Matt 5:18 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.
Gal 3:19 "What then was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgression until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come."
There is no fulfillment of the law apart from communion with God and no communion with God apart from the fulfillment of the law. The purpose of the law was to bring us to God and make us realize that we are sinners. We cannot keep the law. The law is to show us our sin and our weakness. Jesus lived without sin and in complete obedience to the Father in heaven. To fulfill the law and the prophets means that Jesus is bringing into completion God's promise by being the first and only one who was sinless. He did not sin in any way, even according to God's law.
Christ did not change the plan, only the misunderstanding of it. The entire Old Testament is pointing to God completing His plan. God had given Abraham the promise of the covenant relationship long before the law was set down. It was set by faith.
The Pharisees and Scribes failed to see that salvation was always based on faith. When one was in faith relationship with God, he sought to live a holy and sanctified life and when he could not, he was able to come to an all holy and righteous God and seek heart felt forgiveness through the sacrifice offered by God. The moral law of God remains in force until the consummation of the world.
Jesus is not just fulfilling the law, He is also preserving the law. The NIV Translates it, “until the smallest letter, or the least stroke of a pen”. The jot was like a comma, just a point. A tittle was the finishing of a letter such as crossing a “t” or dotting an “i”. None of the law will be discarded until all has been completed. Until God's complete plan is finally accomplished and we are in heaven with Him in glory.
We are not talking about the civil law of the nation. The ceremonial laws of worship and sacrifice became fantastic types and pictures of the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus completed the Old Testament and gave us greater appreciation and way to worship of an all-wise God who culminates His plan in His Son to His glory. This is not a different understanding, but a fuller understanding. Not a replacement, but a completion. Someone said, “Not abolished, but polished so now you see it for its true intent.” It is Jesus.
According to Jeremiah 31:31-34 the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus when He said that it will no longer be on paper, but in their hearts and in personal relationship with Jehovah. In Ezekiel 36:25-27 it says “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Jesus didn't do away with the law but changes our heart desires to please and honor and glorify Him.
When a bud opens into the rose, the bud is not destroyed but fulfilled. To understand the Old Testament so that it makes sense to us, we look at the pictures and types that point to God's redeeming grace and work in the person of Jesus Christ. He completed the Law so that we might know indeed the true character and love of God with a personal relationship with Him.
Prayer: Lord, I am humbled and in awe of the beauty of Your Majesty in the revelation of Your fulfillment of the Law and the fullness of the salvation that You provided for me.
