“Jesus Fulfills the Old Covenant”
Matthew 5:17-20
INTRODUCTION What is the Meaning of Matthew 5.17-20
Turn to Matthew 5. As your turning, you are entering a world of 2000 years ago: no internet, no cell phones, no electricity, no running water… except the stream you just cross on your way to this Galilean hillside in the Ancient Near East in the land of Israel where you heard that Jesus of Nazareth was going to be. And you, as an Israelite, live under the authority of the law of Moses and are required to obey every part of Moses teaching by law and under the threat of discipline and punishment.
And you find your seat that hillside, and there Jesus is and He takes His seat to begin preaching.
Soon after His preaching begins, your long days of hard work begin to take their tole. Your mind begins drifting as too often happens when listening to sermons…and you’re thinking about how difficult life is under the authority of Moses’ Law, Exodus-Deuteronomy … As Jesus continues to preach, you begin to consider first the self-evident commands of Moses Law… “those aren’t so bad” you say to yourself … “like not murdering and not stealing. “But then there are the more tedious commands that I have to make sure that I do it right, like observing the Sabbath and the Passover.”
And you think of your family life…. “My boy was just born, so I have to circumcise him in a few days and bring an offering to the temple….”
“Oh yeah, and I sinned by not treating my animals with respect… I muzzled my ox while he was treading out the grain … it was a bad year for us farmers … so I have to bring my prized goat for a sacrifice to the temple to cover for my I sinned.”
Then you begin to worry … “And what if I disobey Leviticus 19:19 and plant my field with two kinds of seed and what if I, by mistake, wear clothing, woven from two kinds of material? God forbids that…”
“And the other day, my friend came across a bird’s nest beside the road and the mother was nesting with her chicks and fortunate enough for him, he did not take the mother but just the chicks and he let the mother go. If he would’ve taken the mother too, he would’ve been guilty of violating Deuteronomy 22:6-7. I’m so glad he didn’t. Otherwise, he’d have to bring his prized bull to sacrifice at the Temple.”
“And my other friend is building a new house, and his neighbor reminded him that he must make a parapet, a short wall, around the roof so that he is not guilty of killing someone if somebody falls off of his roof … his house has to be according to biblical code.”
Momentarily, you snap back into your surroundings…. “Boy, look at that guy over there… His beard looks like he’s trimmed the edges, if he gets caught…that won’t be fun. That other fella is missing the fourth tassel on the corner of his garment…and that guy must have lost that blue cord that’s supposed to be his tassel. He better get that fixed…”
And then, as Jesus is mumbling in background of your thoughts, you look around and see all the righteous Pharisees and scribes as they listen and you think to yourself, “Boy, do they have it all put together. I wish I was as holy as they are. They are so exacting about the commands of Moses’ teaching and can quote the whole thing. I’ll never rise to their standards of righteousness.”
And then you’re rushed back to planet earth and you hear Jesus say …
Matthew 5:17–20 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
“What? More righteous than a Pharisee? What chance do I have of being in the kingdom?”
Little did you know that day, that these few words that Jesus just said are, as one author put it, among the most difficult to understand in all the Bible. In fact, according to another, we have just set foot in an exegetical minefield. A false move to the left or to the right, lands you in theological error.[1]
So as your friend sitting next to you on the hillside that day, I want to encourage you to put on your theological thinking caps and let’s wrestle through this together.
SUMMARY:
Verse 17, Jesus corrects a misunderstanding about His relationship to the OT, that He came to fulfill not to abolish. In v. 18, He strongly asserts the OT’s future fulfillment, thereby dismissing any notion that He would abolish the OT. In vv. 19-20, which is where the difficulty comes, He applies that future fulfillment of the OT and what Jesus does in both verses is that He condemns Pharisaical righteousness.
First, Jesus corrects any potential misunderstanding about His relationship to the OT: Fulfill not abolish (v.17)
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Jesus corrects potential misunderstanding about His relationship to the OT: Fulfill not abolish (v.17)
Matthew 5:17 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Because the temptation is to think that He did come to abolish the OT. But no, “do not think” that He came to do that.
A. And He has to correct that understanding for a number of potential reasons…because first, in His ministry, He constantly criticizes the Pharisees, the preeminent teachers of the OT. Because of His criticisms of them, one could begin to wonder if He believes the OT at all and if He’s going to just do away with it.
B. And second Jesus has to correct any misunderstanding that He may be abolishing the Law because Jesus doesn’t quote the old teachers like the scribes of his day do … They say things like … “Rabbi Smith said in the name of Rabbi Johnson in Rabbi John Doe’s name who said….” He doesn’t do that, He just preaches His Word. Is Jesus going to just tear down the OT then?
C. And third, He also has to correct misunderstanding that He’s not simply doing away with the Law because of what He is about to teach in verses 21 to the end of Matthew 5. It would seem like Jesus in those passages is simply doing away with, destroying, or abolishing the OT.
Whatever Jesus’ relationship actually is to the OT Law, it is easy to confuse it with abolishing. But Jesus categorically denies that that is the case. “Don’t think I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets.”
EXP: Jesus did come to abolish the OT … “Abolish” means to completely destroy or to tear down or to dismantle it. It was used for example in Luke 21:6 to refer to what would happen to the temple in AD 70, 40 years from now. That there would not be one stone left on another which will not be “torn down.” Jesus is not tearing down the Old Testament Law of Moses nor any other prophet in the OT, none of it.
But the proper understanding of His relationship to the Old Testament could be confused with tearing it down.
EXP: Jesus did not come to tear it down, destroy completely the OT. Instead he came to fulfill it. To “fulfill” in the New Testament predominantly carries the idea of the Old Testament predicting something and it actually happening when Jesus came.
For example, you could turn back to Matthew 1. In Matthew 1, an angel the Lord appears to Joseph and tells him that Mary is going to have a child. And he is to name him Jesus. Verse 22 says, “Now all this took place to fulfill [that’s the same word Jesus uses in our passage in Matthew 5:17] what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: [and now in verse 23, we have Isaiah: 7:14 quoted] 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
The miraculous virgin conception and birth of Jesus is a fulfillment of the prediction found in Isaiah 7:14. The same word is used in Matthew 2:15 to describe how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus’ departure into Egypt fulfills the Old Testament prophecy of Hosea 11:1. Jeremiah’s prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children is fulfilled when Herod murders the children in Bethlehem. The prophecy of the Messiah being called a Nazarene is fulfilled in Matthew 2:23. Jesus’ ministry in Galilee fulfilled prophecy as found in Matthew 4:15. Jesus’ ministry of miracles to the sick and demon possessed fulfills the prophecy of Isa. 53:4…and we could go on and on and on about how Jesus life fulfills OT prophecy. It was predicted in the OT and it came about in Jesus life.
In fact, most of the 16 times Matthew uses this word “fulfill” he is talking about the fulfillment of prophecy. That God predicted something in the Old Testament and that it came about in the person and work of Jesus.
Jesus didn’t come to tear down the OT, but to fulfill it. He came to bring it to its intended goal, it’s completion. Jesus came to bring the Old Testament to its intended goal. Or you can think of it like back in our text in Matthew 5:18 there is a parallel understanding at the end of verse 18 … “but not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Jesus came to accomplish, to fulfill, to complete the Old Testament, to bring everything about, cause it all to take place, fulfill everything about it.
Not opposites
And so we need to understand that abolish and fulfill are not opposites. Jesus did not come to abolish the OT, but that does not mean that He came to retain the OT, or to keep it, or preserve it. Jesus isn’t saying here He has come to continue the authority of the Old Testament.
In fact, because Jesus has to correct their thinking on the matter, we could rightly conclude that it could be easy to confuse the two words: abolish and fulfill. Jesus came to fulfill but that it close enough to abolish that it seems like He came to abolish, but no!
Please turn to Romans 10 and I’ll argue for this. It’s not that Jesus thought of His ministry as one that is opposed to the Old Testament, but he thought of His ministry as bringing the Old Testament to its completion, its culmination, to its intended goal.
ARG: You’re in Romans chapter 10. Paul will show us this explicitly. Paul argues here that Christ brought the Law, that is the law of Moses, to its completed end, it’s goal.
Romans 10:4 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
The keyword is the word “end.” That word “end” is in the sense of to bring something to its conclusion.
So Christ is the conclusion of the law, that is, the law of Moses. Christ is the conclusion of Moses law.
And Jesus is saying the same thing. Jesus says, “I came to fulfill the OT.” Jesus is saying …. In a perfect sense, I came to fulfill the Old Testament. Moses Law and all the prophets they prophesy, they predict and point to the coming of the Messiah. And when the Messiah comes Jesus Christ, Jesus has now fulfills the Old Testament and what it prophesied about him. He came to fulfill it.
And when He came then he brought the OT to its conclusion… He is the conclusion of the Law. It prophesied of Him and pointed to Him in so many ways. And He is concluding it. He is the reality to whom all those OT pictures pointed, like the sacrifices and the Temple and the high priests and so forth. In fact He is bringing to completion the whole Law and the Prophets and He has fulfilled and brought to an end the entirety of the Mosaic law as Paul argues in Romans 10:4. That’s why Hebrews calls that covenant the Old Covenant. It’s old and obsolete…
Hebrews 8:13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.” That’s Moses covenant, it is obsolete because it has been fulfilled.
Indeed, one day He will bring the entire OT to its completion in all of what it prophesies. And so really, it is astounding that all of the OT is fulfilled, completed in a single person.
ILL: This illustration pails in comparison … but it would be like Tchaikovsky’s [Chick-cough-ski’s] Violin Concerto in D Major. Tchaikovsky, who wrote the NutCracker, had a failed 3 week marriage and attempted to take his own life. Through that time, he found comfort in his composition. He wrote his Vioin in D Major and showed the result to his friend, who was the Czar’s Court Violinist, and his friend declared the lightning quick passages in the first and third movements unplayable. It took three years before another Russian violinist, Adolf Brodsky, was able to play it.[2] And to make the point here, it would be like no one ever played the piece again because no had to. It’s been accomplished!
Once thought impossible has now been accomplished! Like that in Christ, all those prophecies brought to completion in one Messiah, the Lord Jesus. He came to bring the entire Law of Moses to its completion in His first coming and all the prophecies fulfilled in His second coming. No one has to play that piece any more! It is fulfilled! We are not under the authority of the Law of Moses anymore.
POINT: He didn’t come to abolish the OT, to do away with it, just to outright cancel it. No don’t confuse that with fulfilling. He came to fulfill the OT, to complete it, to bring it to its intended goal, so that it is accomplished.
TRANS: Somebody says, “Well, Jesus just came to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament.” No no, Jesus makes it very clear in verse 18 that is not the case. He came to fulfill the entire thing.
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Jesus asserts the OT’s future fulfillment (v. 18)
Matthew 5:18 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Here, Jesus asserts the entire OT’s future fulfillment. This verse serves to argue that indeed Jesus affirms and attests to the entire OT and this statement would dismiss any notion that He would abolish the OT.
Jesus asserts the certainty of the OT future fulfillment in 3 ways and then He emphasizes the certainty of its fulfillment in 3 ways.
Jesus asserts the certainty of the OT future fulfillment.
1. He does that first of all by asserting that the minutia of the Old Testament will be accomplished. He says, “not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” This is better translated not one yodth not one serif shall pass from the Law.
Not one yodth will pass from the law until it is accomplished. A yodth is the smallest Hebrew letter of the 23 letters of the Hebrew language. It has the ‘y’ sound and it basically looks like an apostrophe. It forms the difference between the names Sarai and Sarah.
My Bible program on my computer tells me that there are 70,362 yodths in the OT.
Not one of them will fall to the ground until all of them are accomplished, fulfilled, brought to their intended goal. “God’s word will not return unto Him empty, but it will accomplish the reason for which He sent it.”
Also, not one serif shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. A serif is the small stroke of a letter that distinguishes it from different letters. I’ll illustrate it in English.
ILL: A capital “E” has one vertical line and three horizontal lines. A capital “F” has one vertical line as well, but only two horizontal lines. That third line, a serif, in that capital E distinguishes it from a capital F. Not one of those small little strokes of a letter will fall to the ground until all of them are accomplished, fulfilled, brought to their intended goal. “God’s word will not return unto Him empty, but it will accomplish the reason for which He sent it.”
Jesus is asserting that the very smallest portions of the OT will most certainly be accomplished, will come to pass, and be fulfilled.
2. But secondly, not only does Jesus assert that the very smallest portions of the Old Testament will be accomplished, but the entirety of the Old Testament will be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
All of it will be accomplished. From Genesis to Malachi… Because Genesis to Malachi was what had been written when Jesus was preaching…(and by extension of course the entire Bible) … But the whole Bible then will be brought to pass will be completed, everything in it fulfilled.
Jesus is teaching then that the whole of the Bible and every word of the Bible is given by God; it’s breathed out by God. We call this the verbal (every word) plenary (the whole thing….) the verbal plenary inspiration of Scripture. And Jesus takes it down even to it’s tiny pen strokes.
3. And third, Jesus teaches that the smallest portions of the Old Testament and the entire Old Testament will endure longer then the universe itself.
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away [or cease to exist], not the smallest letter or stroke shall [cease to exist] from the Law until all is accomplished.
So, which will come first? The cataclysmic destruction of your own space time continuum or the smallest letter passing from the Law?
This universe will cease to exist before even a pen stroke will fail to have it’s divinely intended goal.
Not only then is the Bible inspired on every level, the smallest stroke to the entirety of it, but it will also be preserved. God will preserve His word…His Word settled forever in heaven and He has preserved His word in our hands.
This universe seems so indestructible, but in reality the eternally preserved word of God tells of this universe’s end when it says in 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens [outer space and atmosphere] will pass away with a roar and the elements [the earth and other bodies] will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
God’s word is settled and preserved; God will bring to its intended goal everything in the OT.
Now, if this was not already clear enough….Jesus emphasizes that the smallest portions of the entire OT will endure longer than the universe in 3 ways:
a. Literally here, “the smallest letter or stroke not not pass away.”
When the Greeks piled on the “nots” it emphasized it. So you could translate it this way the smallest letter or stroke shall by no means pass away.”
b. He secondly emphasizes this at the beginning of the verse 20 says for “truly I say to you.” “Truly” is literally the word “Amen.” This establishes the certainty of what he saying. He saying that it is firm … This is the case, so let it be. He is emphasizing the truth that small portions of the entire Old Testament will endure longer than the universe.
c. And lastly, He emphasizes this truth by saying
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one of the smallest letter or one stroke of those letters shall by no means pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
In the original, He repeats the word “one” twice. Not one of the smallest letters and not one stroke shall go out of existence from the Law until all is accomplished. It will be accomplished … Not one, NOT ONE!
TRANS: What more do you need? Jesus is thrice emphatic that the smallest portions of the entire OT will endure longer than the universe. Until heaven and earth cease to exist, until that time the Bible will by no means cease to exist until everything in it is accomplished and fulfilled according to God’s plan.
Clearly, Jesus is NOT simply doing away with the OT.
Now, Jesus applies this to His audience.
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Jesus applies to His audience (vv.19-20)
Matthew 5:19–20 19 “Whoever then [he’s drawing a conclusion…Whoever therefore based on what I just taught about the OT that the smallest portions of the entire OT endure longer than the present universe…Whoever then] annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Nothing controversial so far, but here is where it gets tricky. To properly understand this verse, we have to understand to whom Jesus is preaching. He is applying this to His audience at this time. Just like you imagined yourself to be an Israelite at the beginning of this message, he is preaching to those who are under the authority of the Law of Moses. He is preaching at this moment while God’s people are still under the authority of the Law of Moses and before Jesus went to the cross. So, Moses’ Law is not fulfilled yet.
So for those people, Jesus v. 19 condemns the Pharisees’ relationship to the Bible: How they taught the Bible and how they practiced the Bible.
Even though Pharisaical righteousness was highly regarded in that day, Jesus is saying in vv. 19-20 that the very righteous Pharisees are excluded from His kingdom because of an inferior righteousness.
Verse 20 again to illustrate that … “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Pharisee righteousness isn’t enough.
Well, how righteous were the Pharisees? They were known for being scrupulous about the Law of Moses.
Matthew 23:23 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
They are tithing their garden herbs! And you know you can’t heal on the Sabbath day because that’s work. They forbid others from putting vinegar on their teeth to alleviate a toothache.
They are doing all that is humanly possible to follow the Bible, but Jesus says it isn’t good enough? You have to have a righteousness that exceeds Pharisaical righteousness.
So, verse 19 the question is … are we commanded today not to annul one of the least of the commandments of Moses? Because at first glance, that is what it seems to be saying…
Annuls is similar to abolish and Jesus is actually referring to the commandments in the OT…’these commandments.’
So are we annuling or abolishing the OT when we tell ourselves and others that we don’t have to sacrifice animals, that we can eat pork, or that we don’t have to put a small fence on our roof? And if we do tell others that are we least in the kingdom?
There is more than meets the eye here. For example, we have to take the rest of Scripture in mind…like how Jesus’ coming fulfilled the food laws… Mark 7:18–19 …Jesus says, “Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Mark makes this note…Thus He declared all foods clean.)”
How can Jesus declare all foods clean? And how can Paul say Romans 6:14 … you are not under the law [of Moses is the idea], but under grace.
PROBLEM STATED: Paul, if I’m not under the authority of the Law of Moses, how is it that Jesus said that if I teach others to relax the strictness of Moses teaching on any small Law in Moses’ Law and I teach others not to obey that, that I’m called least in the kingdom? Which is it? Am I under the authority of Moses’ Law or not? If I tell others don’t worry about the bird nest law (Deut 22:6-7), am I annulling God’s Law and am guilty? Do you see the problem?
Again, we have to understand to whom Jesus is preaching. When Jesus is alive, there is a transition in God’s program. Jesus has not died on the cross yet. And we’re told when Jesus dies on the cross and is raised from the dead that he fulfills the Law’s penalty that we deserve and He fulfills the righteous demands of the Law. And that he fulfills the law itself. And that Christ in his person and work as Paul says is the end, the goal the completion of the law of Moses.
When Jesus is preaching at this moment, He hasn’t died and been raised from the dead yet, so the conclusion of the Law hasn’t happened yet. And so the people there that day are still very much under the law of Moses.
So for those people, Jesus v. 19 condemns Pharisaical relationship to the Law. Here’s His point: If someone annuls or disregards the least of Moses’ commandments, he is considered least… but now those Pharisees that you see right over there, whom you consider to be great religious people, … they actually disregard the weightier matters of the law Jesus says…
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe [those herbs], and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law.
But Jesus is saying, “Whoever annuls [or relaxes and says it’s not a big deal…whoever does that to…whoever breaks] the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, he’s least in the kingdom. He’s in the kingdom, but he’s least.
So, where does that leave the Pharisees?
If these Pharisees, highly regarded for their holy lives, are actually breaking big commands of the Law and teaching others to do the same and if Jesus says …. if you neglect even the small commands you’re least in the kingdom, where does that leave the Pharisees? They aren’t in the kingdom. If you only break small commands, you are least in the kingdom. Pharisees break big commands. They are therefore, not in the kingdom! Verse. 20
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Pharisees aren’t in the kingdom! If you can’t set aside even one of these small commandments and if you do you are considered least in the kingdom… What does that mean then if you are like the most righteous Pharisees and you’re setting aside the big commandments? Answer: You’re not in the kingdom.
So Jesus draws the conclusion in verse 20 that you have to have a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees in order to even enter the kingdom of heaven.
Everyone would have been thinking that day … “We’re all toast! We’ll never make it!”
And that is precisely where Jesus wants you. He wants to get you to the point where you realize that you can’t and never will be able to have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees on your own without God.
ILL: It’s like me saying today…unless your righteousness surpasses the most charitable, church-going, money-giving, upstanding citizen of this community, who loves his wife perfectly, and is patient with everyone and volunteers in all the community programs and goes on mission trips overseas to help those less fortunate…unless your righteousness surpasses that guys righteousness, you’ll never make it!
And in the following verses, he tries to get you lost… He tries to get you to understand that you are lost apart from God doing a work in you. You are a helpless sinner…You say, “I haven’t murdered anyone.” Oh yeah? Anger is cause to send you to hell. Well, I haven’t committed adultery. Oh yeah? Looking with lust is enough to send you to hell.
You can never please God; you’re righteous acts are filthy rags in His sight!
That’s the main point. He’s showing that these people are indeed lost and unsaved and hell bound!
But Jesus has fulfilled the Law! Since we are no longer under the Law of Moses and since Jesus has fulfilled the Law and since Jesus is the intended goal of the Law of Moses, when Jesus dies on the cross, all those who trust in Him are freed from the Law. Freed from it’s demands and from it’s punishments. Not that we are without law, we are under the Law of Christ, 1 Co. 9:21 says. And so we apply Jesus’ teaching here to our New Covenant commands.
We must be practicing and teaching what the New Covenant says for us to practice and teach. We cannot relax even a single command in our New Testaments. This has to do with forgiveness and repentance and confession of sin and reconciling brothers and sisters in Christ and church discipline and doing the Great Commission and fulfilling our roles as husbands and wives and children … we practice teach others to practice every single New Testament command.
If we want a “well done” when we enter eternity and to be considered great in God’s kingdom in God’s eyes, we will follow each line, each stroke and teach others to do the same. We will protect our pulpits to make sure we’re hearing the words of God and that our leaders are practicing the words of God. And so because we believe that every part is inspired and preserved and will be accomplish, we preach every word of it.
CONCLUSION What is the Meaning of Matthew 5.17-20
Now sitting on the hillside that day, instead of grow despondent that you could never make it, you realize that Jesus has fulfilled the Law! And that if you trust in Him, His complete righteousness can be credited to your account and you are freed from Moses Law and are now under a new Law, the Law of Christ and you can look forward to the day when Jesus will complete the Scripture in its entirely when He comes again and when He restores the nation of Israel and ushers in His kingdom
Matthew 13:43 43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
279 free from the law
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http://www.galaxie.com/article/trinj13-2-03; DA Carson, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5–10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1999), 36 ↑
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https://www.wqxr.org/story/224378-top-five-unplayable-works-were-eventually-played/ ↑