Jesus Came To Fulfill Not To Destroy

In (Matthew 5:17), Jesus made the statement that He came not to destroy the law, or the prophets, but to fulfill. Based on that statement many ministers have taught their congregation that the arrival of Jesus did away with the Old Testament along with its laws. They even make the statement, to their congregation, that they are no longer under the Old Testament, but now operate under the New. So you have people believing that the Old Testament is no longer relevant today. One needs only to further examine the scriptures to find out, how incorrect that position is. In (Matthew 5:18), Jesus Himself states that as long as heaven and earth exist not one jot or not one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. Now you will find in a concordance that jot and tittle mean letter. Here Jesus clearly states that not one letter of the law will be changed as long as heaven and earth exist. We know that the law came from the Old Testament so based solely on (Matthew 5:18), it nor the Old Testament can not be done away with. There is clearly a discrepancy between what is being taught and what the scriptures say. The fact, that Jesus came to fulfill is known, because that is what is stated in (Matthew 5:17). But one needs to find out what He was to fulfill, since that is the condition put forth in (Matthew 5:18), when He said no letter would pass from the law until all is fulfilled. You will see the information needed to answer this will be found in the Old Testament. This itself serves as further proof as to how erroneous the position of doing away with the Old Testament is. This lesson will focus on what Jesus was referring to when He said He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill and His position on the commandments.

The Gospel of Luke, will reveal what Jesus meant when He said in (Matthew 5:17 & 18), that He came to fulfill and no letter would pass from the law until all is fulfilled. Looking at Luke chapter 24:14-44, you will find that , this is when Jesus had been crucified and Peter and others were at the grave site and they were contemplating the events that had occurred. Verse 16, tells you that Jesus had come among them but they did not know Him. In verse 17, Jesus asks them what were they discussing,

(17) And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?

In verse 19 and 20, they explained to Jesus what had taken place, still not recognizing Him. Verse 21, tells why they were sad, they had expected Jesus to restore Israel. (Israel as a nation , had a history of being conquered by other nations. They had been split into two kingdoms and the northern kingdom had already been taken into captivity prior to this time. All that remained was Judah, and now it had been taken over by Rome.) Now this was the 3^rd day since Jesus=s crucifixion and they were in question because to them nothing had changed. Israel still remained in its same state. Note what Jesus says to them in verse 25:

(25) Then he said unto them, O fool, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Now the prophets had spoke of many things that Jesus was to do when He came. However they were just focused on the redemption of Israel. That is why Jesus told them in verse 25 that they were not bringing into remembrance all the things that were spoken of Him by the prophets. He reminded them in verse 26 that He had to suffer first and then enter into glory. He then in verse 27 went over all that the scriptures had to say concerning Himself. Following is verse 27,

(27) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.

The following verse explains what Jesus meant in (Matthew 5:17) where He said He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill.

(Luke 24:44) And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Here Jesus makes it clear that all things written about Him in the Old Testament must be fulfilled. He also was referring to the writing of Moses, not the commandments. But since ministers have attempted to do away with the laws using that verse, that matter also will be dealt with. Following are just a few examples of things written about Jesus, in the Old Testament along with the verses from the New Testament showing that Jesus fulfilled these in His first coming. This will be followed by examples of things written that He won=t fulfill until His second coming.

Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself shall give a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luke 1:30, And the angel said unto her, Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

1:31, And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

2:12, For unto is born this in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2, But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Matthew 2:1, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herold the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 11:2, And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

Matthew 3:16, And Jesus, when he was baptized, went straightway out the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.

Isaiah 53:5, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our pace was upon him; and with his stripes we were healed.

Romans 5:8, But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Zechariah 14:1, Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the mist of thee.

4, And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south.

Jesus is to dwell in Zion

Psalm 132:13, For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.

14 This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

Revelation 21:2, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

( Note Zion is another name used when referring to Jerusalem)

Jesus is to execute judgement

Micah 4:3, And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation; neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 9:6, For unto a child is born, and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus is to rid the world of Satan

Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.

Revelation 20:10, And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

We can see from the above scriptures that Jesus has not yet accomplished all the things that had been written in reference to him in the Old Testament. And looking at the definition of the word fulfill previously given all has not been fulfilled. Consequently one should not look at the Old Testament and its writing as being irrelevant nor think that they no longer need to adhere it=s laws. Because based on what Jesus, himself said, we will be held accountable to the writing of the Old Testament until all is fulfilled.

If one is still inclined to feel that Jesus did away with the Old Testament laws I encourage you to pay close attention to how Jesus replied when he was asked about the commandments and obtaining eternal life.

In Matthew verse 22:35, a lawyer who was well versed in the law proposed a question to Jesus.

(35) Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying.

(36) Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

The following verses show Jesus=s reply.

(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

(38) This is the first and great commandment.

(39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

(40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Now Jesus was asked for the great commandment and He responded by stating the same commandments which had been given to Israel by Moses. In verse 37, Jesus in his reply quoted the same commandment written in Deuteronomy.

(Deuteronomy 6:5), And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

In verse 39 Jesus quoted the commandment written in Leviticus.

(Leviticus 19:18) Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.

The commandments given by Jesus encompass the Ten Commandments. Because if you love God you will not have any gods before Him nor make any graven images to worship, nor use His name in vain. You will remember to keep the Sabbath day holy and you will honor your father and mother. And if you love your neighbour you will not steal from him nor lie on him or commit murder against him. You will not commit adultery nor covet that which belongs to another.

Note how Jesus replied when questioned about obtaining eternal life.

(Matthew 19:16), And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

(17) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There in none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Now Jesus told the individual to obtain eternal life he must keep the commandments. Now this person wanted Jesus to be specific so he asked which commandments.

(18) He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

(19) Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Here once again Jesus gave instruction to keep the same commandments that had been given by Moses. Look at Jesus=s response in the Gospel of Luke when He was asked about how to obtain eternal life.

(Luke 10:25) And, behold a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Jesus first responds by answering him a question.

(Luke 10:26), He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

Jesus is asking him does he not know the writing of Moses. The lawyer responds in the following verse.

(Luke 10:27) And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and love thy neighbour as thyself.

Now Jesus is going to let him know that his answer was correct.

(Luke 10:28) And he said unto him, Thou has answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Once again Jesus confirms that one should follow the laws given by Moses. Contrary to the belief of many, Jesus did not do way with the laws of Moses or with the fact that one has to be obedient. This is evidenced in the following verse. Here Jesus tells you what you should do if you love Him.

(John 14:15) If you love me, keep my commandments.

The question one may have is which commandments? The same commandments given by Moses. This applies to all of Gods laws, His Royal Laws which are the Ten Commandments as well as His Dietary Laws and Moral Laws found in the Old Testatment. Jesus first coming did not do away with the laws. He did not issue any new commandments. What Jesus did was to emphasize the spirit of the law.

Jesus did not only, not do away with the commandments, our role of obedience to those laws, intensified under his teaching. Note what he says in the following verses.

(Matthew 5:27), Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

(28) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a women to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Jesus is saying, it is not enough for you to refrain from committing a sinful act. He is saying it is wrong for you to even entertain the thought, of committing an act of sin. Your heart is your mind and if you allow a sinful thought to originate and fester there you may be unable to exercise restraint when confronted with a situation of temptation. Jesus goes on further to emphasize this in the following verses.

(29) And if your right eye offend thy, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

(30) If your right hand offend you cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Here he is saying, it is better for you to destroy that member of your body, that you use to commit a sinful act with, rather than risk condemning your soul to hell. He also tells you in (Matthew 5:43-47), to love your enemies, to bless them that curse you, and to do good to them that hate you. In verse 48 he tells you why you should operate in this manner.

(Matthew 4:48) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Now Jesus tells us to be perfect and the question one should have perfect according to what. The answer is simple one should strive to be perfect in following Man=s instruction manual the Holy Bible. Jesus does not want us to abandon the laws instead he wants us to operate in the spirit of the laws.

My hope is that this lesson causes, all who believe, that the Old Testament is no longer relevant, and that we no longer have to operate under it=s laws, to reconsider their position.

Peace to all who seek truth and understanding in Jesus name.

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