Deuteronomy With JesusSýnishorn

Fulfilling the law

Many Christians assume the Old Testament Law is no longer relevant to us, but as we see in today's passage in Matthew, Jesus thought very differently!

Jesus’ words are harder to understand than at first appears. He doesn’t simply tell everyone to follow the law, but rather says he has come to “fulfil” it, speaking of everything being “accomplished.”

The most obvious way in which Jesus “fulfilled” and “accomplished” the law was through his death and resurrection. For instance, the sacrificial system all pointed forwards to that moment, and we can learn lots about God’s grace and forgiveness from it.

There’s lots of other places where things are less clear, and we’re bound to ask how we should understand and apply them to our lives. Fortunately, Jesus goes on to give us some helpful examples.

Firstly, he examines how we should understand and apply the commands against murder and adultery in our context. We sometimes think that God’s grace means we don’t need to worry about holy living, but Jesus’ opinion seems to have been the opposite. He teaches us that we are now called to be more righteous than people were under the old law.

It is no longer enough simply to obey the law in our actions, we also need to make sure our thoughts and attitudes reflect its underlying principles. The root cause of murder and adultery are anger and lust, so we should make sure that we get rid of both in our lives.

In our second example, Jesus appears to directly contradict Deuteronomy 19:21: “show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth… .” What is going on here?

The answer lies in the purpose of the original law. It was part of God’s blueprint for how Israel should live. It may appear harsh to us, but in a society in which prison was impossible, it was the only way to establish fair and just punishments for serious crimes. Without such punishments, the weak and powerless would have been easily oppressed and de-prioritised. This law is actually about protecting and valuing people.

As Christians we are no longer part of the old covenant, so the specific details of these instructions for Israel do not apply to us. The principles behind the law, though, are still relevant. We are also called to value people, but once again Jesus calls us to do so on a deeper level. Ironically, that actually means doing the opposite of the actual instructions in the law: forgiving injustices against us, rather than pursuing justice, which is very challenging!

Prayer

Examine your heart and pray about any anger, lust and forgiveness in your life. If you find that challenging, look back to Matthew 5:3. Take some time to repent and ask for God’s forgiveness and help to change which is being ‘poor in spirit’. As you do, remind yourself of the promises of God’s grace—‘theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.’