How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law? That’s a great question.
(Jesus said), “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
What did Jesus Mean by Fulfill the Law?
Fulfill?
What did Jesus mean? Did He mean He would perfectly keep Moses’ Law?
Old Wine
Jesus brought new teachings (fresh wine), so people might get the wrong idea, i.e., that Jesus was ‘abolishing’ (unhitching?) the Old Testament. That was the accusation of the unbelieving Jewish teachers of Jesus’ day. So, Jesus got ahead of this charge by claiming to ‘fulfill.’
Jesus the Lawbreaker?
The leaders concentrated their attacks against Jesus’ supposed lawbreaking by focusing on Sabbath rules:
“When the Pharisees saw (the disciples picking the heads of grain), they said to Him (Jesus), “Look, Your disciples are (breaking) the Sabbath!”
“But He said to them, “Have … you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, but are blameless? I say to you, in this place there is One (Jesus Himself) who is greater than the temple…. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:2-3, 5-6, 8)” For more about Jesus, please read “Is Jesus God?“
The Letter or the Spirit?
The Son of God (Jesus preincarnate) gave Moses the original Law, so shouldn’t He explain it? And isn’t the spirit (intention) of the Law more important than its letter? Particularly when humans had determined how to fulfill it and hypocrisy corrupted those directions?
The leaders devised rules meant to help people keep the law. Some (many?) bypassed God’s intent.
Fresh Wine
But Jesus brought fresh wine in new wineskins, saying,
“No one pours new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins will be marred. But new wine must be poured into new wineskins (Mark 2:22).”
Better Teaching
The ‘new wine’ was fresh teaching superior to Moses’ Law and especially to that of the religious leaders:
“Jesus said to the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they remained silent. So (against their rules) He took him (the man with edema) and healed him, and let him go” (Luke 14:3-4).
However, the leaders charged that Jesus’ healing broke the Law because He worked (healed) on the Sabbath.
Jesus Fulfills the Law
Jesus Doubled Down
He’s not abolishing the Law; He’s fulfilling it!
“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one dot or one mark will pass from the law until all be fulfilled…. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no way enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:18, 20).
The Problem
The interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees don’t teach righteousness from the Law. They don’t meet Kingdom standards. Keeping the letter as the teachers advised didn’t fulfill it. Jesus gave examples of how to fulfill.
What Standard?
What a shock to Jesus’ audience! How could they (the unwashed multitude), surpass the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees? They were the standard; just ask them!
Who Interprets?
People knew how strictly and outwardly sacrificially the scribes and the Pharisees followed the letter of the Law. They were educated religious leaders, and even Jesus granted that they sat in Moses’ seat (Matthew 23:1-4).
Perfection
Yet even the strictest law-keeper couldn’t fulfill the Law because it couldn’t perfect anyone:
“For the law made nothing perfect, but now a better hope (Jesus’ fulfillment) is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:19).
Hypocrites
Jesus advised His audience to listen to the Jewish Leaders — but don’t do what they do! They burden others but exempted themselves.
It’s the Doer!
But the doer and teacher will be honored and ‘shall be called great in the kingdom.’ The structure shows this is His main point. It’s the fulfiller, not the letter keeper, not the Jewish leaders.
Jesus’ Point
The Pharisees were the strictest sect, but Jesus shocked the people by saying their righteousness was insufficient. People thought, “If they’re not righteous enough, what hope do we have!”
However, some in the crowd questioned the assumed righteousness of the Pharisees; they saw their hypocrisy. They put on a good show but didn’t live by their ideals. Jesus later warned, “To His disciples first, “Beware of the yeast (teaching) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).
So, the Questions
How can someone be more righteous than the strictest Law-keepers?
So, is Jesus Interpreting Moses’ Law (the Torah)? Let’s keep searching.
Jesus > Moses
Son > Servant
“For the One (Jesus) was counted worthy of more glory than Moses.… Moses was … a servant…. But Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son” (Hebrews 3:3, 5-6).
Builder > Servant
God built the ‘house,’ while Moses served in it. The Builder (the Son) is greater than the servant. The Orator is greater than the scribe. But people want to say that Jesus interpreted Moses’ Law? The Law that couldn’t make anyone perfect?
Illustration > Illustrator
Who’s interpreting who? Does Jesus interpret Moses’ Law, or does Moses’ Law illustrate Jesus’ work?
“For the One (Jesus) was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in that He who builds the house has more honor than the house itself” (Hebrews 3:3).
Moses Allowed Hard Hearts
When the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife, Jesus asked them what Moses commanded (Mark 10:2-5). He said Moses allowed it because of the hardness of their hearts.
Jesus Won’t Allow Hard Hearts
But Jesus returned to God’s intention: That the two become one flesh and that any divorce is adultery (Mark 10:6-12). Jesus didn’t sustain Moses’ Law; he upheld God’s standard.
Jesus > The Temple
A Copy
The ark and the temple were copies – patterns — of heavenly realities:
“They (Aaron’s priests) serve in a sanctuary that is an example and shadow of the heavenly one, as Moses was instructed by God … about … the tabernacle, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Hebrews 8:5).
Reality > A Copy & Obtaining > Imperfect
Jesus’ redemptive work didn’t ‘interpret’ the ark and temple. That’s looking at it backward. Instead, they illustrated Jesus’ priestly work in the heavenly temple during His sacrificial death and resurrection. His work was the reality; it was “not made with hands” and “not of this creation”:
“But Christ, when He came as a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
Body > Building
Jesus was God’s Temple in bodily form:
“Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
He was speaking concerning the temple of His body” (John 2:19,21).
To repeat. Jesus brought the reality the earthly ark and temple only represented. So, Jesus didn’t ‘interpret’ them; He gave the blueprint to the builders. They only displayed His future work of eternal redemption in the heavenly temple.
Jesus > The Sabbath
The Sabbath Sign
God gave Israel the Sabbaths as a sign that He is the Lord:
“I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them” (Ezekiel 20:12).
Rule Maker (Lord) > Rule
Jesus taught the following:
“In the law … the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, but are blameless.… There is One who is greater than the temple…. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:5-6, 8).”
Greater as a Son?
Greater than Moses (the Law)?
Greater than the Ark or the Temple?
Greater than (Lord of) the Sabbath?
Jesus is Lord!
Since Jesus is Lord even of the Sabbath, then He’s greater than Moses’ Law, which interpreted the Sabbaths. He is our Sabbath rest.
Jesus > His Accusers
He also has greater authority than His accusers. These Jewish rulers interpreted how men should follow God’s Sabbath, and their teaching advised doing evil (not healing) over doing good (healing)! They were the bad trees with bad fruit (Matthew 7:15-20).
Jesus > Copies
Da Vinci’s original “The Last Supper” painting has been copied. Would you rather have the original or a copy? Does the copy exceed the original? The ark, the temple, and the Law of Moses are all copies. Because Jesus brought reality, the Law became obsolete:
“Now that which is decaying and growing old (the Old Covenant) is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13).
Therefore, we shouldn’t say (as some do) that Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, ‘interpreted’ the Law. Instead, the Law was a copy of heaven’s uncompromised virtue. Jesus didn’t bring a copy of heaven’s standards; He brought their reality!
Jesus > Any Mediator
Because the Law was a copy (angels mediated it), it was inferior to the righteousness of the Kingdom Jesus offered:
“(The Law) was added because of transgressions, until the Seed (Jesus) should come to whom the promise was made. And it (the Law) was ordained through angels by … a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator for only one party, but God is one” (Galatians 3:19-20).
One > Mediation
Moses’ Law needed mediators, both angels and Moses. In contrast, Jesus is the God (Who) is One and therefore required no mediator (Galatians 3:20). As God, He brought heaven’s reality – not a copy! — and revealed it in His Sermon.
Jesus Fulfilled the Perfection of the Law
Perfection > Moses Law
So, Jesus did not abolish the Law; He fulfilled it. But not by keeping it! Keeping it would be backward. As our heavenly High Priest, He “obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). He achieved the perfection the Law couldn’t.
Authority > Moses
Jesus’ commands and teaching align with His absolute and underived authority.
How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
Not by perfectly keeping Moses’ Law. Jesus fulfilled the Law because He’s the reality the Law copied. He’s the perfect image of God. His Sermon—his entire ministry—fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and achieved eternal redemption.
Jesus is Greater
