Fulfilling the Law

“Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” Jesus, Matthew 5:17.

We hear these words often enough; in church, in Scripture; some of us have even memorised them.

Yet do any of us really know what Jesus is saying? Do we really understand what it means for Him and for us? To “fulfil” means to accomplish, make whole, obey and to satisfy. When we put these words into context, do you understand what Jesus is trying to tell His lost sheep? He’s saying, “What I do, you should do, what I speak, you should speak, because the way I do it is the way the Father wants you to do it.” Jesus spoke on many things in the New Testament that baffled the scholars and seemed to contradict what the leaders of the time believed the law meant. These simple words about fulfilling the law contain a deeper concept and message Jesus was trying to convey.

This statement in particular made no sense to the Pharisees, according to the evidence of Jesus’ behaviour they had at hand. He had ignored the Sabbath by healing the sick and allowing His disciples to pick grain in a field they were walking through. Not only that, Jesus had run them out of the temple when they had only been selling sacrifices. Why had He done this? What was He saying? Jesus was saying that He didn’t come to fulfil tradition but the law and promises of God—He wasn’t obeying the Pharisees’ traditions. He was obeying God’s laws.

Jesus was trying to say that what He was doing was the law and maybe the Pharisees had it wrong; that what the leaders of the time were doing wasn’t how God wanted it to be done.

Maybe they had gotten worship and faithfulness mixed up with tradition and self-importance. They were willing to lie, bribe and kill to save their religion. The Pharisees didn’t want change, didn’t want a new way—they wanted to keep their power and authority.

Jesus says in Matthew 9:13, “I’m after mercy, not religion… I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders” ( The Message ). And much to the Pharisees’ dismay, that’s exactly how He lived.

Do you see now? How many times do we follow the Pharisees’ example? How often do we cling to comfortable “tradition,” instead of giving them up for a new and better way? How many times do we rebuke truth for the sake of our pride or convenience, just as the Pharisees did? I know that I have wanted to block my ears in church many times because I didn’t want to hear the truth—I didn’t want to be challenged. I liked where I was. I liked feeling loved and thinking I was a good Christian because I went to church every week. I wanted convenience instead of God; I sacrificed relationship for status quo. Do you believe that is really how God wants us to live? As halfway Christians? Jesus, through John, writes to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16, NIV).

And you know what else? With God, there is no excuse. We may say to ourselves, “Oh, it doesn’t matter, God will forgive me and I’m only human.” Actually, it does matter. Yes, God will forgive you but keeping all our old habits, behaviours and thoughts while asking forgiveness and thinking change isn’t necessary won’t do us any good. God does not like excuses, especially weak ones like that.

Jesus never messed up while He was on earth, not just because He was divine, but because He followed His Father and had total faith in God with everything He did.

We call Jesus the Son of God. He is. He is also our Brother. We, also, are divine children of God. With that in mind, how much do you think we could accomplish if we listened to and acted upon the voice of God? How much could we do if we followed God’s law and not our habits? Do any of us realise what the law is telling us to do? The Ten Commandments have two distinct sections—those relating to our relationship with God and those relating to our relationships with others. The first four commandments tell us there’s only one God; we aren’t to make idols; misuse of His name is not on; and the Sabbath is to be remembered and kept holy. The other six tell us to be good to our parents and respect them; not to kill; not to commit adultery; not to steal; lying is off limits; and coveting others’ belongings isn’t good.

There you go. The Ten Commandments. They are a fascinating set of laws, which have influenced law-makers around the world as they create laws for states and nations.

Today, we may write off some of the Ten Commandments as being simply logical—what any sane person would do—and not really think about what God is telling us.

Stay with me for a moment and think about this: what if there were no laws against stealing? Murder? Lying? Or even adultery? What do you think you would be doing right now? Laws, even if imposed by someone else, rather than being a personal code, do have an influence over our personal moral values.

It makes me glad God picked them before we did.

I know that sounds simplistic but it’s true. If it weren’t for laws, nothing would be considered wrong. Everything would legally be acceptable.

So what’s the reason for God giving us the Ten Commandments? Are they trivial? I don’t think so.

God was very specific in what He put onto those tablets.

There was a huge range of values He could have put down concerning faithfulness, mercy and even love. So why did God choose the laws He did? He chose them because those simple rules would mould our minds into thinking a certain way. They would shape us into thinking how God wanted us to think.

God had a purpose for these commandments. He chose them to convict you at just the right moment, to remind at just the right time.

No matter how hard we try to cover up our mistakes with tradition, we cannot cover up the raw laws of God.

How often do we try to do that? How often do we follow tradition and lose sight of the purpose of God? How many times do we sit in church for the sake of being there and sneakily glance at our watch every five minutes? How many times do we pray from our heads and not from our hearts? How many times do we serve God while thinking about our schedule for tomorrow? How many times do we ask God something and walk away? How many times do we pray and think that’s enough? Do any of us stop to listen? Just how many of us are guilty of this? In the Exodus, it says God’s heart broke when He saw His children worship and love an idol. His heart broke. He was so full of anguish for His children that His heart couldn’t take it anymore.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He didn’t die from mortal wounds; He died of a broken heart. That makes me feel such guilt and remorse that my sin, my adultery, broke my Brother’s heart to the point of death. That’s why we need to reconnect with Him to build strong, true relationships.

Do you hear what I’m saying? More importantly, do you hear what God is saying?