Jesus said, “You have heard it was said…but I say to you.” In this statement, the OT is put in its place. It shows that one era has passed, and the promised “age to come” has arrived. The NT now becomes our pattern for living. So many are stuck here: “You have heard it said.” They can quote it accurately. The OT version of the Ten Commandments and all the other commandments are their chapter and verse. That’s where they live. That’s what they know. They have never graduated to this: “But I say to you.” They have never allowed His version of the commandments to dig them up and replant them (Matthew 5-7). They are stuck in a self-righteous moralism that can never give them the freedom found in living out the teachings of Jesus. They have never truly heard the Sermon on the Mount, because they are camping at Mount Sinai. Make it your goal to really hear Rabbi Jesus’ words, “But I say to you,” and live in His age to come.
