What Does Matthew 5:17,18 Mean?
Luke 16:
16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Before John, the kingdom of God had not been preached. It had been prophesied about but John began the preaching of it in fulfillment of those prophesies.
Matthew 4:
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are the same thing. Jesus is introducing the kingdom of God from heaven into the world. He is the King.
Matthew 5:
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes reference to this new and different thing; the kingdom of heaven among men.
Matthew5:
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus says "these least commandments", in verse 19, he is referring to his teachings that relate to the kingdom of heaven, which is twice referred to in that same verse. At this point he
had already begun his teaching concerning the kingdom of God and after this interjection assuring them that he did not come to destroy the law or the prophets, he continues teaching the kingdom of heaven until the end of chapter 7.
Since Jesus has come in fulfillment of prophesy, what he says must be heeded. To be viewed negatively as "the least" by those in the kingdom of God, [including God and the angels], is obviously not something we want to happen to us. Verses 19 and 20 above, that relate to Jesus teachings, fit well with the two following verses that show both the prophesy that he must be heeded and the warning Jesus also gives to those not heeding his words:
Deut. 18:
15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Matthew 7:
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Let us again look at the verses in Matthew 5:
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.
Jesus sets the tone of meaning for his statements in 17 and 18 above by the word "fulfil". This is generally spoken without answer to the question of how or in what manner every jot and tittle from the law and prophets are to be fulfilled. But since he had just declared that he had come to fulfil, his following statements regarding his teaching begin to answer that question of how and in what manner
he came to fulfil:
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.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
For as long as heaven and earth exist, every jot and tittle from the law and prophets that relate to prophecy are to be fulfilled and can be depended on to be fulfilled. He declares that he has come to fulfill and assures us that all things from the law and prophets that are to be fulfilled shall in fact be fulfilled right up to and including the passing away of the heaven and earth.
There is however another aspect of being "fulfilled" as seen in the Apostle Paul’s teaching. We find through the abundance of revelation given to that apostle that sections of scripture that are not prophetic, but rather serve to address moral issues, also have a form of fulfillment with regards to their purpose. They served a very necessary but temporary purpose until Jesus came to bring the new covenant :
Galatians.3:
19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
The OT system (‘the law’ in verse 19) is contrasted with the NT system (‘the faith’ in verse 23).
The law served "till" Jesus, "the seed" came. Verse 21, above, also agrees with the words from the same apostle declaring that the OT was not the ministry of righteousness as the NT is.
Hebrews 9:
8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
We can see in verse 9 that the service of the temple was also a form of prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.
Numerous necessary carnal ordinances, (such as allowing divorce for the hardness of their hearts) served a necessary but temporary purpose until Jesus came and brought the reformation provided by in the NT: "until the time of reformation". Jesus came to fulfill the purpose of those temporarily imposed ordinances by bringing their foretold reformation.
The NT defines and clarifies the "dead works" Paul refers to in verse 14 above. And since it was Jesus’ purpose to come and purge those dead works from us, (verse 15) it is no wonder that we see him exposing as unrighteous, some of what was done under the first testament. Some things from the OT are absolutely no longer allowed under the NT. This would relate to Paul’s reference to "the transgressions that were under the first testament". And again, a good example of a transgression necessary to have been regulated under the first testament, is Moses’ allowance for divorce, [Deut. 24:1-4] which Jesus revealed to have been written only for the hardness of their hearts and which was in direct opposition to the truth of the subject as Jesus revealed by his commentary on Adam and Eve, [ Mark 10:2-12].
John 1:
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 7:
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
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Originally Posted by Alaska
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