Matthew 5:17-18

Christ Came to fulfill the law Pt. 1

5:17

The law A.K.A The Torah or The Books Of Moses. Its the first five books of the Bible.

The prophets are what we Christians today have come to call the Major and Minor prophets.

The Major Prophets

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

The Minor Prophets

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

Jonah

Micha

Nahum

Habakkuk

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zachariah

Malachi

Jesus did not come to abolish the law or the prophets.

In other words He did not come to get rid of the law or prophets, He came to fulfill them.

How did Jesus fulfill the law?

He did what the law required perfectly.

He fulfilled what the law was leading up to and what the prophets spoke about Him. (Keep this part in mind, we will come back to it in verse 18.)

5:18

What does Jesus mean “Till Heaven and earth pass away”?

The literal translation is

As long as they last.

So long as they endure.

Jesus is talking about the end of this world, the end of the present age.

Jesus is ultimately talking about the new heaven and earth.

What is an Iota, and a dot?

An Iota was the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet.

A Yod is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet.

A Dot literally means letter/stroke.

It is the small strokes on the letters of the Hebrew alphabet to distinguish between the various characters.

What Jesus is saying about the Iota and the dot is that not even the smallest word or letter of the law will pass away.

We are no longer under the law, so what does Jesus mean by “The law shall not pass from the law”? Why is the law not void?

1. Jesus said earlier that He came to fulfill the law.

Remember He did all the law required, and did it perfectly.

He fulfilled all that the law was leading to, a savior who was perfect.

So He has fulfilled the law for us.

Gal 3:21

Gal 3:23-27

But…there are moral laws we still follow, like the 10 Commandments minus the Sabbath Commandment.

For the rest of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is only going to teach on moral law.

He is not going to teach on the Temple laws, dietary laws, or any of the sort.

He is only going to teach and expound on the moral law.

The law is still not void.

The law is needed to show sin

Gal 3:23 shows how we needed a savior and will always need one on this side of heaven.

Romans 7:7 The law shows us what is sin, and what to stay away from.

We uphold the law.

By our faith in Jesus we uphold all the requires of us which is righteousness, God’s standard.

Romans 3:30-31

This does not give us license to sin.

Romans 6:1-7

This is how we uphold the law, by walking in our newness of life in Jesus.

By walking as Jesus walked.