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How Jesus Christ Fulfills the Old Testament: an Exegesis of Matthew 5:17-19

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How Jesus Christ Fulfills the Old Testament: an Exegesis of Matthew 5:17-19 How Jesus Christ Fulfills the Old Testament: An Exegesis of Matthew 5:17-19 by James Arlandson Why don't Christians sacrifice animals to atone for their sins? Why aren't Christians required to keep a kosher diet (unless they want to do so out of free choice)? Why aren’t they required to build a central temple in which to perform carefully prescribed rituals in a land specially chosen for them? The three-year ministry of Jesus Christ, culminating in his death and resurrection and the establishment of his church, makes all the difference in the transition from the Old Testament or Covenant to the New Testament or Covenant. In those three short years (or fewer) he ushered in a new era of salvation, although the old era contained the seeds of the new. The most salient and sometimes difficult statement on the relationship between Jesus and his disciples and the Old Covenant is found in Matt. 5:17-19, in the context of the famous Sermon on the Mount. The three verses read as follows in the New International Version: 5:17 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 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. 19 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. This is a complex passage because, among other reasons, at first glance it seems that the Law and Prophets (a New Testament way of saying the entire Scriptures; cf. Matt. 22:40; Luke 16:16) is still in full force until heaven and earth pass away. But as we just noted, the Old Covenant prescribes animal sacrifices, whereas Christians no longer perform them in order to pay for their sins. What is happening? The Old Covenant is to the New Covenant what promise is to fulfillment. How did, does, and shall Jesus Christ fulfill the promises of the Old Covenant? That story is complex. Christians are commanded to read the Old Testament and are allowed to benefit from it, but they do not take everything in it as final. Christians honor the Old Testament as the Word of God, just as Jesus did. But they read it, ultimately, through the vision of Jesus and the Spirit-inspired authors of the New Testament books and epistles. Not everything as final? What parts still apply to them today, if any? The Historical and Literary Contexts It is imperative to analyze the Bible in its historical and literary contexts. Historical Context The following cultural fact is relevant to Matt. 5:17-19. The sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem were still valid at the time of Jesus’ ministry. The entire commands in the Torah (the law) and the rest of the Old Testament were still valid at that time. In fact, the sacrifices do not stop until AD 70, when the Romans under General Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian (ruled AD 69- 79), destroyed the Temple—a relevant image since Jesus says that he did not come to destroy the Old Testament, as we shall see in the next major section. The sacrificial system means that Jesus will use words and ideas that contrast with it as a means of attaining righteousness before God. He will become the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. However, Jesus sometimes speaks to the people in terms of the entire law still being valid, but in the Gospel of Matthew he gradually reveals that he is in the process of reinterpreting the Old Testament and raising the people’s vision to his own words and commands. Such are the last words he speaks before he goes up into heaven (Matt. 28:16-20). Jesus is causing a transition from the Old Covenant to the New, and he must do this in a way that people can receive and without destroying the Old. Literary Context The literary context is divided into two parts: the entire Gospel of Matthew and the smaller section called the Sermon on the Mount. The Context of the Entire Gospel The entire Gospel of Matthew is laid out in narrative or story form. By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, various parts of the Gospel interact with others. No part of the Gospel is a mere arbitrary collection of sayings and events, but they are deliberately designed to flow together, with a plot, from beginning to end. So the structure and development is important, not only the individual pieces. The Gospel story has a beginning (Christ’s birth), a middle (his three-year ministry) and a climatic ending (his death and resurrection). Jesus gradually and subtly reveals his priority and authority over the Old Testament in this story, but without destroying the older text. Matt. 5:17-19, our target verses, must be read in this large context because Jesus fulfills the Hebrew Bible through this divine story—and he is still fulfilling it today. Further analysis of the entire Gospel can be organized in three stages. First, it should be recalled that near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5:18 says that the Old Testament shall not pass away until heaven and earth do and until “everything is accomplished” (key words that will be explained in the next major section). At the end of the Sermon Jesus shifts attention away from the oral traditions and the Old Testament towards his own words—but without destroying the Old Testament. His last words in the Sermon show the shift (Matt. 7:24-26): 7:24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice... 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice . (emphasis added) Jesus reveals to his disciples that his own words early in his ministry are beginning to take priority over all the words that have been uttered in sacred traditions and texts. Second, to repeat, Matt. 5:18 says that the Old Testament shall not pass away until heaven and earth do and “until everything is accomplished.” Jesus said this at the beginning of his ministry. At the end of his ministry, he makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem where God has ordained that Jesus would die. He predicts the terrible events that will happen just before the Last Day (Matt. 24:1-35). He nails down the certainty of his predictions with words that reflect those in Matt. 5:18. Matt. 24:35 has a universal aspect that rises above the long discourse on the Last Days that he just spoke: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matt. 24:35) The difference between Matt. 5:18 and 24:35 is subtle, but important. Matthew 5:18 seems to place time restrictions on the Old Covenant. Its words shall not pass away until heaven and earth do and “until everything is accomplished.” On the other hand, Matt. 24:35 says that Jesus’ words will never pass away, even when heaven and earth do. This places no time restrictions on his words. His words subtly and quietly take authority over the previous sacred text. The third and final stage in the larger literary context takes place after Jesus’ death and resurrection (Matt. 28:16-20). It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of these two unified events in terms of his fulfillment of the Old Covenant. By them he fulfills most of the promises, but he is still fulfilling others. Some will not be fulfilled until his Second Coming. But he himself ushers in this fulfillment. Be that as it may, after his death and resurrection, his mission is complete and final. He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Before he ascends into heaven, he instructs his followers to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then he tells his disciples which words to teach the nations: [Teach] them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matt. 28:20, emphasis added) The revelation to his disciples about Jesus’ authority in words is now complete. He commands his disciples to teach all nations his words first and foremost. But he does not destroy the Old Testament—far from it. His followers are encouraged— commanded—to read it. But Jesus’ words take priority in the Christian’s life. The disciples read the Old Testament through Christ’s words and the rest of the New Testament. A longstanding adage wisely says: The New is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed. These three stages should not be misinterpreted. It is not as if Jesus grows in his authority. He always had it. Rather, he reveals his authority gradually. That was his way. He did not boast to the world about his true nature as the Son of God, but he kept it a secret for the most part. He accepted the popular (but ultimately incomplete) titles of Prophet, Teacher, and Rabbi, but to his inner circle and sometimes to those on the outside he revealed his true status as the Son of God (Matt.
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