The Law and the Prophets
Overview of Matthew 5:17-20
Most of what Jesus taught in this section of the sermon was to reveal how badly and wrongly the religious leaders of his day had interpreted and applied the Law. He also made many other critical comments on the teachings of the Pharisees elsewhere in the Gospel accounts where he exposed and denounced such teachings. These religious leaders had interpreted the Law negatively and had failed to see that one must be motivated from the heart rather than just keeping to the letter of the Law as an external activity. Indeed, just as with the religious leaders, the Apostle Paul in his pre-Christian life had also previously misapplied the Law. However, his several visitations from Jesus in visions had taught him to apply the law internally and to its greater depth with reference to the quality of love, and so to dispense with the oral traditions of the religious leaders—Halakah (see Chapter 4). This was why he could show that the law of love makes the Pharisees’ cold application of the law of commandments obsolete, when he says, “...serve each other through love; because the entire law can be summed up in a single statement, namely, “You must love your neighbour as yourself” (Gal. 5:13b-14). This single command summarizes the latter half of the Ten Commandments.
Jesus Upholds “the Law and the Prophets”
- the Entire Hebrew Scriptures
THE TEXT
17“Don’t assume that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I haven’t come to abolish them, but to fulfil them. 18I can assure you: until heaven and earth pass away, not one dot or one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19So, whoever sets aside one of these least important commandments, and teaches people to do the same, will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but anyone who practices them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20That’s why I tell you: unless your covenant faithfulness goes beyond that of the Law experts and the Pharisees, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
COMMENTS
5:17a “The Law and the Prophets.” This phrase refers to the entire Hebrew Bible. In fact, the Law contained prophetic types and shadows to be later fulfilled by Jesus as shown when he stated that, “all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John appeared” (Matt. 11:13). Additionally, the Prophets promoted the keeping of the Law. These two aspects of the Law and the Prophets are from the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures—Law (Torah), Prophets (Neviim), and Psalms (Ketuvim). From these the acronym was formed of TaNaKh). The Law (Gk nomos, Heb. torah) means instruction that is true and straight like the shooting of an arrow. Although not set out as such in the Torah, the Law can be analysed to show its moral, ceremonial, and civil aspects. However, only Jesus correctly interpreted the Law showing its spiritual intention as in this Sermon.
5:17b “I haven’t come to abolish them, but to fulfil them.” In fact, none of Jesus’ statements in the Sermon on the Mount amount to new law as the following scholars note (as quoted from the book From the Finger of God p.221): Firstly, Anthony Saldarini states that:
The six so-called antithesis (5:21-48) are not understood by Matthew as changes in God’s law, but as a more penetrating appreciation of and obedience to the law. The actions required are not violations of any biblical law; they uphold the law. Matthew’s Christian-Jewish Community p. 162.
Then Loader states about Jesus that:
He comes not to abolish, but to uphold and expound the Torah on the basis of the authority which is his…the specific applications do not come into conflict with Torah; they go beyond it. Jesus’ Attitude Toward the Law pp. 173, 177.
Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus looked behind each statement in the Law at its principles so that these may be applied in practice. Then he shows that the entire “Law and the Prophets” will be fulfilled in him because all of it pointed to him. So, the Apostle Paul could say: “In fact, every one of God’s promises finds a “Yes” of fulfilment in him” (2 Cor. 1:20). This explanation helps us to understand a major part of the purpose of Jesus’ death, namely, that on the cross he was enduring the penalty prescribed in the Law for mankind’s sin i.e., it was a punishment of sin. So, all these ceremonial laws were shadows and types that were fulfilled by Jesus.
5:18 “not one dot or one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law.” This phrase is often misunderstood to mean that Christians must keep the whole Mosaic Law. So, when the teaching of the Apostle Paul on this subject is considered then confusion arises. Indeed, Paul stated that God had, “erased the written record of debt that stood against us with its legal regulations. He took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14). This means that God’s people are no longer under the regulations of the Mosaic law (Rom. 7:6; 1 Cor. 9:20; Gal. 3:24-25; Heb. 7:18; 8:13). Certainly, the Apostle Paul directly said, “I am not under the law” (1 Cor. 9:20). Furthermore, Jesus’ authority has superseded that of Moses as shown in Hebrews 3:5-6 where it states that, “Moses was faithful in [God’s] entire house as a servant...but Messiah is faithful over God’s house as a son.”
So, before we comment directly on verse 18, we shall digress to consider the question of whether the Mosaic Law has any bearing on the life of Christians, we initially note that Jesus was “born under law” (Gal. 4:4), and after the age of twelve, he became “a son of the Law,” and so continued under that law fully obedient to his parents (Luke 2:51-52). Nevertheless, after his receiving of God’s spirit at his baptism he was outwardly recognized by God as being His Son, i.e., the Messiah for Israel and the rest of the world, he clearly superseded Moses in authority and teaching and indicated that the legal regulations of the Mosaic Law were to be replaced. Evidence for this can be seen in the following biblical examples:
Regarding the Mosaic food laws Jesus declared that, “There’s nothing outside of a person that can contaminate them by entering into them. Rather, it’s what comes out from a person that contaminates them” (Mark 7:15) and then the text informs us that, “in saying this he declared every kind of food clean” (Mark 7:19). However, we must remember that the principle to be taken from such food laws was that of the ‘purity’ of God’s people and Jesus certainly was not abolishing that principle. Indeed, Jesus’ statement here does not change the fact that all the Bible’s ethical teachings are grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures.
John 8:3-11 records the event when the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus to see if he would condemn her to death by stoning according to the regulation stated in Deuteronomy 22:22, although there is no recorded case of this being implemented. In fact, Jesus does not condemn her, but simply tells her to “sin no more” while indicating that the scribes and Pharisees were just as much sinners as she was!
Jesus also made the claim to the Jews that he was the temple, which was another way of saying that he has now superseded Moses and therefore, the Mosaic Law of the sacrificial system.
So, along with his correction of the Jewish religious leaders concerning their regulation-based approach to the keeping of the Sabbath, rather than applying its spirit, the above details show that Jesus was attempting to correct the Jews for their failure to apply the spirit of the law as well as his start on moving the Jews away from their being supervised by the regulations of the law of Moses (a form of immaturity) and toward maturity which concerns living by God’s spirit and so requiring faith, rather than legal regulations. In all these actions and teachings of Jesus we find that he was paving the way—transitioning—toward the placing of God’s people into the New Covenant arrangement which was to be initiated by his death.
JESUS PLACED A HIGH VALUE ON THE MOSAIC LAW
It is certainly evident that, during his ministry, Jesus highly valued the regulations of the entire Mosaic law in its spirit and the principles contained within it. In fact, he used all of these in countering the wrong views of the religious leaders. One example is recorded in Matthew 15:3-6 where he quotes from the Mosaic law in Exodus 20:12 and 21:17 and shows that these statements are “God’s commandment” and that the religious leaders had “nullified God’s word for the sake of their tradition.” He even told a certain Jew to “practice keeping the commandments” and then he lists several of these from the Ten Commandments (Matt. 19:17-19). Certainly, Jesus never ignored or denigrated the Mosaic Law or played off one Scripture against another when commenting on issues or in debating with the religious leaders. So, clearly Jesus had no intention of destroying the torah, at least, in terms of its original meaning of divine instruction and guidance.
As noted earlier, throughout the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was correcting the failure of the religious leaders to apply the Mosaic law correctly—that is to apply it to the inner person. He used divine wisdom to discern the essential meaning of each relevant law i.e., its spirit and so to draw out the personal moral implications from each law. In fact, even after his resurrection, when the “legal code” of regulations had been taken away by its being nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14) Jesus spoke respectfully of Moses’ teachings. Luke tells us, “So beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] explained to them the things written about himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). These are the same Scriptures of which the Apostle Paul says are, “all...breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, and training in righteousness...” Certainly, in Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus explicitly said that he did not intend to abrogate the law i.e., to rescind or annul it.
DOES PAUL CONTRADICT JESUS REGARDING THE LAW?
Although the Apostle Paul directly said, “I am not under the law” (1 Cor. 9:20) as just noted, this does not mean that he did not value the Mosaic law as the “all scripture breathed by God.” In fact, in its deeper principles and true meaning he rated it as “holy...and good” (Rom. 7:12) and asked, “Does that mean faith in God does away with the law? Of course not! In fact, we are affirming and fulfilling the law” (Rom. 3:31 OGOM Translation) or more literally, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (NASB). So, certainly there is no repealing of the principles, truths, and deeper meaning of the law on the issues it deals with, even though its regulations have been superseded. Otherwise, the Sermon on the Mount would be useless to us and we may as well never read the details of the law again! In fact, anyone who promotes the idea that Christians must not reference the Mosaic law at all is sliding dangerously close to heretical Marcionism of the first century. In fact, Paul stated that, “whatever things that were written beforehand were written for our instruction, so that through patient endurance, and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we can maintain our hope” (Rom. 15:4). Although not under the regulations of the Law, Christians should live by the spirit and learn from the principles of the Mosaic Law just as Jesus showed in the Sermon on the Mount. The fact is that Jesus wants his disciples to do better than the regulation-keeping religious leaders in their faulty application of the Mosaic law, which is why he said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:20 ESV). So, from Jesus’ example in the Sermon on the Mount it is evident that the Christian should take the law of Moses seriously in discerning the moral principles which underlie each text and then apply the relevant principle to the various situations in life. For example, take Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 22:8 that, “whenever you build a new house, put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you won’t be responsible for a death at your home if someone falls off the roof” (GWT). So, bearing in mind that this speaks of the flat roofs of the day in Israel we can see that the principle the Christian would take from this text, in our modern-day setting, is that of making anything that one is responsible for safe in all respects for anyone who might enter our property e.g., one’s car—this is an act of love toward one’s fellow-man. Indeed, “love is the fulfilment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).
Certainly, Jesus made no radical reversal to the ethics or morality of the Hebrew Scriptures, as if God changes on what is correct morality. So, all the moral aspects of the law are permanent as evidenced in their restatement in the New Testament. Clearly, the principles and great truths contained in the Mosaic Law on many subjects are of great relevance for the Christian.
WHAT DID JESUS MEAN BY “NOT ONE DOT…WILL PASS FROM THE LAW?
In view of the above we must ask, to what was Jesus referring when he said, “not one dot or one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law” in Matthew 5:18? Certainly, it fits with his statement in verse 17 that he “did not come to abolish the Law.” However, this simply means that the entire divine purpose prophesied in Scripture must take place—it will all be carried out by Jesus himself especially in his fulfilling all the ceremonial laws in his sacrifice and high priesthood. Additionally, the Christian views Jesus as the altar, the laver for washing, the incense, the burnt offerings, and everything else that was Israel’s ceremonial law. It was a matter of fulfilling and was not a matter of Jesus making new law. Indeed, he said that, “the scripture cannot be set aside” (John 10:35). This also applies to the judicial law because Israel is no longer a theocratic nation. In fact, if Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount had been new law as replacing the Ten Commandments, then the Jewish religious authorities would have had a genuine reason to condemn him. However, the situation was the very opposite because Jesus often condemned those Jewish authorities for placing their traditions above the Law as well as his often quoting of details from the Ten Commandments. Certainly, Jesus kept the law perfectly because he was “born under law” (Gal. 4:4).
5:19 “Will be called least in the Kingdom.” This statement seems to support the idea of some degree of hierarchy in the Kingdom, although not excluding a person from the Kingdom because of their “setting aside the least important of these commandments.” But what are these commandments? As shown earlier this is the entire divine purpose to take place as prophesied in “the Law or the Prophets” i.e., the Hebrew Scriptures and which was fulfilled in Jesus. It included all the moral aspects of the Ten Commandments and all the moral aspects of the 600+ additional Mosaic laws and wherever these prophetically pointed to Jesus and his work as Messiah.
5:20a “Covenant faithfulness.” Traditionally the Greek word dikaiosune has been rendered as “righteousness.” However, recent research by N. T. Wright shows that it refers to God’s covenant faithfulness, that is, to His covenant with Abraham which has its fulfillment in the New Covenant.
5:20b “goes beyond that of the Law experts and the Pharisees.” The term Pharisee means ‘the separated ones’ as religious leaders who kept themselves apart from the common people. They and the Law experts had formed a special code of ceremonial regulations based on the Mosaic Law but much more elaborate and stricter than that law. In carrying out these man-made rules they made themselves feel much more righteous than everyone else—as self-righteous. An example of this was Jesus’ confrontation with them over their man-made rule concerning a monetary substitute to replace their responsibility to care for their elderly parents (Matt. 15:3-9) and thereby making “God’s word null and void for the sake of [their] tradition.”
Indeed, Jesus recognized that these religious leaders had unconsciously become very hypocritical with a form of worship that was entirely formal with an outward show rather than from the heart. For this Jesus condemned them to their faces (Matt. 23).
So, in this sense the Christian’s ‘covenant faithfulness’ was to go beyond that type of worship and to be from the heart and without any hypocrisy. It was to involve all that was moral from the heart rather than any ceremonial formal worship. It was to be as Jesus had detailed in the earlier part of his Sermon on the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-16.
NOTE: This verse indicates the Jesus is correcting the Pharisaical misinterpretations of the Law, rather than any criticism of God’s law given by Moses.
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