THE REDEEMED AND THE LAW

Matthew 5:17-18 (CSB) -  “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.

We stated yesterday that in this great sermon of Jesus, He had already given us the explanation…the beatitudes: How we enter / express / enjoy the kingdom of God. And now, after His explanation, He gives us the two great illustrations, of salt and light. “Salt that penetrates and light that radiates”. Now Jesus moves to His application. Beware, He is calling us to ultimately measure up to the Biblical standards.

First, Jesus wants to make sure that we do not submit to the erroneous thinking that He did away with the Old Testament. He didn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.

There are different interpretations of what part of the Law Jesus was speaking about. There are two sections of the Old Testament Law. These two sections are the Ceremonial and the Moral laws and regulations given by God to Israel.

Some want to say that Jesus came to fulfill the ceremonial, but we must keep the Moral. The ceremonial is removed but must keep the moral law. Others believe that He fulfilled both the ceremonial and moral law.

Looking closely at this passage and considering the audience He was speaking too, it becomes apparent that He was referring to both parts of the Law.

When Jews spoke of their Scriptures, they often referred to them as the Law and the Prophets. So, judging by the audience He was addressing, Jesus was referring to the entire Old Testament.

So, let us briefly look back at the wordage that He chose specifically for this application. “To abolish,” (katalysai) means to abolish or remove, to render useless. “To fulfill” (plarosai) – means to complete, to carry into effect. So, we can understand that He is saying that He did not come to render useless the Scriptural teachings, but to complete them or develop them into their full effect.

He continues to make sure that we understand that He means all the Old Testament by breaking it down even farther. In some translations and in the Greek He refers to “one jot” (iota) – the very smallest Hebrew letter of their alphabet, or “one tittle” (keraia) – a small hook that distinguishes some letters from others. He is saying that nothing is considered too small or insignificant – and that all of it will remain.

Basically, He is saying that until the New Creation, the Law has the value that it was intended for.

The question then becomes, “When is the Law fulfilled?” He makes it clear, it is still in effect.

How do you look to understand and apply the teaching of the Old Testament into your life today?

Tomorrow we will consider more in this application as we look at the Redeemed and the Law.