Matthew Law Puns

Hi all,

I´m sure I´m not alone in my concern about Jesus´ teaching about the law in Matthew 5: 17-20. I believe every christian at some point comes across this matter and may struggle with it a bit. Also many atheists cling to this passage (a wrong interpretation of it) to dismiss and ridicule the christian faith. So it´s very important not only to understand it, but also to be able to explain it to other people.

I personally still felt a bit uneasy about it, mostly because although I got the general idea, I wasn´t really able to explain it myself; I wouldn´t be able to convey it to others.

Well, ok: this is Matthew 5:17-20:

" 17 “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. 18 For truly I tell you, 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. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. "

We may be troubled trying to find the right interpretation, but the good thing is that Jesus Himself provided His interpretation, about what is considered the Law (or, what does He mean when he mentions the Law) - please consider Luke 10: 25-28:

"25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Another important idea is that in many aspects the Law served as a tutor, to get us to Christ - now Christ is here, we thank the tutor, but his job is done - Galatians 3:23-25:

" 23 Before the coming of this faith,[j**] we were held in custody under the law, locked up until t

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." - Matthew 5:17

i saw a Muslim critique to Christianity and he handed out this verse as an argument. What does it really mean and what is the law that is mentioned?

Since Christians believe that the Old Testament Law is not applicable due to the reformation from the New Testament.

i am a Nontriniatarian leaning non-denominated Christian.

What are the common attempts to square Mark 7 (the parts about food not defiling the body) with the Leviticus dietary laws and Matthew 5:17-20 (not one iota...)? Is it simply that the audiences are different: Torah for Jews but not Gentiles? And if so, why does Mark use parenthetical annotations for a naive audience (presumably Gentiles) if Jesus is addressing Gentiles?

I've been in the arguing with Christians game for quite a long time now. One of the most annoying arguments I've encountered, and I'm sure you've encountered it as well if you engage with Christians, is that Jesus came not to abolish the law of the prophets, but to "fulfill" it. This argument invariably is trotted out any time you point out the objectively horrific laws of the old testament. Also invariably, the interpretation of "fulfill" used by the person making the argument is something akin to, "make it so you can ignore that crap and use this blurb in future arguments against atheists." Or a slightly more charitable implicit interpretation of the word fulfill in this context is one synonymous with "abolish."

Here's are a couple of tactics I've found effective in dealing with this. Try to get the person to define what the word fulfill means. If you are careful and patient, you'll get them to admit that what they mean by fulfill is essentially to abolish. So if you now substitute the word abolish for the word fulfill in that passage, it reads: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to abolish them."

It's obviously nonsensical. It's like saying "Do not think I have come to eat my banana, I have not come to eat my banana but to eat my banana."

Another thing I've found effective is to try to get the person making the argument to set out criteria by which you can determine which laws have been "fulfilled" and which ones have not. They will be unable to do so in any way that doesn't reveal that the rule is: if the law is embarrassing, anachronistic, or otherwise conflicts with the modern moral aesthetic, Jesus fulfilled it. If the law is still applicable to modern society, it's a shining example of Yahweh's plan for mankind.

In any case, you'll find your opponents have no good answer for the criterion or criteria they use to determine if the law has been, "fulfilled," or not. And at that point they'll probably bring up something irrelevant, walk away, or rage quit the thread, depending on the context of the conversation. You'll just have to view that as a win.

Matthew 19:8, NIV: "Jesus replied, 'Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning."

Can we say peoples "hearts" affecter how laws created? Also what he means by "beginning"?

Note, Jesus said the Pharisees shut the door to heaven to those who were trying to get in. Jesus said he was the Way to eternal life in heaven. In the last 100 years, many people who may have wanted to go to heaven have had the door shut in their faces by those who followed the lead of a one Judge Rutherford, who led the Watchtower from about 1920-1940. He arbitrarily told thousands back then that they didn't have the same hope as anointed Christians. He said their hope was to remain on this earth. Well, no heavenly hope means...no hope at all. This earth is going to 'pass away' Matthew 24:35

If a person has no heavenly hope then they have no hope of seeing God's face, embracing Jesus and thanking him in person for dying for them. In fact these will never get to see God, hear his voice and he will never take them by the hand, like a Father with his child and personally tell them how much he loves them. Very sad. Its the worst case of being cheated out the only thing that means anything in this short life. It is refusing the undeserved gift Jesus offered to all who accepted it. None of us deserve it, but we all can have it.

While its true there will be greater and lesser Christians in heaven, the fact is, we'll all be ...in heaven and so will the 'new' earth. We don't need to allow the door be slammed in our face. Jesus isn't stopping anyone from entering heaven. It is certain men who are not going to enter themselves and like the Pharisees, they don't want anyone else to enter either. Its a choice we have to all make. No one can make it for you.

"Appearing" righteous is not righteousness. The only way to be righteous is living in Christ, covered by his blood. Some may look good on the outside without the blood of the Lamb, but it's inside that counts. The part that only God sees. "The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one's inmost being" Proverbs 20:27.

Jesus told the Pharisees, "In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23:28

In Matthew 19:8 Jesus said, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (ESV).

There are several mentions of divorce in the Torah, but let's take Deuteronomy 24:1. Reading before and after these scriptures shows that this law is part of a larger monologue spoken as a whole. Moving toward the end of this particular monologue we see in Deuteronomy 26:16 "This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul." (ESV)

How should I interpret the comparison between Deut 26:16 which says "This day the Lord your God commands you..." and Matthew 19:8 which says "Moses allowed you..."? Does Matthew 19:8 have any broader implications for interpreting the ultimate source of Mosaic law?

What does it mean for you that Jesus said in New Testament that he came to fulfill the laws from Old Testament? Are they wrong who say that Jesus nullified the laws of Old Testament? What is your opinion?

Is the Laws/Commandments a burden to men?