Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill

 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

- Matthew 5:17-20

 We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which began with Monday's reading.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions, my study bible tells us.  He does so by first of all, performing God's will in all its fullness (3:15); secondly, transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); by declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He is about to deliver to those He addresses; and finally, by granting righteousness -- which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4). 

"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."  It is the word amen/ἀμήν (Greek borrowed from Hebrew) which is translated here as assuredly.  It means "truly" or "confirmed" or "so be it."  Jesus uses it as a kind of oath or a solemn affirmation of truth.  My study bible calls Jesus use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations (rather than at the end) unique and authoritative.  He's declaring His words to be affirmed even before they're spoken.  It is a way of telling us to pay special attention to what He's about to declare.  A jot (iota in the Greek) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore, Jesus says that the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of His new teaching.  All is fulfilled, my study bible says, refers to Christ's Passion and Resurrection.

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  Righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  In that sense, the observance of all the least commandments means to observe the whole Law, while the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.

Jesus is leading us to a fuller, more whole sense of the Law, which He will subsequently extend to an internal awareness of what righteousness is.  Thus, He will give us a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.  Here, He reassures His disciples that He is not breaking away from Jewish spiritual history but rather comes in fulfillment of the same.  The Law is not something He will do away with but rather will fulfill.  The Prophets also are fulfilled in Him.  As Christians and believers in Christ, it is our tradition that He, as Son, is the Lord of the Old Testament.  He is, in this divine sense, the giver of the Law.  As Incarnate human being, He is the fulfillment of the Law.  It is He who told Moses "I AM" (Exodus 3:14), just as Jesus will echo these words to the leadership in John's Gospel with another "amen" statement like that in today's reading  ("Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" - John 8:58).   Therefore as the Word Incarnate it is entirely appropriate that Jesus fulfill all righteousness (3:15).  In today's part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has just given the Beatitudes, or the blessedness of the Kingdom, and He is beginning to address the Law as it is understood and practiced.  He is leading into what it is to live a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.  What we know as good and true remains good and true.  But Christ has come to reveal a deeper truth, to fulfill, to give us a righteousness that exceeds what we know, to illuminate what is there but hidden until it is time to reveal it.  The early Christians who would turn from various pagan religions would find their own truth, goodness, and beauty fulfilled in Christ in a similar fashion.  As Logos, Christ is the Person who is Truth; thereby what was true and good and beautiful remained so, but in service to the teachings of Christ.  Greek philosophy was rendered in service to the Church, and thereby gave us theology.  Even the very word Logos became fleshed out, more deeply understood by the revelation of Christ -- as would other words known to the Greek philosophers but transformed through Christian faith.  None of this is accidental nor fanciful. The Truth comes into the world in the flesh to more fully flesh out and reveal deeper realities hidden to us in the truths already revealed, if we can but grasp hold of that.  Let us consider the depth to which He is leading and leads us, even in our very lives and prayers in the here and now, as we follow on the path of His faith.