Christ and the Law
Matthew 5:17-20
This morning we come to a new section in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:17-20. Jesus has been teaching His disciples (Matt. 5:1-2) about the kingdom of heaven. In the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12) He has given the characteristics of those who are in the kingdom of heaven. Then He spoke about the influence of His disciples in this world. Already we have seen that what Jesus teaches is counter-cultural. Disciples of Jesus are very different from the world around them and because of this, they have a great impact on the world by being salt and light to prevent corruption, expose darkness, and reveal the truth that is in Jesus Christ. This sermon has certainly been convicting and challenging.
When Jesus began to teach the radically different character of the kingdom of heaven, He knew that some would accuse Him of coming to do away with the Law; He knew they would accuse Him of proclaiming something entirely new. So, here in Matthew 5:17, Jesus says something that must have struck His original listeners as one of the most remarkable things they had ever heard a man say: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
First of all, do not miss the significance of Jesus’ statement “I came” (literally “I am come”). Many Jews understood that to be a messianic reference—that He was the One that Moses, in the Old Testament scriptures, had promised would come, a Prophet like himself (Deut. 18:15). John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Coming One” (Matthew 11:3), and some people who heard Jesus teach and saw Him work miracles referred to Him as “the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).
Even more, Jesus not only asserted that He had come into this world, but He also says that He came for a purpose. He came, not to “destroy” or to somehow “nullify” or “abrogate” the law of God or the Old Testament scriptures. He did not come to start something radically new. Instead, He makes the remarkable assertion that He came to “fulfill” or “accomplish” God’s law! Jesus’ reference to “the Law and the Prophets” is a reference to the entire Old Testament.
There are some bible teachers today that simply want to focus only on the New Testament scriptures and do not see the Old Testament as having any relevance to Christians. One popular preacher says, “Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well.”[1] He claimed that the problem with the modern church is “our incessant habit of reaching back into the old covenant concepts, teachings, sayings, and narratives.”[2] Jesus and the apostles who wrote the New Testament clearly did not share this view.
Listen again to what Jesus says:
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:17-20).
Jesus intended these words for His disciples, those who would come to Him in the posture of the Beatitudes, those who would be salt and light in the world. In this section Jesus answers two questions: 1) What is Christ’s relationship to the law? And 2) What is the disciple’s relationship to the law?[3]
Some say that this is one of the hardest passages in the Sermon on The Mount to understand. But I think it outlines fairly easily if you look at the conjunctions in the passage. Conjunctions are words that join one verbal idea to another. There are three very key conjunctions in this passage that help us to see its structure.
The most important conjunction in this passage is the word “therefore” in Matthew 5:19. “Therefore” indicates that the following idea is the consequence of the previous one. In this case, it makes what Jesus said in Matthew 5:19-20 to be the consequence of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18. And this gives us the two main points of what Jesus teaches. In Matthew 5:17-18, He describes His own relationship to God’s law; then after saying, “therefore“; He then goes on in Matthew 5:19-20 to describe the relationship of His own disciples to God’s law.
What this means is that what the law means to us as Jesus’ disciples is a consequence of what the law means to Him. If Jesus came to honor it and fulfill it, then as His disciples we must make sure that we honor it and live in conformity to it as well. Did Jesus believe in God’s law? Absolutely! Did He teach the Old Testament? All the time! In fact, Jesus takes the law of God from the barnacles of Jewish Rabbinic tradition, which had corrupted it and dragged it down to a human level, sweeps it clean, and lifts it up to a status that they could not comprehend. He gave a greater commitment to the Scripture than the most scrupulous, pious scribe or Pharisee ever thought of giving. He held the Old Testament higher than they ever did. I want to have the same attitude toward the scripture that Jesus had, Don’t you?
Notice also the two other conjunctions. The first one is the word “for” in Matthew 5:18, “For assuredly, I say to you . . .” That conjunction makes what is said in Matthew 5:18 to be the basis of what is said in Matthew 5:17. And the same is true for the word “for” in Matthew 5:20; “For I say to you . . .” That conjunction makes what is said in Matthew 5:20 to be the basis of what is said in Matthew 5:19.
With that structure in mind, let’s begin by looking at . . .
1. Christ’s relationship to God’s law (Matthew 5:17-18).
Jesus says, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 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.” The basis of Jesus’ assertion that He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17), is found in the abiding authority of the law (Matthew 5:18). Nothing of the law would pass away until all of it is fulfilled.
This is a remarkable assertion about the law, isn’t it? Jesus calls it “the Law and the prophets“; which was a way of expressing the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures. In another passage, Jesus spoke of John the Baptist and said that “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John” (Matthew 11:13). And elsewhere, He speaks of the things “which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms . . .” (Luke 24:44). And so, Jesus is speaking of God’s law as it was recorded for us and preserved in the pages of the whole of the Old Testament scriptures.
And notice that Jesus affirms that its authority extended down to the very letter forms of God’s written law. He said that one “jot” or one “tittle” will by no means pass from it until all of it is fulfilled. Have you ever wondered what a “jot” was? It’s a Hebrew letter, and I can even show it to you. Turn in your Bible to Psalm 119. This psalm is an acrostic poem. All eight verses in each stanza begin with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The first, in Psalm 119:1 is Aleph; the tenth in Psalm 119:73, is Yod. Do you see that strange little “comma-like” mark? That’s the yod or, as we say it in English, the “jot”. It’s the smallest Hebrew letter in the alphabet. And would you like to see a “tittle”? It’s not a Hebrew letter, but instead, is the tiny mark that makes the difference between one letter and another. Look above Psalm 119:81. Do you see that backward “C” shape? That’s the Hebrew letter Kaph. But now look at the Hebrew letter just above Psalm 119:9, the letter Beth. Can tell the difference between Beth and Kaph? They look almost the same, except Kaph is smoothly curved on the bottom but the letter Beth has a tiny little stroke on the bottom. That tiny stroke is called in Hebrew “a little horn”; but in our English bible, we call it a “tittle”.
Jesus is going to the most extreme extent possible to tell us that nothing of God’s law will pass away until all of it is fulfilled—not the smallest letter, and not the least stroke of the pen. Everything will happen just as God has said it will happen. When heaven and earth itself have finally passed away, it will be known to all that not a single word that the Lord had spoken will have failed (Josh. 21:45), and that all He said will have come to pass (Josh. 23:14).
We are meant to take what Jesus says here about the enduring authority of God’s word very seriously. He has made this same point to us in other places in the Bible. In Luke 16:17, He said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Think of that! Many unbelieving people throughout history have tried to wipe the Bible off the planet; but it would be easier for them to wipe the planet out of the heavens instead than to wipe out one single pen-stroke of God’s written word! Jesus, who is Himself the God of the Bible in human flesh, said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Luke 21:33). God’s words were written on earth by the God of heaven; but those very words that God gave will outlast both heaven and earth themselves!
This is what Jesus believed about the Old Testament. Can we really claim to be true followers of Jesus Christ, and hold to some lesser view of the marvelous authority of the Scriptures than He held to?
Jesus affirmed the enduring authority of God’s word. He even strengthened His point by saying, “For assuredly, I say to you . . .” We can count on every stroke of God’s word to prove to be true to the very end of heaven and earth itself. And this fact serves as the basis of Jesus’ assertion about Himself in 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.”
Some have insisted that Jesus came to set the law aside. They read, in the verses that follow in the Sermon on The Mount, that Jesus would quote the Old Testament and say, “You have heard that it was said to those of old . . .” (Matthew 5:21); and then Jesus said, “But I say to you . . .” So, they assume that Jesus is setting the law of the Old Testament aside and instituting a new law of His own in its place. But we know that this is not what Jesus means, because He tells us plainly that until heaven and earth pass away, nothing of even the most minute portions of God’s word will pass until all of it is fulfilled. And for that reason, He urges us not to think that He came to “destroy” it or abolish it in any way.
Instead, He asserts to us that His mission was to “fulfill” it. The Greek word used here is one that Matthew uses 17 times in his Gospel; and in 15 of those 17 times, it refers to Jesus; and in each occasion in which it refers to Jesus, it has the meaning of “fulfillment” in the sense of Jesus accomplishing the intention of His heavenly Father as it was revealed in the Old Testament Scripture.[4] For instance in Matthew 1 after telling about the coming birth of Jesus to Mary we read, “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet . . .” (Matthew 1:22). Matthew uses that same formula repeatedly. When John the Baptist sought to prevent Jesus from coming forward to be baptized, Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). When Jesus’ disciples sought to rescue Him from His betrayers in the garden, He stopped them, saying, “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” (Matt. 26:54).
In fact, Jesus affirmed that the Old Testament Scriptures were all about Himself. To the Pharisees who opposed Him, He said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me . . .” (John 5:39). He told them, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). After He rose from the dead, He told His doubting disciples, “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27). He later told them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44).
This is the remarkable claim that Jesus makes here in Matthew 5:17—that He Himself came to fulfill the law and the prophets. Jesus did not, as you can plainly see, come to the earth in order to set the law of God aside, because the law of God could never be set aside. Instead, He came to fulfill it.
How did Jesus fulfill the law?
Some say He fulfilled it in His teaching—that is, that Jesus filled out the Old Testament law through His teaching. The law was a sketch, and He colored it all in. But Jesus did not add to the law—He clarified its original meaning. That is what Jesus does in Matthew 5:21-48. He is not changing God’s law, but showing what God intended by the law. In fact Jesus would later sum up the whole law in the great commandment, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 23:37) and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 23:39).
It could be said that Jesus fulfilled the law by meeting its demands. Galatians 4:4 says that Christ was born under the law. In Matthew 3:15, at Christ’s baptism, he declared how he must fulfill all righteousness. Christ obeyed all of the Mosaic law perfectly. Jesus fulfilled the law by keeping it perfectly. He never violated God’s rules. He was completely righteous. That is true. Jesus filled out every minute detail of God’s law.
But what I think that Jesus is really getting at here is that He fulfills the Old Testament by being its fulfillment Himself. John MacArthur writes, “What I mean by that is that He didn’t come just to rescue the law from rabbinical perversion. And He didn’t come just to be a model of righteousness. He came to bring in everlasting righteousness by being the Messiah that the law predicted.”[5]
Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets by fulfilling its messianic prophecies. I have already pointed out that Matthew majors on Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Over and over, he uses the phrase “that it might be fulfilled” (Matt. 1:22; 2:15, 23; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35 …).
But not only did Jesus fulfill specific predictions of Himself in the scriptures, He also fulfilled the Old Testament types and shadows. Colossians 2:16-17 says: “16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The food laws, religious festivals, and sabbath days were all shadows fulfilled in Christ. As shadows, aspects of Christ could be discerned from them which helped prepare people for the coming messiah. The Sabbath represented how Christ would be our rest. The Day of Atonement demonstrated how a perfect lamb would be a substitute for the people. When John saw Christ, he said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). The atonement lamb never removed people’s sins, that is why every year it had to be offered again. But after Christ, there is no longer a need to practice the Day of Atonement. Christ completed it. He perfectly fulfilled it (Matt 5:17).
In the same way God sent manna from heaven for Israel to eat, Christ said he was manna from heaven (John 6:32-35). When the Israelites were dying from snake bites, Moses called for them to look at a raised bronze snake and live. That was a picture of Christ on the cross and how those who believed in him would be saved (John 3:14-15). Christ is the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45). The first Adam willfully followed his wife into sin, but the last Adam died for his wife—the people of God—so that she might be saved. Christ fulfills not only the law, but the prophecies and the stories of the Old Testament.
The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews makes a big deal about Jesus being the fulfillment of the Old Testament. For example, he contrasts Christ as our High with the Levitical priesthood and the High Priest Aaron (MacAthur).
Aaron entered the earthly tabernacle; Christ entered the heavenly temple. Aaron entered once a year; Christ entered once for all. Aaron entered beyond the veil; Christ rent the veil. Aaron offered many sacrifices; Christ offered one. Aaron offered for his own sin; Christ offered only for our sin. Aaron offered the blood of bulls; He offered His own blood.
Aaron was a temporary priest; He is an eternal one. Aaron was fallible; He is infallible. Aaron was changeable; He is unchangeable. Aaron was continual; He was final. Aaron’s was imperfect; His was perfect. Aaron’s priesthood was insufficient; His is all-sufficient. Aaron’s priesthood was not all-prevailing; His is all-prevailing.[6]
The same fulfillment in Christ could be said of the Levitical offerings and sacrifices, the tabernacle and temple, the feasts and ceremonies. The point is that Jesus fulfills every part of the law.
And because He fulfilled this law which can never be set aside, we, who have sinned and fallen short of God’s law, find that it is completely fulfilled in us through Him. And the man or woman who is thus related to the King doesn’t find that He encourages them to now disregard the law, but rather to go on to progressively conform to the holy standards of this very law that He came to fulfill.
This, I believe, is why it should be a great encouragement to us that Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. It’s because He came to fulfill it for us! And it’s also why Jesus’ words should be a great exhortation to us. It’s because He fulfilled it for us in order to make us into ‘100% righteous law-keepers’ in God’s sight by faith.
One of the characteristics of someone who is a true disciple of Jesus Christ is that they have a transformed heart with respect to the law of God. They love God’s law as their Savior loved it, and seek to honor it as He honored it. And they are enabled by the indwelling Christ to keep it from the heart.
Our God’s holy law abides forever. May that fact drive us back to The Beatitudes – back to the beginning; as those who are poor in spirit before God; and as those who mourn over our short-fallenness with respect to God’s holy demands; and as those who are meek before God in seeking His pardoning grace; and most certainly, as those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness”.
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[1] Andy Stanley, quoted by Al Mohler at https://albertmohler.com/2018/08/10/getting-unhitched-old-testament-andy-stanley-aims-heresy accessed 10-16-2022
[2] Andy Stanley, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, quoted by Michael Kruger at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/irresistible-andy-stanley/ accessed 10-16-2022
[3] Greg Allen, God’s Law Abides, https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2004/091904.htm#f1 accessed 10-16-2022 Copyright © 2004 Bethany Bible Church. Used by permission granted on the web site. I have adapted Allen’s outline and was helped by many of his points in developing this sermon.
[4] The Greek word translated “fulfilled” (pléraõ) is found in the following places in Matthew’s Gospel: 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15; 4:14; 5:17; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35, 48; 21:4; 23:32; 26:54, 56; and 27:9, 35. In all of these cases except two, “fulfillment” is used to express that God’s revealed intention was accomplished by Christ. The two exceptions are 13:48, which speaks of a literal “filling”; and 23:32, which speaks of the scribes and Pharisees accomplishing the wicked intention of their fathers.
[5] John MacArthur, Christ and the Law, Part 1, https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/2209/christ-and-the-law-part-1 accessed 10-16-2022
[6] John MacArthur, ibid.
