3 The Fulfilment of the Law
Speaking to his disciples, Jesus said,
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. Matthew 5: 17 [NIV]
As Christians, how are we to view the rules and regulations of the Old Testament? Jesus sees every part pointing to him as the Messiah, the one who would deliver Israel. And now he has come to fulfil or complete the Scriptures.
What does that mean for us? It does not mean that we can just disregard all that the Old Testament teaches. The Law is still an expression of the mind of God and needs to be taken seriously.
But Jesus goes further than this. He says
Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5: 20 [NIV]
This ought to make us sit up and take notice. The Pharisees were well known for their commitment to following every detail of the Law. How can we do better than they? As Jesus will show later on in chapter 5, while the Pharisees followed the letter of the law, they did not have a deep commitment to spirit of the Law.
No-one can obey every commandment of the Law; so we are all sinners, alienated from God. The purpose of the Law is to lead us to seek Christ who alone can save us.
The law is given not to deliver us, but to show up sin in its true character and so to drive us to grace. [Leslie Newbigin]
Lord Jesus, thank you that you are our righteousness. Thank you that because of your crucifixion and resurrection we have been forgiven and put right with God. Amen.
David Long
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