Fulfilling The Law

Around 8:30 pm on October 8th 1871, a fire broke out in a small barn in Chicago.

Within a few hours it became one of the most devastating fires in American history.

Over 2.5 square miles were totally destroyed.

17,000 structures

Around 300 lives lost

1000,000 left homeless, which at the time, was almost 1/3 of the population of Chicago.

It became known as the Great Chicago Fire.

Hang on to that for a few minutes...

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa and I engaged in a conversation about tithing, and how some people believe that was something that ended when the New Covenant was ushered in.

That concept began tumbling around in my head for several days.

A couple of days after that conversation, I told Lisa I still haven’t heard a word from God about today’s message.

The next day, God indeed put a word on my heart.

A different direction

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes I think God put a word on my heart for one reason, but as I pray, study and begin writing, the real reason is revealed.

Today’s word is such and example.

I thought it was a word about tithing, but actually a much broader and deeper than that.

I’m going to be very venerable with you right now, but it also revealed to me, that I have not moved from pure milk to solid meat, but rather pure milk to pudding.

Not quite to solid meat yet, in my sanctification process!

This process is definitely at God’s pace, not mine.

During my prep time, Satan has sure tried his best to plant seeds of doubt, which has so much more strengthened my resolve to see this through.

BODY

The 4 verses in today’s passage set the tone for the entirety of remainder of Jesus’ ministry on earth.

It is a dense paragraph like a thick rib eye!

Matthew 5:17-20 stand with me as we honor God while reading His word.

The 16 verses prior to this passage, we see Jesus:

Jesus’ first major discourse or sermon, which is considered by most, His greatest and most important sermon.

Present the Beatitudes where He depicts the ideal picture of the life of the society which He came to establish. v 3-10

Followed by “salt and light” which describes the ideal characteristics of His followers-the position or stance, if you will, that His followers should hold. v 11-16

v 17-20 Jesus begins to teach why He came to earth.

Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

Jesus explains that He came to interpret the Torah (the 1st 5 books of the OT), correctly.

We will see in the following 3 verses, that He is outright claiming that the scribes and Pharisees have distorted the Law to serve their own greed and desire for power.

In the Mosaic Law there are 613 rules that feel into 3 categories:

Ceremonial

Civil

Moral

Hopefully, we will be able to unbox those as they relate to Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, at another time.

The religious leaders for over 1000 years had been interpreting the Law to their benefit.

The common man during Jesus’ time could not read Hebrew, so they relied on the scribes and Pharisees to interpret the Law.

Although we won’t dig into verses 21-38, there are 5 times Jesus says:

“You have heard it said” (meaning “you haven’t read this for yourselves”)

“You have heard it said” but “I say”, then He goes on to explain the real meaning of the Law.

His intent was to bring God’s Law (His Word) back to it’s original purpose.

Quick examination of two words in this verse:

Abolish- the Greek transliteration is “dismantle” or “tear down”

The Greek transliteration for fulfill is- “to render full or complete”

I did not come to dismantle the Law, but rather to render it full and complete the Prophets words.

That’s powerful, y’all!

When I was growing up, my grandparents had many sayings that I learned. I say learned, but in some instances, it was more like I memorized them because I heard them so much, but some; I did not understand.

My grandmother used to say “I don’t give one iota”. Any of your elders ever utter such a thing?

Matthew 5:18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

Ask others what does their bible say?

The Darby Bible says it like this: “Until the heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall in no wise, pass from the law till all come to pass”.

Iota is the smallest “mark” or “letter” in the Hebrew language, and a “tittle” is the smallest letter or mark in the Greek language.