“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. 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." - Jesus (Matthew 5: 17-18)
He was expected. Israel had looked for Him for hundreds of years. What He would be like and what He would accomplish was completely misunderstood. So, as He begins His very straight forward teaching (that some would think contradicted the Law), he wanted to correct their thinking. He didn't come to abolish the Law, that is the Law of Moses and the teaching of the Prophets. Rather, He came to fulfill it. I know, just like me, you are wondering what that means and we will get to that.
First a few words about the Law. It is understood to be the commandments and ordinances that were given to the descendants of Abraham. The Law was given to His chosen people, the children of Israel and not to the Gentile nations. They were to be a nation of priests demonstrating to the rest of the world what it looked like to live under God's rule. (kinda like the church today!) Being a descendant of Abraham, Jesus lived under the Law. He is the only person to ever keep the Law perfectly and we never hear Him denigrate the Law, only correct misunderstandings. Keeping the Law did not justify the Israelites, they were to honor the Law by keeping it. The Law was part of God's divine purpose and we are told that it was a tutor that would lead us to Christ (Gal 3:24).
Had people been able (or willing) to keep the Law perfectly, they could have been saved by it. But God knew that they would break it. (Romans 7:14-25) Therefore, God sent His Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves - live out the Law perfectly. By doing so, He was able to offer Himself as the only perfect sacrifice for sin. (Heb 10:5-10)
The two key words here are "abolish" and "fulfill". If we get a right understanding of those two words, then we walk away with a right understanding of His teaching. The Greek word for abolish is kataluo and it means to "destroy", "nullify" or "invalidate". The Greek word for fulfill is pleroo and means "make full", "bring to completion" or "bring to an end". So, Jesus didn't come to abolish or destroy the Law, rather He came to bring to completion its' purpose and then He took it out of the way when He died on the cross. (Romans 10:4; Eph 2:15) At that time the Law died, so the obligation to keep it no longer exists. In Luke 24:44, Jesus told His apostles (after His resurrection) that He had "fulfilled" all of it.
All was accomplished! So, the Law was taken out of the way and we now live under a new law, "the law of Christ" (Gal 6:2). Certainly we keep any parts of the old Law that have been brought over in to the new, but we do so because they are in the law of Christ, not because they are in the Law of Moses. Anyone today that insists that the Law or any part of it must be kept is holding on to a system that is no longer part of God's plan. Can we learn for the Old Testament... absolutely! Will it help us to understand the New Testament... absolutely! But our law is found in Jesus and His words will judge us on the last day (John 12:48).
Wise or Foolish?
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