Fulfillment of the Law

A few weeks ago I preached on Matthew 5:17-18, 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 tell you, 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.

One of the interesting parts of this is the context. Jesus has been sharing His first major lesson, that we later come to refer to as The Sermon on the Mount. Seemingly right in the middle of teaching about the importance of attitude as well as action, Jesus seems to give us a side note. He stops to tell us that He hasn't come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. After this side note, He continues His discourse on the importance of attitude instead of just action.

When I preached the message, I made an observation that I haven't been able to get out of my head: Jesus stops to clearly tell us His purpose. Later, as the Pharisees seek to destroy Him, it is based on the accusation that He is trying to teach new laws that would destroy the old Laws (and the Prophets and Temple worship). It struck me as odd...until I considered that this was actually His point. He knew what was to come and He may have been foreshadowing His death, even from the foundational moments of His Earthly ministry.

So, why is this important? Well, I can think of a couple of reasons:

First, we can trust that Jesus is prepared for what is to come. He already knows and he has already made His plans. Those who were listening to Him knew, from the very beginning that he was going to fulfil the Law, and I think that is probably two-fold: the obvious being fulfilling the prophecies. The second, fulfilling, or completing, the Law's lacking...specifically to be made righteous by the removing of sin rather than just covering of sin.

Second, we can trust that Jesus has a plan, even when we can't see it. He said what was to come. But when the time for His sacrifice came, even those who followed Him didn't see the plan. But the plan was there, and it was perfect. Just like in our lives, sometimes the plan can only be seen when we're looking backwards at it. Which is why it's important to trust even when we can't see a reason for what's going on. And this is where many of us sit a lot of the time. We look around at our lives and much of what we see just doesn't really make sense. But do we take that fear and anxiety and give it over to God, knowing that He really does have a plan, or do we hang onto it and make ourselves crazy with worry.

God's got whatever you're going through. I promise.