I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW
17“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.
18For truly, I
say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass
from the Law until all is accomplished.
19Therefore
whoever relaxes 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 does them
and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20For I tell
you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
MATTHEW
5:17-20
COMMENTARY
In this clear
statement, Lord JESUS explains the importance of the Mosaic Law in the life of
the believers.
It is true that
He gave this sermon while He was alive, before the atonement on the cross, but
nevertheless, the new Christian dispensation was already open, since Jesus was
born.
The Mosaic Law
was given as a set of religious, moral and social rules to the people of
Israel, and through them to the whole world, as an example of what GOD expected
from humanity, which also denoted his immutable character (Deuteronomy 4:6-7).
However, in
their freedom, men could not always perform as requested by GOD, so they sinned
and needed forgiveness. The Bible teaches that Jesus was the only one who ever fulfilled
the Law to the last iota (1Peter 2:22; 1John 3:5) and therefore, He qualified
as the perfect atonement for the sins of humanity.
When JESUS said
that “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from
the Law” (Matthew 5:18), He declared the immutability of God who issued the
commandments, showing that what was morally bad then, it will always be bad, and
therefore, the value of the moral rules, including the social ones, were current forever, while the value of the
religious rules, which Jesus fulfilled with aspects of his own life, like his
death on the cross instead of the sacrifice of animals, and the Lord’s Supper
instead of the Pascha, it would fulfill eternally those regulations, so that no
sacrifices, ceremonies or priesthood were going to be necessary again.
But also gives a
warning. Unless our morality is better than the Jews of the time, like the Pharisees
or Scribes, we wont be admitted into God’s glory, because it demands a change
of heart (John 3:3).
It is not enough
to simply submit to the letter of the Law, by not committing adultery, or murder,
or thieving, and so on, but also, we must not desire these things in our
hearts. Because GOD wants righteous people with Him for eternity, and He is not
speaking about ‘imputed’ righteousness, but real righteousness (Hebrews 12:14).
But also the
word of consolation is given, when JESUS says that He came to fulfilled all the
Law, implying not only that He would perform the Law to the full, as He was
perfect, but also, that his perfection will be offered instead of our sins, so
that we sinful men, when we repent, and not before, we could have access to God’s
forgiveness, so that our shortcomings would be fulfilled in Christ Jesus.
“God made
him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.”
2Corinthians
5:21
Omar Flores.
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