Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Fulfilling the Law
(Matthew 5:17-20)
The Jew put great stock in conformity to the details of the Mosaic Law. So intent were they on the minutiae that the intent of the law sometimes met with obscuration. In other words, they couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
Jesus’ most vitriolic opponents felt that He threatened the Law as an institution. Jesus, however, did not denigrate the Law; He fulfilled it. His high view of Scripture is seen in verse 18—“one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” The “jot” and “tittle” were the smallest distinguishing marks of the Hebrew language, similar to a “dot” on an “i” in English. Jesus taught that the Law would remain intact and would be completely fulfilled in the smallest of detail.
Jesus did not break God’s commandments; He fulfilled them. His followers are still obligated to the moral precepts of the law, only on a higher plain than the Old Testament demanded (Matthew 5:21-30). And God’s requirement for all His children is still the same: Righteousness. Jesus stated that His followers’ righteousness had to “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,” thus establishing a standard of absolute perfection.
How can anyone meet that standard? The simple answer is we can’t. That’s not a problem, however. You see, Christ already fulfilled the law of God perfectly on our behalf. He fulfilled the prophecies, the righteous standard, and the sacrificial system. Christ “is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4).
