Not to Abolish, But to Fulfill

Mt. 5:17-20
Mt. 5:17b, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them

There existed a great confusion among Jesus' disciples as to his position toward the Law. Some had concluded that he was going to abolish the Law with his new teachings. However, they were greatly mistaken. Jesus had absolute faith and reverence to the Law— the pillar of the Scriptures. Even if people would continue to break the Law, Jesus had conviction that it would last forever. Jesus made every effort to fulfill the Law. Not only did he do so, but also he taught his disciples to do the same. Despite their shortcomings and weaknesses, he believed that they would be able to do so. His vision has impacted his followers for centuries to this date.

After giving the Beatitudes, Jesus proclaimed, "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 (Mt. 5:17).” Some people had misunderstood that Jesus had come to abolish the Law. Jesus was aware of this, confronted it and clarified his position. The Law and Prophets are a reference to the entire Old Testament. The Old Testament consists of three parts: the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the literature like histories and psalms. The Law is like the pillar in the house, the Prophets are like bricks and mortar, and all others are like the decoration of the house. In this respect, the Law and Prophets encompass the Old Testament. On the other hand, the Law and the Prophets can be represented by one: the Ten Commandments. The Prophets relate the Law to real life. Based on the Law of God, the Prophets in the Old Testament rebuked the contemporary people who violated the Law. For example, the prophet Isaiah rebuked his people when they abandoned God and worshiped idols, violating the first commandment of the Ten Commandments. Everything hinged on the Ten Commandments. Jesus further summarized the Ten Commandments into two commands: to love God and to love our neighbor like ourselves (Mt. 22: 40). Here we focus on the Law in light of the Ten Commandments.

The goal of the Law is to bring order and justice among the people and guide people to be right with God. For example, if people kill other people arbitrarily, nobody would remain on Earth. If people commit adultery arbitrarily, no spouse could trust the other and no family would be sustained. The Law protects human rights. When God gave the Law to his people at the Mount of Sinai, God had a great vision and hope for his people. God wanted them to be a kingdom of priests and holy nation (Ex. 19:6). This hinges on their obedience to the Law of God. In order to enforce the Law, God taught them the principle of an “eye for eye and tooth for tooth.” Nobody dares take out another’s eye if his eye is also plucked out. At the same time, the Law understands the shortcomings of mankind, that despite one’s best effort he may end up violating the Law of God. Because of this, the Law provides a means for forgiveness. The Law also provides a means for compensating one’s sins. However, it is very costly. One has to follow the protocol as prescribed by the Law. He has to bring a sacrifice to a priest, confess his sins and offer it to God. Depending on the instruction of the priest, he also has to go and meet the person he has harmed and make reconciliation with him.

There were things that led the people to believe that Jesus came to abolish the Law. His emphasis was forgiveness unlike the Pharisees who always looked for a way to accuse people. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus visited John the Baptist. He did not visit the chief priests and the high priest, and did not undergo training from them. He did not inherit their philosophies and policies. John the Baptist was considered a radical at that time. He proclaimed the forgiveness of sins while he baptized people. According to the Old Testament, people should have gone to the temple to confess their sins to the priests, offer their sacrifices and receive forgiveness from God. So the approach of John the Baptist for the forgiveness of sins disturbed the religious leaders. Yet, people recognized him as the prophet, and went to him confessing their sins and receiving water baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus himself went to John, received the baptism, and started his ministry. Although his baptism was an inauguration ceremony as the Son of God, he fully endorsed the water baptism for the forgiveness of sins. This paved the way for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' sacrifice after his death (Hebrews). During his earthly messianic ministry, Jesus' message was full of grace and truth. He emphasized more blessings than curses and punishments (Mt. 5:1-9). Later, he proclaimed the forgiveness of sins by faith without even using water (Mk 2:5, 6). This appeared to ignore the Law regarding the forgiveness of sins. People inferred that Jesus would completely ignore the Law. They were wrong.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Let's think how Jesus did so. First, he met its demands and requirements. It is done by obedience, not by studying or understanding. Jesus obeyed the Law of God. He was made under the Law (Gal. 4: 4). When he was a child he was consecrated to the Lord according to the Law of Moses (Lk. 2:22, 23). He honored his parents, kept the sanctity of the Sabbath, prayed, gave alms, and did whatever was asked by the Law. He obeyed perfectly and never broke the Law in anything. Second, he taught us to go beyond meeting its mere expectation. Fulfilling implies perfection and mastery. Not only was Jesus going to meet the literal expectation of the Law, but also its original spirit. When he talked about the murder, he went beyond the murder. He talked about hatred which was the root cause of murder. He fought against hatred before it would materialize. Third, Jesus helped others to obey the Law. Jesus did so through teaching. Above all, he did so through his example. He loved his neighbors. He accepted lepers as they were and even touched them. Jesus loved sinners and made friends with them. Because of his example, his disciples also followed and made friends with them. Fourth, he paid the price for mistake and upheld justice. When one breaks another’s tooth, he should pay the price for mending it. When one steals another’s ox, he should not only return the ox to the owner, but also pay all the losses during the time of its absence. Jesus knew the consequence of sins, which was death. Normally the person who breaks the Law has to pay the price. But there is a case when he has no means to pay back. In such case, he has to pay the price by his own body. He should serve in jail. When he murders someone, he has to pay the price by his own life. There are the sins that he cannot even pay back by his own life. Jesus did so on his behalf. As the Son of God, he sacrificed himself as a ransom so that he could be forgiven while meeting God's justice.

Jesus did everything to uphold the Law, since it would last forever and was the only anchor that would never yield. “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 (Mt. 5:18).” The Law is divided into two: natural and social law. The former defines the relation among materials, and the latter among the people. The social law can be further divided into two classes: divine and civil law. The divine law deals with the relation between God and men and the civil law is strictly between men. In this classification, the law Jesus mentioned belongs to the social law. The natural law is known to last forever and social law has short life time. For example, the law of gravitation holds the universe in place. Although there is no string or rod between the moon and the Earth, the moon never leaves the Earth since they are held together by the law of gravitation. If the law of gravitation breaks down, the moon will drift away from the Earth. In fact if the law of gravitation were to fail, everything including the sun would drift away from the Earth. The Earth would get cold and everyone would die. Thankfully, physicists are fairly certain that the law of gravitation will not go away. When God created heavens and Earth, he established both the physical and social law. People have no power to change the physical law, so people understand it and abide by the law. They build a house and building according the law of gravitation. On the other hand, people have the freedom to break the social law. Because people can do so according to their convenience and sinful nature, we tend to think that the social law does not last; it is even considered arbitrary. A law that is considered good at one point of time is proved bad at another point of time. Jesus’ view of the Law is different. Although men may break it, it does not disappear, but stands forever as is. It does not depend on men’s attitude, nor men’s faithfulness. God upholds it and God holds it more important and higher than the physical law. God clearly revealed the Law and will never change it.

Since Jesus came to fulfill the Law, he also asked his disciples to fulfill the Law. Many came to Jesus because of his grace. Some of them even thought that Jesus came to abolish the Law. They did not worry about the Law at all and lived according to their own feelings and convenience. They were greatly mistaken. Jesus said clearly that, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5: 19, 20). ” Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God. Jesus invited everyone to come to his kingdom. Jesus opened the door so that they could enjoy all kinds of privileges and blessings in his kingdom (Eph. 1:3). Then he told them who would be least and great in his kingdom. His criteria are the Law. Whoever honors and observes the Law is considered great. To make his standard clear, he compared his standard to that of the Pharisees. If anyone was less righteous than the Pharisees, they would never enter the kingdom of heaven. This was a high-reaching and strenuous standard, as at the time it required a great commitment and discipline to be a Pharisee. A person would have to study and understand the Law and make every effort to keep the Law. Only after they passed all the requirements, they were recognized as a Pharisee. So it would require a tremendous effort to surpass the Pharisees in keeping the Law.

Many misunderstood Jesus' position toward the Law— the pillar of the Scriptures. They assumed that Jesus would completely ignore the Law and teach something totally different. They concluded that Jesus would abolish the Law so that nobody in his kingdom would ever worry about it. They were mistaken. He had come to fulfill the Law. He respected the Law as it was. He believed that it would stand even if the heaven and Earth would collapse. He made it as his goal to accomplish the Law. He gave his life to fulfill the Law. His ministry was based on the Law.

More importantly he had a great vision for his disciples in this matter. It would have been easier to accomplish his goal if he had started with well-disciplined people like the Pharisees. Instead he started with sinners who were adept to sinful desires, and had little or no sense of the Law. Yet, he made friends with them. It took time and effort to guide them to obey the Law, but he made every effort to help them. It would have been hard enough to restore them to the level of the Pharisees in keeping the Law, but Jesus went further. He set an even higher standard than the Law as explained clearly in his Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5-7). He believed that his disciples would practice it and by doing so, far surpass the righteousness of even the Pharisees.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is one example. He was a representative of intellectual hedonism. He was brilliant and highly educated. He pummeled himself in mastering rhetoric, the most popular, yet hardest subject of the times. Later he became a professor of rhetoric for the imperial court at Milan. At the same time he lived an immoral life with his concubine. Such life was vindicated and embraced by his previous Manichaean religion. After he was converted by Ro. 13: 13-14, he understood the core of Jesus' teachings - holy life. Augustine forsook his past and lived up to such high standard. According to a legend, he ran the opposite as fast as he could when he saw his old concubines at a distance. There was no mistake in his understanding on Jesus' vision for his disciples despite their immoral past - to fulfill the Law. He not only defended Christianity, but also fought false religions that endorsed immoral life. Many among us in this respect are like little Augustines. Their past life was worse than non-believers. After becoming Jesus' disciples, they understood Jesus' teachings on the Law and far surpassed the non-believers in their holiness.

Jesus was full of grace and truth. His grace was often misunderstood, which led to the abuse of the Law. Jesus came to fulfill the Law. For this he was willing to give his own life. He not only fulfilled the Law, but taught his followers to fulfill the Law. For many who are not well trained in the Law, it is a formidable task. But Jesus has never given up his hope for them. His love and vision bore fruits down through the generation.