SERIES: WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT WHY HE CAME
“I CAME TO FULFILL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS”
MATTHEW 5:17-20
INTRODUCTION
A young boy was bitterly disappointed at not being cast as Joseph in his church’s nativity play. He was given the minor role of the innkeeper instead. Throughout the weeks of rehearsal, he plotted and planned how he could avenge himself against his successful rival.
Finally the day of performance arrives. Joseph and Mary make their entrance and knock on the door of the inn. The innkeeper opens the door a fraction and eyes the couple very coldly. Joseph pleads, “Can you give us lodging and board for the night?” Joseph then steps back and calmly awaits the expected answer: “There is no room in the inn.”
But the boy playing the innkeeper had not plotted and planned all those weeks for nothing. He flings the door open wide, beams cordially, and cries out in a loud voice, “Come on in. You shall have the best room in the hotel.”
There was an awkward pause, but then, with a great presence of mind, the young Joseph looks at Mary and says, “Hold on. I’ll take a look inside first.” And with that, he pushes past the innkeeper, turns around, comes back, shakes his head firmly, and announces, “I’m not taking my wife into a place like that. Come on, Mary, we’ll sleep in the stable.”
Needless to say, the plot was back on course. The plot was not deviated from just because someone didn’t like their role in the story.
Jesus had course that was plotted for Him. Many of the details of Jesus’ life were prophesied hundreds of years before He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. In fact, there are several hundred prophecies concerning Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection in the Old Testament.
Last week we started our Christmas series. It’s not a typical Christmas series where we look at the traditional scenes about Jesus’ birth – Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the angels, the wise men. It’s a series called “What Jesus Said About Why He Came.” During the Christmas season, we celebrate “God with us” – when God came to earth as a man. That God-man’s name is Jesus and during His time here on earth, He made several declarations concerning why He came. During this series we’re going to look at those statements and see how they affect our lives. Today’s statement: “I Came to Fulfill the Law and the Prophets.”
Mt. 5:17-20 – “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. 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. 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.”
What does it mean to “fulfill” something? Webster defines “fulfill” as “to carry out something promised; to do something required; to satisfy a condition; to complete.” Jesus did all those things and more when He came to this earth over 2,000 years ago. His fulfillment of the law and the prophets carries with it some very important things for His people today.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS
What exactly are “the Law and the Prophets”? It was a way of referring to what was then the entirety of God’s revealed will. The Law consists of the first five books of our Old Testament. It’s in these books that we find the initial revelation of God’s nature and His revelation concerning the life He desired for His people. The Prophets consisted of the books we term “history” books (Joshua-2 Kings) as well as the books of “wisdom” (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) and the books of the prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve shorter prophets (Hosea-Malchi). The Prophets were viewed as commentary on the Law – an explanation of how to live out the life God desired. The whole Old Testament is sometimes referred to as “The Law” and that’s how we’ll use that term from this point forward.
The first five books of the Law were given to Moses to guide the people of God in spiritual and civil matters after they were led out of slavery in Egypt – when they became a nation. For further understanding, I need to let you know some things concerning the Jews as God’s chosen people.
There were four basic reasons for the existence of the Jews as God’s chosen people. The first reason was so that they could receive and write down God’s revelation of Himself and to record the history of God’s dealing with them and other peoples. Secondly, they existed to protect and preserve the purity and integrity of these revelations. Next, these chosen people were to be witnesses to the pagan Gentiles that there was only one true God and to show these Gentiles how to come to know Him. The Jews failed in this area many times and along with their rebellion against God’s teachings about chasing after other gods is the reason they were sent into captivity and then scattered across the world – so that God’s word and presence was brought to areas that might never have heard of Him otherwise. The fourth reason for their existence as God’s chosen people is so that they would be the ethnic people through whom Messiah would be born. Rom. 9:4-5 –“Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!” Satan tried several times to destroy this chosen race through wholesale destruction. The impartation of God’s message was an important mission for His people – including being the ancestry line of God’s most important Word – His Son Jesus Christ.
The Law was given to teach about the concept sin and how it separates us from a Holy God. Rom. 3:20 –“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we
become conscious of sin.”
The Law was perfect (complete) for what God intended it to do. Ps. 19:7a – “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.” Jesus recognized this fact and even stated the difficulty in overturning or doing away with the Law in vs. 18 of our text: “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.” The phrase “smallest letter nor the least stroke of a pen…” is translated in the KJV as “jot and tittle.” It’s a reference to the vowel and accent markings for the original Hebrew of the Old Testament.
The Law was designed to be temporary – at least its ritual sacrifices and religious observances were temporary. Jer. 31:31-33 – “‘The time is coming," declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD. ‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ ” And Heb. 10:1-4 – “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—
not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after
year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered?
For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to
take away sins.”
In light of that biblical information, the question remains: How did Jesus fulfill the Law and the Prophets? Remember Webster’s definition of “fulfill”. It means “to carry out something promised; to do something required; to satisfy a condition; to complete.”
First, He fulfilled the Law’s purpose of demonstrating God’s standard of righteousness. Jesus’ perfect life showed us how sinful our lives are. 1 Pet. 2:21-23 – “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
Second, He fulfilled the Law’s penalty by giving His life as payment for our sin. 1 Pet. 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning His first coming. Science has developed a method of studying odds. It’s called the science of compound probabilities – a mathematical study of situations and the odds of possible outcomes.
One of the most amazing studies conducted using this method was recorded by Professor Peter Stoner in Science Speaks. The purpose of this study was to determine the odds of one man in history fulfilling all the prophecies recorded in the Bible that point to the Jewish Messiah. There are over 300 different messianic Bible prophecies. Stoner chose 61 that are clearly defined and specific for this study.
To begin, eight prophecies were chosen that were totally beyond the human control of Jesus: His place of birth (Micah 5:2); the time of His birth (Dan. 9:25; Gen. 49:10); the manner of His birth (Is. 7:14); His betrayal (Zech. 11:11-13); and His manner of death (Ps. 22; Is. 53). Note the detail concerning His manner of death – crucifixion – including the gambling of the Roman soldiers for His robe. The prophecy concerning His manner of death was recorded 800 years before the Romans invented crucifixion. It includes the pirecing of his hands feet and side (Ps. 22; Zech 12:10); people mocking Him )Is. 53; Ps. 22), and His burial (Is. 53:9).
The compound probability of just these eight prophecies being fulfilled by one person is 1 in 1017. 1017 is a 10 with 17 zeroes after it. I don’t know what you call it. It’s bigger than a trillion by quite a few zeroes..
To illustrate the enormity of this possibility, you would have to take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of the state of Texas. They cover the entire state two feet deep. Next, mark a silver dollar, fly over Texas, and drop it out anywhere. Then, blindfold someone and let him parachute in anywhere he wants. He should take his time because he only gets one pick and the coin he picks must be the one you marked.
What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man. Jesus fulfilled them all.
As amazing as all that sounds Jesus didn’t come just to fulfill prophecies. He said that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets. We’re talking about something much bigger than just the staggering odds that one person would fulfill even eight prophecies.
THE IMPACT OF JESUS’ TEACHING CONCERNING THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS
What was Jesus trying to get us to understand when he taught about Himself as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets? First, Jesus says that he did not come to give a new Law. He was accused many times of trying to do just that thing. And it was this very perception that contributed to his death by crucifixion. They misinterpreted Jesus’ intentions when He said several times, “You have heard it said (and then gives a quote from the Law) but I say to you…”
But if you look closely at the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, He rigorously defended the place of the Old Testament in the grand scheme redemption. If fact, numerous times He quoted Old Testament scripture as fact and as authoritative. During His temptation in the wilderness right after His baptism, Jesus utilizes passages from Deut. 8:3, 6:13, and Ps. 91:11-12. Jesus uses these passages to answer Satan’s tempting questions.
At Jesus’ first public appearance after His temptation, Jesus announced His divine commission in Lk. 4;16-21, by reading from the prophet Isaiah. In Jn. 15:18-25, during the Last Supper and the final evening with His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus used verses from the Psalms to explain the irrational and often violent hatred that met Him during His life and would be inflicted on His followers by the world.
Jesus even confirmed the historical accuracy of the Old Testament by referring to the events described in Jonah concerning the prophet swallowed by a large fish. He uses that event as a prototype of what would happen after His body was dead. In Mt. 12:40, Jesus says, “For as Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Jesus referred to Himself by using Old Testament descriptive names for the Messiah. He also accepted recognition of usage of these names when addressed so by others. Some of these descriptive names are Son of Man, Son of David, The Prophet, and The Servant..
So what do we see in Jesus’ usage and teaching concerning the Old Testament Law and Prophets? Jesus was not challenging the law and attempting to change it. He was simply correcting misunderstandings of what God had said. Jesus didn’t challenge the Old Testament. He simply challenged the established interpretations of the Old Testament. His goal was to change hearts and minds.
“To fulfill” means to bring to a state of completeness or to an intended goal. In the context, to fulfill can mean to right or correct for the purpose of bringing about God’s original intentions. Seth Wilson from Ozark Christian College explained it this way: “The apple blossom is fulfilled when it matures into the fruit. When that takes place, the blossom falls off. It is not abolished, it is fulfilled.”
Why did the established political and religious days get so angry? People don’t like it when you challenge the established interpretation of things. Usually the thought is, “We’ve been doing it that way for a long time. Why should we change it now?” You do know The Seven Last Words of the Church, don’t you? “We’ve never done it that way before.”
Jesus wasn’t trying to change the unchangeable in the Law and the Prophets. His goal was not information for our minds. His goal was transformation of our lives. Sadly, we take trivial things and make them important and take the important things and make them trivial.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JESUS’ TEACHING
CONCERNING THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS
Jesus was trying to get us to understand that the message of the Law and the Prophets is not external but internal. He looks at those listening to what He is saying and then adds this statement in vs. 20 of our text: “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.”
In the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were the controlling religious authorities with the people. They determined what was right and wrong. They had 613 commands regarding the keeping of the Law (actually 613 commands on top of what the Law stated). Then they wrote a commentary on these commands and made that binding on people as well!
One example is that they argued about what the law meant when it said you could not work on the Sabbath. They said that if you untied a knot using two hands, it was work. If it only required on hand, it was okay. If you carried food, that was work, unless the food was less than one dried fig or was for a meal to be eaten immediately. If you wrote more than two letters (as in letters of the alphabet) together in permanent ink, that was work. You could, however, write all you want in the dust or in something erasable. Even today, the orthodox Jew will not call an elevator on the Sabbath because that is work. He cannot summon the elevator but he can ride it.
I like the words of Edward Frey, a minister from Louisiana, on this subject. In a sermon entitled Dare to Go Beyond! he says:
When we look at our own lives we see that we’re no different from the Pharisees of jesus’ day. We, too,
know the rules, and we try to be letter perfect. We know God commands worship – so we got to church
once a week but ignore the greater principle of making worship a daily lifestyle. We would never consider
having an affair – again God has a rule against that – but we don’t even think twice about viewing oonline
pornography for the purpose of sexual self-gratification. We would never dare lie under oath in a courtroom,
but its alright to stretch the truth when your parents ask why you came home late.
We are good at being letter perfect. And the danger is that we can become content with our outward
keeping of God’s commands. We are all good at thinking we deserve God’s love and mercy. We become
content with merely going through the motions – thinking that we have earned God’s love by being letter
perfect.
What must we do to be letter perfect? Must we attend Sunday school and Bible study, too? Letter-
perfect people will try to answer that question with a watch or a clock. As long as we “put in our time” and
suffer with the rest as the pastor drones on, well, then we’ve done our duty. How much are we supposed to
give as an offering? Letter-perfect people will try to answer that question with a dollar amount as if we can
somehow put a price on the work of redemption. Yet, sinful hearts will be tempted to put a price tag of
Christ’s work. When we do that we will be led to do less than what God requires because we’ll be more
concerned about the penny than with the principle.
Jesus is saying: “If your righteousness doesn’t exceed that of these men you consider to be the most religious, then you haven’t found what you need.” Your need is deeper than outward religiosity. The true need in your life can only be fulfilled through relationship with Jesus Christ.
You can take a pig out of the pigpen and scrub it until its spotless. You can spray it with the finest and most expensive perfumes or colognes and tie a pink ribbon around its neck. You can even teach it to perform tricks. But as soon as you turn it loose and allow it to be itself again, it will go right back to the mud and the slop. Why? Because you haven’t changed its nature – it’s still a pig.
Pharisees are good at externals: ritual washings, perfume, pink ribbons, and all kinds of public tricks. But inside their nature has not changed. Jesus didn’t come to give new law or new prophecies. He came to give a new nature. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come.”
CONCLUSION
A bright young pre-med student from Harvard University took a vacation into the mountains during the summer following his sophomore. Year. There he met a monk who said to him, “don’t you see how you are poisoning your soul with your success-oriented way of life? Your idea of happiness is to stay up all night studying for an exam so that you can get a better grade than your friends. Your idea of a happy marriage is not finding a woman who will make you whole, but winning the girl that everyone else wants. That’s not how people are supposed to live. Life is not a competition. Give it up. Come join us at the monastery where we share, live in harmony and love one another. There you can find true happiness.”
The young man completed four years at a competitive high school to get into Harvard and had worked hard to become one of the top pre-med students in his class there at the university. He was ripe for this appeal from the monk. He called his parents and told them that he would not be coming home. He was dropping out of school to live in a monastery.
Six months later, he wrote his parents the following letter:
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you weren’t happy with the decision I made this past summer, but I want to tell you that I am
doing great. For the first time in my life, I am at peace. Here there is no competing, no hustling, no trying
to get ahead of anyone else. Here we are all equal and we all share.
This way of life is so much in harmony with the inner essence of my soul that in only six months, I’ve
become the number two disciple in the entire monastery. I think I can become number one by June!
You can make all the outward changes you want. But if you’re still the same on the inside, you will never
find fulfillment in this life and never find satisfaction in life after death. What you need is a change on the inside: a new nature. You can’t get a new nature by doing good things. You can’t get a new nature by discovering new revelation. You can only get a new nature when you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.
2 Cor. 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus came not only to be the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He came so that you might find fulfillment in Him. Have you allowed Christ to make you into a new creation? Have you allowed Him to become your righteousness?
