Matthew 5 that they keep the gospel unoffensive for those they are preaching to. He understood Jesus’s statement that they should practice the law in order to keep from offending Jews in their ministry and he made a new application for it following in the spirit of Jesus’s words. If they should keep the law among the Jews to keep the gospel from being offensive, then they should also go outside the law when among the Gentiles to keep the gospel from being offensive to Gentiles. In this case, Paul sees that Jesus’s point was that his ministry be unoffensive, not necessarily that they obey the law. This is why he did not circumcise Timothy when they were living among the Gentiles (Galatians 2:3), but did when they went to minister among the Jews (Acts 16:3).
So we can see how keeping the law was a form of service to help the gospel be unoffensive. But what were they earning by foregoing their freedom and instead helping to spread the gospel?
What does the promise of being called “great” mean?
In Christ, we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:3). What material blessing could we ask for that we wouldn’t receive (Romans 8:32)? But Jesus did promise a reward, so what did the promise of being called “great” mean?
1 Corinthians 9:22-26 I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:1 Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.
2 Corinthians 1:13-14 And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul refused to boast in any of his works except for the people he helped save. His ministry effectiveness would become his reward, his boast, and the reason he would be considered “great.” Likewise, if his ministry failed to produce the conviction to endure the “fires of persecution” in his followers, he would suffer loss, or be called “least.”
Think of the mother who’s son chose to believe in Christ because of your example of God’s love or ministry efforts in this life. In heaven, where they are both united, wouldn’t she be eternally grateful to you? Wouldn’t she feel an everlasting appreciation for the efforts you made to bring her son there? And what about all the others your life touched? Couldn’t you imagine that God would feel proud of you for encouraging so many to enter heaven? Wouldn’t you be proud of yourself knowing you were part of the reason they got there? This seems to me what it means to be made great in the kingdom of heaven.
Why are servants called great in the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus seems to say the same thing:
Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In other kingdoms of Jesus’s day (the Gentile kingdoms), how did they expand their empires? Through conquest, through conquering foreign lands and forcing people to become their subjects by threat of death. Their warriors and rulers were considered great for their ability to dominate and subjugate others. But in the kingdom of heaven, God doesn’t use armies to force us to believe in him. Entering into the kingdom of heaven is a choice we make of our own freewill. So how does God expand this model of kingdom? By making it as attractive as possible so that no one in their right mind would want to say no. And if winning people’s hearts over is how God’s kingdom grows, then no one does a better job of that then the humble servants. They are most effective at expanding God’s kingdom. And that’s why under this model, they are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
What if your law keeping is as bad as the Pharisees?
What about:
Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The word righteousness here could be interpreted as “covenant faithfulness” (Psalm 36.5–6, Psalm 88.11–12). Israel was covenented to be ministers of the oracles of God to the world (Exodus 19:5-6, Isaiah 61:6, Romans 2:18-20, Romans 3:1-2). In this case, their covenant faithfulness was how well they served as ministers of God’s word. Jesus also describes these people as those are are “teaching others.”
Jesus describes the Pharisees righteousness as prideful, self-righteousness, and a stumbling stone for accepting the faith both for themselves and others (Matthew 23:4,11-13,34,37). Not only did they refuse to trust in Jesus themselves, but they actively hindered others from following him. How did the Pharisees actively hinder people from accepting the gospel?
- by saying Jesus was using demons to perform his miracles (Matthew 12:24)
- by hiding the evidence of his resurrection (Matthew 28:11-15)
- by persecuting his followers (Matthew 23:34,37)
- by trying to discredit his ministry (Matthew 12:2, Matthew 15:2)
- by trying to kill him (Matthew 12:14)
- by denying his miracles (Matthew 11:16-26)
- by teaching righteousness according to works (Romans 10:1-4)
Jesus urges them to become like little children (Matthew 18:3-4), in the sense that they are not self-reliant and able to see that Jesus’s ministry was from God on account of the miracles he was performing (Matthew 11:16-26, John 3:2).
So when Jesus warns his audience that their righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees, he is saying that if their service as ministers was so dissuading like the Pharisees that Jews were actively hindered from accepting the gospel, they would not enter the kingdom of heaven themselves. Such behavior would also have proven that they didn’t accept the gospel themselves.
So did Paul teach Jews to break the law?
When Paul warns the Galatians not to practice circumcision (Galatians 5:2-4), he is speaking specifically to Gentile Christians (Galatians 4:21, Galatians 4:8). It was not necessary for their salvation (Galatians 3:2-3) because Gentiles were never required to keep Torah (Acts 15:1-21) and it would not improve their ministry efforts.
In Corinthians, Paul permits Christian Gentiles to eat food sacrificed to idols so long as it doesn’t harm a brother and so long as their consciences are pure (1 Corinthians 8:7-9). Later, speaking specifically to Christian Jews (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, 1 Corinthians 10:20), he says although a Christian Jew was lawfully free to eat food sacrified to idols in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:29), if that Jew was informed it was food sacrified to an idol he should not eat, because it would hinder his ministry effectiveness among unbelieving Jews (1 Corinthians 10:23-24,28,31-33).
Summary
Because of this the Jewish Christians continued to practice the law after Jesus’s death (Acts 22:12, Acts 21:18-24, Acts 21:27-29, Acts 23:9, Philippians 3:6, Acts 16:3), not for salvation or personal rewards, but to help win the lost Jews so they could boast in those they saved. This also makes sense of the immediate context of the passage in question. Just before this statement in question, Jesus describes how he wants their good deeds to shine before man so they will praise God (Matthew 5:13-16) and for them not to loose their saltiness, or in other words, their good reputation.
So here’s how I read Matthew 5:19-20:
If your freedom causes the Jews to stumble in accepting the gospel you will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But if by keeping the law, you make the gospel less offensive to Jews you will be called great. If your service as a minister is so dissuading like the Pharisees that Jews are actively prevented from accepting the gospel, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven yourselves. (Jon Paul’s interpretation)
This interpretation seems to be consistent with Paul. For a period of time, they were to continue practicing the law to help spread the gospel. But when their generation was nearing its end, Hebrews warned them that the law was truly about to pass and they should no longer practice it (Hebrews 4:1, Hebrews 8:13, Hebrews 13:11-14, Hebrews 10:26-31,37-38, Matthew 24:2-3,34-35). Although keeping the law had served as a useful ministry tool, after the temple fell, it was no longer useful. Today no one has to keep the Mosaic law, instead we are fully in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:10-12).
Thus Paul and Jesus are reconciled.
- Jesus, Paul, and Peter all preached salvation by faith, not works (John 3:14-16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 15:11)
- Jesus did not preach the law had passed yet and Paul also did not preach that the law had passed. Paul taught that the believer had passed in Christ and that’s why he was not obligated to keep the law (Galatians 2:19-20, Romans 7:2-4, Galatians 3:24-25).
- Paul and Jesus both taught that believers will not be cursed by their failure to keep the law (Galatians 3:13-14, John 5:24, Matthew 26:28).
- Despite this, Jesus encouraged believers to continue to practice the law as a way of serving unbelieving Jews to help the gospel message be unoffensive to them (Matthew 5:17-20, Matthew 17:24-27). He promised doing so would make them “great” in the kingdom of heaven. Although Paul taught freedom from the law, he also encouraged believers to not use their freedom when it would hurt their ministry effectiveness (1 Corinthians 10:23-24,32-33, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). He believed serving the Jews this way would earn him a greater boast in the people he helped save when Jesus returned (1 Corinthians 9:22-26, 1 Corinthians 9:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, 2 Corinthians 1:13-14, 1 Corinthians 3:13-15).
Both their messages are consistent with each other.