Jesus is quite clear when He tells his disciples in Matt 5:17 - 20 that he didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets. No, he says I have come to fulfill the law and the prophets.
A little explanation for those who don't know. (those who do know can put your feet up for a minute or two.)
The Old Testament was never written for the Gentiles (People who were not Jews. People like you and me) Therefore it was written for the Jews. We were never commanded to follow the Law. The Law was given to Jews by God through Moses. This is the Law that Jesus came to fulfill. The one we know as containing the 10 commandments. It wasn't only the 10 commandments that were contained in th law. There were laws about how sacrifices, laws about how to treat non Jews in your home There were laws on almost everything but none of them were written for us, the gentiles. Now what some people forget is that the New Testament isn't a part of the Old Testament. One person tried to tell me that it was an extension of the Old Testament. Well it isn't an extension of the Old Testament although some of it's writings such as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written concerning the time of the OT but they were not written in the time of the OT they were probably written sometime after but before the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.
Confused yet?
I hope I've made it clear that the OT laws were written for the Jews and only for the Jews. Now Jesus mentions the Law and the Prophets.
So what were the prophets that Jesus says he came to fulfill.
I don't have the space here or the time to go into all the prophets but I' try to explain them as well and as unconfusing (if there is such a word) as possible
The Prophets were men and women sent by God to warn the Jews of impending calamities, or Judgments that were coming on them. God also used Prophets to correct peoples behaviours. In other words they were God's messengers to the Jews. Not to the Gentiles (You and I) Daniel was a prophet if you get the chance to read Daniel it's a very interesting book
Jesus said that he had come to fulfill the law and the prophets.
So what is the difference between abolishing the law and the prophets and
fulfilling the law and the prophets?
What would Jesus do to abolish the law and the prophets? Well I really don't know because he didn't abolish them. He could have passed a law stating that the law was now abolished and so too the prophets. You see I don't know how he would do it because he didn't do it. He said I haven't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it so too the prophets.
Now what do you do to fulfill the law and the prophets?
What does fulfill mean? My Funk and Wagnalls says that to fulfill means to bring about the accomplishment of something. With out making you think that I know more than I do the Greek word used in this particular passage means quite simply to "fill up" or to "make full" that's all it means.
So, Jesus was going to bring about the accomplishment of the law and the prophets.
Jesus also says in Matt: 5'18 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished".
I have heard it said by those who say that the law is still to be abolished that Matt 5:18 proves that Jesus didn't accomplish all that he had planned to do because Matt 5 says that it wouldn't be accomplished until heaven and earth had passed away.
But is that what it's saying?
It sounds to me like he's emphasizing the importance and the completeness of what he has come to do. He is saying also that it will be completely fulfilled or nothing will be done. He 's saying that he would not take the slightest stroke of a pen and not the smallest letter will be taken away until everything is accomplished.
So Jesus is saying quite clearly here that the law would not change in the smallest way until all of it had been fulfilled. Or as Matt 5 puts it until everything is accomplished.
I've labored that point a bit.
But there is one more scripture that I'd like to look at Matt 15:24 Jesus says here "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. (Jews)"
If Jesus had said "I was sent to the lost sheep of Israel" it could have had a different meaning but he say's. "I was sent ONLY to the lost sheep of Israel" And that word "Only' makes it exclusive.
It means he wasn't sent to the Gentiles.
I'll leave it there and take it up again next week
Terry
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