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Lv 5
? asked in Society & CultureReligion & Spirituality · 8 years ago

Matthew 5:17-19. what did Jesus mean?

bible puzzle number 4. :)

as always, i'll explain it in-context maybe after an hour or so.

Update:

i'll just jump in, because some may say that Christ was talking about the law of moses.

if so, then what happened to the new covenant?

how can there be a new covenant, if there is still the law of moses?

was the cross for naught if he says the law of moses still stands?

Update 2:

very nice answer A B2, well thought of. lol. :))

Update 3:

@Ms nun, what are these commandments you speak of?

Update 4:

i see... then, have you ever eaten bacon? are your clothes all made with linen? do you deny yourself during fridays until saturdays then? do you obey all 600+ laws?

or do you not know that if through the obedience of the law can we be heirs, faith is made void, and the promises of God is made of no effect? (Rom 4:14)

Update 5:

i did not see the connection of your accusation of me cherry picking... with you continuing up to verse 15.

my use of rom 4:14 was pretty much solid. your addition of verse 15, doesn't affect it in any case whatsoever...

*cherry picking isn't just using one verse. that's not what cherry picking means.

Update 6:

aha! you said the laws of God in Genesis... yes that part is true.. but what you just said the Torah (which started with the 10 commandments at mount sinai)

so which is it? the commandment of God from the beginning? or from the law?

------

let me ask you this... how did Abraham obey God's commandments and laws? (Gen 26:5)

when the law was given through moses? abraham lived 400 years before the law.

answer? he believed and was credited as righteousness (Gen 15:6)

the commandment here is faith, not obedience. even John talks about this in 1 John 3

Update 7:

so time's up it's been an hour, sad to say only 4 people answered. T_T

===answer to the bible puzzle===

Matthew 5: 17-19 first.

Let us first appreciate a significant timeline in the Scriptures about the new covenant under grace and the old covenant under the law of Moses. Note the following:

a) That the Old Covenant had its last prophet in John the Baptist;

b) That the Old Covenant began to fade with Jesus fulfilling the Law of Moses by him dying on the Cross;

c) That the New Covenant took place at Jesus’ resurrection;

d) That the apostles did not know that the Old Covenant had begun to fade away until the emergence of Paul when Jesus showed him the grace gospel (see Galatians 1) and Peter being shown the dream to eat un-koshered animals and the meeting with Cornelius;

Update 8:

e) That the apostles formally declared the Old Covenant and the operation of the Law of Moses has ended in the council of Jerusalem in Acts 15;

f) That the Old Covenant finally ended when the Temple was burned down and the sacrifices of bulls and goats came to an end in AD 70;

g) That from the time Jesus died to the destruction of the Temple, the Old Covenant was fading away (See Hebrews 7 and 8); and

h) Many of the epistles were in fact written at that time. Hence many at times, the apostles called this period “last days”. It is a reference of the last day of law of Moses, and not the coming of Christ.

Many believers keep harping on the fact that Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law. You must read this verse in context and in accordance to the above timeline. This was in a period of transition of Law to grace.

Update 9:

It was said just after the beatitudes. Blessed are you … and etc. In the beatitudes you are blessed without having to do anything. Accordance to the law in Deut. 28 you can only be blessed if you obey the law. If not you are cursed. So the people presumed that Jesus AT THAT TIME says that the Law was abolished. The Law was not abolished at that time. This is because the Law had not achieved its purpose yet.

17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is ACHIEVED.

Notice this there is a deadline for the LAW. When the Law’s purpose is ACHIEVED the law will disappear. Jesus came to ACHIEVE that purpose. And that purpose was achieved when He died and rose again and send the Holy Spirit.

You must appreciate therefore after the death of Jesus, Pa

Update 10:

(last line was cut)

You must appreciate therefore after the death of Jesus, Paul made this comment in Ephesians 2:15. I have included different translations so that the meaning is not lost.

New International Version (©1984)

by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,

New Living Translation (©2007)

He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.

English Standard Version (©2001)

by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

King James Bible

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;

Update 11:

I think it is pretty clear here, that Jesus did put an end and abolished the law of Moses.

====

"But if he had abolished it? wouldn't that make us lawless?" the answer is no. look up my bible puzzle number 3 about it...

also, and i would be posting another bible puzzle about it soon. :)

8 Answers

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  • Servant A
    Lv 6
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Matthew 5:17-19 means exactly what it states, but because you use verses from others other than the one you claim you believe in you come up with wrong assumptions. It is like you ask the question what does Mkemke mean when he said, "Matthew 5:17-19. what did Jesus mean?", it is a self-corruptible idea to honestly use what others in the bible to explain what Jesus said. just as it would be a self-corruptible idea to use quotes made or said by others to explain what Mkemke meant.

    If you want to know what Jesus meant when he said Matthew 5:17-19 than use other words spoken by Jesus himself to determine what his manner of speech was.

    First of all you must use the original translation before translations became used to promote certain ways of changing the true meaning of the original words. The word "abolished" is a word that was not the original translation. The original translation was done in about 1550 AD and the translated word was "Destroy" not "Abolish".

    ---

    Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matt 5:17 (KJV)

    ---

    What did the word "Destroy" mean to Jesus? Only reading all the words Jesus spoke in all 7 of his known gospels can answer this question.

    54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

    55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

    56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.

    Luke 9:54-56 (KJV)

    28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt 10:28 (KJV)

    I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? Luke 6:9 (KJV)

    27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

    28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

    29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:27-29 (KJV)

    ---

    Who did the Christ say destroyed the earth with a flood?

    15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

    16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. Rev 12:15-16 (KJV)

    ---

    And who did the Christ say is the serpent?

    9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

    Rev 12:9 (KJV)

    ---

    So according to Jesus who is it that "Destroys".

    --

    NOW answer the question "

    17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

    18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

    19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5:17-19 (KJV)

    Where was Jesus when he said these words, was he on a mount and about to give a sermon, so what makes you think that Jesus was talking about commandments given by Moses when he was about to speak about 77 commandments of his own in his sermon?

    .

  • Dalan
    Lv 5
    8 years ago

    Wow! I can write long answers, but I think you have everyone beat by your remarks.

    Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

    Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

    Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    - 5:17 We have this concept that when Yahushua died He took to Torah with Him and left it somewhere.

    The law is intact still, with the exception of those laws that pertain to the priesthood and the Temple. They are not in existence at this moment and therefore can't be used.

    What laws did Messiah fulfill? The first 4 of the spring Feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Shavuot. These were done with His death, burial, resurrection and the giving of the Holy Ghost and His ascension.

    -5:18 Jots and tittles are the small nuances of the Hebrew language. None of the little details will be done away with until the last 3 feasts are fulfilled at the Second Coming.

    -5:19 If we teach others that the Torah is no longer valid then our place in the Kingdom will be least.

    Personally, I believe that if we teach someone to break Torah then we won't even be in the Kingdom. After all, the wages of sin (breaking the Torah) is death, not the bottom rung of the ladder in His Kingdom.

    But if we teach others to live by Torah then our place will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    8 years ago

    According to Matthew, Jesus(P) said:

    "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 tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

    And surprising, Jesus(P), the omniscient Yahweh incarnate (allegedly!) suddenly had to change the Laws of Divorce, Justice and Oaths apart from changing his own mind!

    and christians break all the commandments, some knowingly and others unknowingly.

  • Anonymous
    8 years ago

    As you put, Jesus Himself fulfilled the law.

    Jesus is the completion of the law, as many have said, the only

    ONE who could perfectly keep it.

    We see in the next verses how He expands the law, filling it up,

    filling it full.

    These verses were spoken to the Jews, and they are

    referring to the scribes and Pharisees.

    Those are the ones who would teach others. Those are the

    ones who would circumvent the law, for example honoring

    their father and mother.

    So all of this was and is for the Jews, not for the gentiles,

    those adopted through grace.

    The gentiles are grafted in by Grace, and through the

    Lord's supper partake of the nature of Jesus, the

    Lawgiver.

    Jews enter or do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven,

    whereas Gentiles are part of the body of Christ.

    To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they have to be

    completely different from the ways of the scribes

    and Pharisees who made great merchandise of

    the law, who crippled the people with their

    legalism, who showed no mercy to the people.

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  • mjmorell
    Lv 4
    8 years ago

    Difficult question, I've wondered about it myself. I do agree that it doesn't seem to apply to the law of Moses (all 613 commandments). Christ calls the divine authority of Mosaic law into question not just in the whole spirit of His teaching but in particulars like Matt 5:38, Mark 10:5, John 8, etc. Against this backdrop, Matt 5:17 does seem like an anomaly.

    I won't claim certainty on one interpretation, but several possibilities come to mind.

    One might be that it's not a verbatim quotation of Christ, but an editorial addition by Matthew. It seems the whole spirit of Christianity is freedom from any law but love. Perhaps people in Matthew's community were tempted to use this to excuse all sorts of bad behavior, forgetting about the law of love and embracing lawlessness (we see Paul dealing with the same issue in 1 Corinthians, 6:12 and 10:23). Maybe Matthew is giving us a well-intentioned but clumsy or potentially misleading paraphrase of something Christ said or might have said in response.

    Another possibility is that Christ is referring to the 10 commandments or His own 2 commandments (upon which everything else hangs, Matt 22:36-40). It's possible, but the problem with this is the "least stroke of a pen" sounds more like the 613 minute commandments than broad principles.

    A third possibility is that Christ is affirming the law of Moses as being binding on the Jews in His audience, "until everything is accomplished", but not binding on those living after He defeated death on the cross. It's possible, but if this is the case, then the Old Testament is much more literally true than I would otherwise conclude (from Christ's character, and from verses like Mark 10:5 and John 8), in turn raising a host of deeper objections for which I don't think there are credible replies (i.e. what to make of all the God-ordered genocide in Joshua, 1 Samuel). I suppose either God's plan or character could have changed radically from Old Testament to New, but this doesn't seem likely, He's not presented as being like that in either part.

    A fourth possibility is that something was lost in translation (from Aramaic to Greek to English) or copying, or there is some idiom/metaphor being employed here. I'm not enough of a linguistic or manuscript expert to feel strongly. But it doesn't sound to my ears like any of that, the words seem pretty straightforward (in English, anyways).

    So my best guess is that these are Matthew's words, trying to guard against the potential excesses (if misapplied) of the very non-legalistic morality that Christ lays out in the rest of Matthew 5 and teaches and models elsewhere in the Gospels. Admittedly, this does conflict with the doctrine of "inerrancy", but I don't hold to that for reasons outlined in my blog post below. I do believe the Gospels to be basically true, including in the central miracles. I just think if they were meant to be inerrant, there would be only one of them and it would be written by Jesus Himself. I suspect He doesn't want the kind of relationship with us that the existence of a perfect book might produce (see John 5:39-40).

    What do you think? If you have a better explanation than any of these, I am genuinely interested.

    Have a good night, and peace be with you.

    Source(s): http://christianityqanda.net/tag/inerrancy/
  • Sharkfisher
    8 years ago

    The law of moses is not the new covenant. The new covenant is true. Jesus is showing mens' guilt and if the law was abolished then Christians would not need Jesus anymore. The law shows us our sin and God shows us our need for Him.

  • Rick
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    The Law of Moses only applies to the Children of Israel the rest of us only have to keep the Commandments of Noah.

  • A B2
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    Be cursed you hypocrite.

    You are a fake christian

    and God will punish you

    kind of worker of the devil.

    He will destroy you.

    you dont have brain, not me

    as you are going to the hell.

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