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How did Christ fulfill the law and the prophets (Matt. 5:17)?
In order to answer this question, we must carefully read Matthew 5:17-21. Verse 17 begins, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.” Why did the Lord say, “Do not think”? He said this because there was the possibility of thinking this way. Perhaps some thought this. After the Lord had spoken the nine blessings on the mount, He mentioned two other matters: (1) we are the salt of the earth, and (2) we are the light of the world. When the people heard this, they might have thought that the blessings spoken by the Lord were absolutely different from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God wanted the Israelites to be great, prosperous, and victorious over their enemies. But now the Lord was saying that man should be humble, meek, suffer persecution, and so forth. This is completely different from the Old Testament. Had the Lord come to abolish the law? In the past God selected the Israelites to be His testimony on earth. Now He was saying that His followers were the salt and the light. God had already removed His testimony from among the Israelites and given it to a few others. Had not the Lord come to abolish the law? Therefore, immediately after the Lord said that we were the salt and the light, He said, “Do not think.” The Lord said that He did not come to abolish but to fulfill. The literal meaning of the word abolish is to tear down piece by piece, as in tearing down a wall, and the literal meaning of the word fulfill is to fill to the brim.
In history there were two schools of teaching regarding the Lord Jesus’ attitude toward the law. One teaching was poor. They said that the Lord Jesus fulfilled the law by annulling the law. They argued that there were clearly many discrepancies between what the Lord said and what Moses said. Moses said that if a man wanted to put away his wife, he only needed to write a certificate of divorce. Yet the Lord said that putting away one’s wife, except for the cause of fornication, was not permitted. According to the first school, the Lord was opposing Moses. The Protestant school, however, said that much had been added to Moses’ law by the Jews in the fifteen hundred years after Moses, so the Lord came to preserve the true nature of the law by abolishing what had been added by man. But contrary to what these two schools say, the meaning of “fulfill,” was for the Lord to fill to the brim; it was to make up the lack. Now let us see the Lord’s attitude toward the law.
First, the Lord acknowledged that the law and the prophets came from God. In Matthew 5:12, the Lord said: “For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” This indicates that the Lord acknowledged the prophets. In Matthew 5:23 the Lord spoke concerning the matter of offering sacrifices on the altar, indicating that the Lord was not against the altar. After the Lord had finished His teaching on the mount, He came down and met a leper. After healing him the Lord commanded him to show his body to the priest and offer the gift which Moses had commanded (Matt. 8:1-4). This proves that the Lord acknowledged that what Moses had commanded should be done.
Second, although the Lord acknowledged that the law and the prophets came from God, He also said that the law was not complete. In Matthew 5, we read again and again: “You have heard that it was said to the ancients…but I say to you.” The Lord agreed with Moses when he said that it was right for one not to kill or commit adultery, but even this was not complete. Rather, one should not even be angry or have a lustful thought. However, we have to note that being incomplete does not mean that it is wrong. For example, a child has just learned that two plus two equals four. Concerning knowledge, his learning is not complete, but this does not mean that what he has learned is wrong.
Third, the Lord came to fill up the inadequacy of the law. The word “fulfill” refers to the Lord’s work of fulfilling as a teacher, not to His work of fulfilling as a Savior. This means that where the law was lacking, the Lord supplemented and made it full. The law teaches us to return an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. This is the principle of fairness. However, the Lord teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This is the principle of grace. The law expresses God’s way of doing things, which is to do everything in fairness. Grace and mercy express the nature of God Himself. According to the Lord’s grace, He causes the sun to rise on the good people as well as the evil, and the rain to fall on the just as well as the unjust. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.” Moses talked about God’s procedures, while the Lord talked about the nature of God Himself.
On the cross the Lord has borne the curse of the law for us. Since we have received life by accepting the Lord’s work on the cross, we should also walk according to the Lord’s commands on the mount in our living on earth. Some people say that what the Lord spoke on the mount was all law and no grace. Therefore, they conclude that the teaching on the mount was for the Jews only. There is evidence which proves the error of this school of thought. (1) We cannot reasonably push all the hard requirements onto the Jews and leave the easy ones for ourselves. Can God, who gave less power and grace to the Jews, require more from them? Can the same God, who has given more power and grace to us, require less from us? (2) Matthew 5:1-2 clearly say that the Lord was speaking to the disciples. If anyone says that the disciples refer to the Jews, there is at least one verse in the Bible that says that they are Christians (Acts 11:26). However, there is no verse in the Bible that says, “the disciples are the Jews”; nor is there the term “Jewish disciples.” Once we become disciples, there is no longer a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. (3) Matthew 28:19 and 20 say, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” When we preach the gospel, we also need to teach people to keep the Lord’s teachings, which include the Lord’s teaching on the mount. It is true that the teaching on the mount is difficult, but we cannot push all the difficult matters onto the Jews. John 14:26 says, “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and remind you of all the things which I have said to you.” We need to pay attention to the last phrase. The things that the Lord said include not only believing in the Lord Jesus and receiving eternal life, but also the Lord’s commandments. The work of the Holy Spirit is to cause man to obey what the Lord has commanded. The disciples were not only commissioned to preach the gospel; they were also commissioned to teach people to obey the Lord’s teachings.
Matthew 5:18 says, “For truly I say to you, Until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one serif shall by no means pass away from the law until all come to pass.” “One iota” refers to the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and “one serif” refers to the diacritical marks in the Hebrew alphabet. One iota and one serif refer to the smallest parts of the language. To fulfill all the iotas and serifs is to fulfill all things. Heaven and earth will pass away only when each iota and each serif of the law is fulfilled.
Verse 17 speaks about the law and the prophets, while verse 18 speaks only about the law. Why is this so? It is because the law only goes as far as the end of the millennial kingdom, while the prophets cover eternity (Isaiah once spoke about the new heaven and new earth). If we say that heaven and earth will pass away only when all that the prophets have spoken is fulfilled, are we not reversing the order of the record in Revelation? Our Lord’s word is very precise; He did not say too much or too little. The Lord said that heaven and earth could pass away only when each iota and each serif of the law was fulfilled. Therefore, we can see how honorable the law is.
The word “therefore” in verse 19 is a continuation of what has been said in the preceding text. What do the “commandments” in verse 19 refer to? They refer to the law in the preceding text, not the teaching on the mount, since the word “these” in “these commandments” clearly refers to the law in the preceding text.
There are two kinds of laws: one is the ceremonial law, and the other is the moral law. For example, the way to offer the sacrifices is a ceremonial law, while the way to treat people and things is a moral law. The moral laws are much more important than the ceremonial laws. When the Lord was on the earth, He had His ways of dealing with both kinds of law.
Matthew 22:37 through 40 says, “And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 9:13 says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” The Lord shows us that the moral laws are more important than any other laws. Matthew 23:23 says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth of the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these you should have done and not neglected the others.” Here the Lord shows us that the laws differ in importance. Some people were very thorough in observing the rituals, yet the Lord still reproached them. Paying tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, not weaving wool and linen together, not using goat’s milk to boil the kid, and so forth are all lesser commandments.
Matthew 5:19 says, “Therefore whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whoever practices and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.” This shows us the great responsibilities that are upon those who minister God’s Word. Whosoever breaks the least item among these commandments in his conduct and teaches others to break them (rather than to keep them), shall be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens. Many wrong teachings are often produced by wrong conduct. For example, some people may regard baptism as being unimportant. Then they may say, “Why be bothered with baptism”? They are determined not to be baptized. Later, when others ask them about the matter of baptism, they make up a set of doctrines about not being baptized. Because they have such a wrong conduct, they come up with such a wrong teaching. The Lord said that these people will be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens.
Do Christians have to keep the law also? No, they do not because Christians are not under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). During the apostles’ time, a few people taught the brothers saying that if they were not circumcised according to Moses’ law, they could not be saved. Peter answered them saying, “Therefore why are you now testing God by placing a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10). Afterwards, they wrote to the brothers asking them only to abstain from the contaminations of idols, fornication, what is strangled, and blood; they did not ask the disciples to be circumcised (Acts 15:1-29).
On the other hand, while the Lord was on the earth, and before He died and resurrected, He was the expression of the law and all the ceremonies. Therefore, the disciples had to continue keeping the law at that time. For example, both the Lord and Peter paid a temple tax at that time (Matt. 17:27). It was not until the Lord died that the law ceased. Once the Lord died, the law and all the rituals were fulfilled. This is related to the matter of dispensation.
After the Holy Spirit descended and the church was established, Peter still kept the ceremonial laws by refraining from eating unclean things as mentioned in Leviticus 11. How did God teach him? “The things that God has cleansed, do not make common” (Acts 10:9-16). There is a change under the New Testament. Galatians tells us that circumcision is a very important law to the Jews. But Paul told them seriously, “Behold, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law” (Gal. 5:2-3). Paul said that once a person is circumcised, he has to keep the whole law. Regarding the law, we have to either keep all or none of it; we cannot take what we want and reject what we do not want. From this verse, we see clearly that we are not under the law.
The “kingdom of the heavens” in Matthew 5:19 does not refer to the church but rather to the Lord’s reigning in the millennial kingdom after His second coming.
Some think that even though Christians do not have to keep the ceremonial laws, they still have to keep the moral laws. They also think that since they are saved through faith, they have the power to attain sanctification through their own conduct and by keeping the law. However, we must realize that just as keeping the law is not the condition of salvation, keeping the law is not the principle of our living throughout our life.
Matthew 5:20 says, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” To say that the Pharisees have righteousness is to say that they have kept the moral laws. Can a Christian enter the kingdom of the heavens just by having the righteousness of the Pharisees? The Lord said definitely not. In this passage of the Bible (vv. 17-20), the Lord said twice, “I say to you.” In verse 18 He told the disciples that the law cannot be abolished but rather that it should be fulfilled. In verse 20 He told the disciples that He came to supplement the lack of the law. Verse 17 says, on the negative side, that the law is not to be abolished, and on the positive side that it has to be fulfilled. Verses 18 through 19 show us the Lord’s attitude toward the law on the negative side: the law is not to be abolished. Then verse 20 shows us the Lord’s attitude toward the law on the positive side: the law is to be fulfilled, that is, filled to the brim. Because of the difference in these two aspects, the Lord said twice, “I say to you.”
There is a difference between “your righteousness” in verse 20 and the justification of the law. God’s justification is given to us by God, and it is received through faith. “Your righteousness” has to do with our own behavior and is obtained through the working of the Holy Spirit. When we mention justification, it is with reference to sinners. These words were spoken to the disciples. Therefore, the righteousness here is not the righteousness given by God but the righteousness attained by the disciples.
Even if the scribes and the Pharisees did their best, they could only fulfill the righteousness of the law. But the disciples who are not under the law should have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the law. Their standard should be higher than that of the scribes and the Pharisees. No Christian can enter into the kingdom of the heavens by keeping the law. Christians have received the teachings of Matthew 5—7. If they do not keep them, they cannot enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
Let us be clear about one more point. Every believer has the eternal life, but not every believer can enter into the kingdom of the heavens. We obtain eternal life through the righteousness God has given us, but we enter the kingdom of the heavens through the righteousness we work out ourselves. Once we believe, we obtain eternal life and will never lose it. However, only the overcomers can enter into the kingdom of the heavens. We can obtain eternal life in this age, but the kingdom of the heavens will only be established when the Lord comes again. The Gospel of John mentions the matter of obtaining eternal life through believing nine times. However, Matthew 11:12 says, “The kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence, and violent men seize it.” Once we believe, we obtain eternal life, but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we have to pursue it daily. God selects some from among this world to receive eternal life, and He selects some from among those who have received eternal life to enter into the kingdom of the heavens. There is no difference between being great and being the least in obtaining eternal life, but there is a difference between being great and being the least in entering into the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, if we, the saved ones, want to reign at the Lord’s second coming, we have to work out our own righteousness through the Holy Spirit. How can we not believe in the Lord’s words!
