But the Gospel of Matthew (and the other gospel writers as well!) simply won't allow for this! In fact, Matthew's account is dependent on the Old Testament as we have seen up to this point. Maybe this is why he quotes Jesus' words,
"I have not come to abolish them [the Law and the Prophets] but to fulfill them. 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." [Matthew 5:17-18]Matthew doesn't seem to want to create a rift between Jesus and the Old Testament Law. Why? Because Jesus, Himself, didn't!
JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW AND PROPHETS
So Jesus came to 'fulfill' the Law and the Prophets. But what does this mean? The Greek word for 'fulfill' (pronounced: play-rah-oe) here most likely means "to bring to completion or an intended end." This is confirmed by the fact that the Law and Prophets won't be done away with until "all is accomplished." And so Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets by moving them toward their intended goal or purpose. But what is the goal and purpose of the Old Testament Law and Prophets? To create a people who accurately reflect God and His RULE in this world!
But how did the Law and Prophets help with this goal and purpose? The LAW provided the GUIDELINES and DESIGN for living in God's kingdom and the PROPHETS were the "covenant watchdogs" who encouraged OBEDIENCE to the Law. And so God used (and continues to use) the Law and the Prophets to establish and maintain His kingdom rule on this earth!
So when do we see Jesus fulfilling the Law and the Prophets during His life? How about in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11) when Jesus (God's Son) overcame temptation for forty days and forty nights in the areas where Israel (also called God's son in Hosea 11:1) had failed in the past when they were in the desert for forty years? It's undeniable that, in the desert, Jesus set out to 'fulfill' the Law given in the book of Deuteronomy. In fact, He makes this clear by quoting from Deuteronomy after every temptation! And so Jesus shows Himself to be the faithful Israel! He 'fulfills' where Israel had 'failed'! In doing this, Jesus proves the authenticity of His water and Spirit baptism and that He is truly God's beloved Son with whom God is well pleased.
But what we must not forget in all of this is that Jesus came to establish God's kingdom. And so the Law and the Prophets won't be finally fulfilled until God's kingdom is fully established! This tells us that Jesus' experience in the desert didn't bring God's purposes to their final fulfillment. NO. His experience in the desert was meant primarily to prove to you and me that the power of the Holy Spirit was at work in and through Him. This same Spirit (which according to Jeremiah 31:33 has written God's LAW on our hearts) now lives inside of every believer. And so now, through the power of the Spirit, we can FOLLOW JESUS by being obedient to the LAW. By doing this, we bring God's kingdom and the Law and the Prophets closer to their final fulfillment.
JESUS RE-NEWS THE MOSAIC LAW
But maybe you're thinking, in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), didn't Jesus change and update the TORAH that Moses taught? Didn't Jesus abolish the principle "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" from the TORAH in Matthew 5:38-42? And didn't Jesus teach us to love our enemies in contrast to the Old Testament TORAH which taught us to "hate our enemies" (Matthew 5:43-48)? If so, then Jesus, in essence, is "abolishing the LAW" and doing the very thing He said He did not come to do just a few paragraphs prior (Matthew 5:17-18)!
But I don't believe Jesus changed the TORAH in the Sermon on the Mount! How do I know this? Notice that Jesus uses the phrase "You have heard it SAID...but I say to you" and NOT the phrase "It is WRITTEN...but I say to you." Why is this important? Jesus seems to be confronting mankind's (specifically the teachers of the Law at the time) SPOKEN MISAPPLICATION of the LAW but NOT the WRITTEN LAW in and of itself! In other words, Jesus is renewing the TORAH by clarifying for His disciples it's intended meaning and application (in contrast to what was being taught at the time). And it shouldn't surprise us that people were MISAPPLYING the TORAH. After all, people today take verses out of CONTEXT and APPLY them in ways that defy their intended meaning.
So when people said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy," they were MISAPPLYING the Old Testament. Many believe that the Qumran community taught this type of thing because they thought "love for your neighbor" IMPLIED the opposite ("hatred of outsiders"). But while Leviticus 19:18 teaches us to "Love our neighbors," nowhere does the Old Testament teach us to "hate our enemies." In fact, Leviticus 19:33-34 instructs us to love sojourners and resident aliens as ourselves! This Old Testament passage implies that we, AS INDIVIDUALS, are called to love ALL people (including our enemies).
What about the "eye for an eye" principle? It certainly sounds like Jesus overturns this principle! But once again, the principle was given in the Old Testament to provide the COURT SYSTEM with an equitable formula from which to determine punishment (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:21). And the hope was that the punishment would terminate any PERSONAL vendettas between parties. But it appears that people began to apply this principle outside of the judicial system and use it to justify PERSONAL vengeance. This, in turn, created a cycle of retaliation that Jesus was trying to curb by reinstating the original intent and context for the law.
THE BOTTOM LINE
How does this impact our lives today? We must always remember that behind every LAW in the Old Testament stands PRINCIPLES grounded in God's original CREATION DESIGN. God didn't just pull His LAWS out of thin air. NO. ALL of God's LAWS were created to govern His Kingdom. Jesus knew this. And so while He might have CLARIFIED many of the Old Testament LAWS, He did not come to ABOLISH Moses' TORAH! NO. Jesus RESTORED the original INTENT and HEART behind the LAW. And so Jesus did not treat the Old Testament as a second-class citizen and neither should you and me!
If you would like to read further about this topic here are some helpful books:
Old Testament Ethics For the People of God by Christopher J.H. Wright
Five Views on Law and Gospel by Stanley Gundry (ed.)
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