Until Friday morning, 27 July, we are going to look at some extracts from my book.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them,” (Matthew 5:17).
Why would Jesus have preached something like this? Did the disciples hint in that direction? Did they ask Him about it openly? I don’t see any evidence of Jesus’ motivation to take up the topic. But if we consider our natural tendency to regard anything new with suspicion, we can understand Jesus’ need to explain this issue to His followers.
Imagine a typical day in a Jewish town or city in Jesus’ time. The peasants sold their wares in the markets, the wealthy attended to their business, and the religious leaders stalked the area to determine whether their rules and laws were being obeyed. Then an ordinary, middle-class man appears and starts to throw his weight around. If He had been nothing more than a lot of noise, it would have been okay, but He had a lot of power and authority. He preached and did the unheard of, heresy in the eyes of some. How would you react if this happened today?
The Bible shows us that the religious men were the first to become concerned. Their first reaction was probably to question loyalty. Would a mere carpenter attempt to abolish the law in order to gain power? What motivates His powerful teachings? Would He start a new political movement, luring the people away from the law and prophets? Jesus, by the Spirit, knew their minds.
Jesus said He has not come to abolish the law. The word “abolish” in the Greek means to dissolve or break up unity. Jesus meant that He didn’t come to break the unity between the Law and the Prophets. The Law was the rules and customs presented by God through Moses. According to the old covenant, obeying it was the only way to salvation. The prophets, on the other hand, are God’s voice to the people, telling what they have received by inspiration. This includes future events, especially those involving the kingdom of God and salvation
The prophets pointed the way from the Law to the Messiah. The religious people of the time read the Law in order to see what God expected them to do. They studied the Prophets to determine God’s plans for the salvation of the disobedient and His promises for the future.
In this passage, Jesus tells that He didn’t intend to separate the Law and the Prophets, because He wants them to move in unity. The written Law of instruction is meant never to be changed, but could be fulfilled in that it is not needed anymore, for it has been replaced by a better way. The Prophets, on the other hand, bring life to the law, revealing the unfolding of God’s plan with man.
Similarly, the written Word kills while the revealed Word brings life, according to 2 Corinthians 3:6: “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
To be continued.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.
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