Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

¹⁷ “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. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-20

Have you ever seen one of those movies where throughout the whole movie the journey is long and hard, there has been tragedy and sorrow, with pockets of joy but then the movie ends and you don’t know what happened with the characters. There was no great crecendo to the story that made you smile and rejoice but rather left you uneasy and wondering why they would leave the ending like that?

This is what the Old Testament is like. Genesis to Malachi we read through all of its ups and downs but then no resolved end. For 400 years after Malachi – God is silent. There are no biblical books here. There was no prophet sent to call Israel up out of darkness. Perhaps God decided that He had given sufficient instruction and now they could learn to actually live it. They didnt. They couldn’t and maybe that too was the point. Then here comes Jesus the fulfillment of the Law. The crecendo after the darkest of dark long nights. Every dot of an I and every cross of a t in the Law was fulfilled in Christ.

The scriptures say, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” We don’t get our righteousness from the Law. It doesn’t have the power to break the power of sin. But Jesus does! The Law is beautiful. We can’t just throw it out. We don’t get to heaven through it but we do see the character of God, what is right and wrong, and how to live.

Where in your life do you deny the Law? Ignore it or even disdain it?

Father, forgive me for the way I’ve treated Your Law as less the complementary to You. Help me to love Your Law for Your Word says, “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.” I want my steps to be steady and stable, therefore teach me to love Your law. Jesus loved Your Law and fulfilled it. Help me be like Jesus. In His precious Name. Amen.

All is grace,

Starla