Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

“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 it is all accomplished.  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 these and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” –Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV).

In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the value of the Law and the Prophets, and how those sacred Hebrew Scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus’ life, ministry, death, resurrection and glorification.  The “Law” or Torah refers to the first five books of the Old Testament; the “Prophets” includes the rest of the Old Testament.  This terminology was used by the Jews to refer to the body of sacred writings which we know as the Old Testament. “”I came not to abolish…but to fulfill them” Jesus declared. 

Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in that it points to His coming to earth.  This applies to the many predictions of the Messiah’s coming, but also in the sacrificial system which in itself pointed to His great sacrifice for sin.  Even events recorded in the Old Testament foreshadow the coming of Messiah.  Examples are the many times when Israel had to be redeemed from bondage.  In a spiritual sense, the Messiah when he came to fulfill the law, would redeem believers “once for all.”  In His life while on earth, Jesus exemplified in His person and actions the behavioral ideals set forth in the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament.  With His life and His teachings, Jesus clarifies and fulfills what God intended for his people since the beginning of time.

Not one “dot or iota” (rendered ‘jot or tittle’ in the King James Version) is an expression meaning that not one of the smallest letters of the alphabet or one handstroke used in writing them shall pass from the Law and the Prophets.  Thus Jesus affirmed that the Law and the Prophets would forever remain as God’s progressive revelation to mankind.  But in His fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, He became God’s  final revelation to us.  We are to follow and teach to others the Law and the Prophets and now the record of God’s fulfillment of them, as recorded in our New Testament.  We are not to relax even “one of the least of the commandments,” for they are still intact and operable, still a part of God’s direction for the Christian’s life.  And because the disciples had been with Jesus, their righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (avid keepers of the law).  The warning from Jesus was that if their righteousness was not greater—that is heart-felt and God-motivated—they would not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus is calling His disciples and us to a different kind of righteousness.  This is possible because of a changed heart.  And that change of heart is through confession, belief and commitment.

Because we have been given new insight into God’s law, we obey because of our love for Jesus Christ who taught us the way.  And furthermore, the Holy Spirit is our teacher and guide.  We do not obey external laws—including the laws of our land—because of fear, but because of our love for Jesus Christ and in honor of Him who is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s revelation to us.  Let us thank God for the fulfillment of the law in His only begotten Son.