Matthew 5:17 says, "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." I'm having trouble processing this as a command of Christ. It seems more informative. He's telling us the the law that is recorded in the Old Testament is not being abolished by His coming to earth in the flesh, but is being fulfilled. I suppose it could be seen as a command because He's letting us know that, though He came, the Old Testament is not erased and we must honor it.
This can be a very confusing statement for us in modern times whether you follow Christ or not. My first instinct is to ask why we don't follow the Jewish calendar of celebrations, or the laws on being clean and unclean, or why we don't sacrifice animals anymore. It's important here to understand that there are three types of laws in the Old Testament; ceremonial, civil and moral. The ceremonial laws were put in place to guide the way Israel worshiped God. The whole purpose was to point toward Jesus and what He would do. For instance the sacrificing of the spotless lamb for the forgiveness of sins was fulfilled through Jesus being the final sacrifice of a sinless and blameless lamb. He was even called the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Therefore, upon his death and resurrection, these laws were no longer necessary. Civil laws were put in place as a legal framework for the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel needed a system of laws as any nation does. Especially when the nation was not lead by a dictator king that would institute and enforce the laws he saw fit, like so many other nations of the day. These laws were specific to that nation, although the principles in them are still valid. Moral laws, however, are the direct command of God and are still very much in relevant today. Jesus followed the moral law explicitly while coming under attack for violating ceremonial law.
In looking at these types of laws in the Old Testament, we see that He indeed fulfilled the ceremonial law and that the moral law is still important as God's direct commands to us today.
Up next: Jesus' Command #6 - Be Reconciled
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