“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.” Matthew 5:17
It’s difficult to imagine how important the Law and the Prophets were to a first-century Jew. Jesus understood. Raised in a Jewish household, he knew firsthand how much the Law and the Prophets defined his people.
Going back to Exodus 19, Moses led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt, they all walked on dry land as they watched their God miraculously part the Red Sea just for them, and they came to Mount Sinai. Here God gave Moses and the nation of Israel The Law. The Law signified that they were chosen by God to be set apart from every other people group. The Law was God’s instructions to His people. His instructions for them reflected his very own holiness and kept them safe. Through the giving of the Law, Israel understood the character of the Lord their God like no other people group on planet Earth. That made them special. Listen to King David declare his love for God’s law in Psalm 119…“My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times…..your promises preserve my life…. This is my happy way of life; obeying your commandments……how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!….. I love your law…..I will meditate continually on them…..your laws are wonderful.
The Law was the cornerstone of Jewish identity, it represented God’s favor on them and them alone for the past 1,500 years. But then here comes Jesus, this preaching, teaching, healing Rabbi, talking about the Kingdom of Heaven with authority—like he’d been there or something. He wasn’t a Pharisee or a teacher of the Law, he wasn’t officially a real Rabbi, but he called ordinary uneducated people to follow him. He didn’t fit the mold. His teaching and preaching wouldn’t fit the mold either.
I love from the get-go, that Jesus upheld the law they loved so much. Jesus respected the Law because the Law represented the character of his holy heavenly Father. Jesus hadn’t come to abolish the Law. No, he came literally to fulfill the Law because the whole point of the Law was to get God’s people to Jesus. Galatians 3:24 says, “The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” The Law served its purpose, it taught them to trust, to hope, to believe, and to obey. The Law pointed them to the Savior of the world.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member