In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says this, “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. 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. 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. 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.”(NIV)
Let’s look at this passage carefully and honestly. First of all, Jesus makes the very blunt statement that He has not come to abolish the Law or Torah, but fulfill it. So we ask. If He did not come to abolish it, did He come to change it? Again, let’s ask another question. If He changes it is that a problem? Most in the church would say that it is not a problem since He is the Son of God. However, remember that in His first coming He came to be the spotless Lamb of God. In order for Him to be spotless He would have to be sinless.
John says in I John 3 that sin if the breaking of the Law. What Law? The Law of God or what is commonly referred to as the Law of Moses. Here is the problem in Deuteronomy 4 and 12 it says that one is not to add or subtract from the Law. If one does then that person is a lawbreaker and therefore a sinner. Here is where we have to be honest. To add to or subtract from the Law would be to change it. Thereby, making Jesus a sinner and not the spotless Lamb.
When Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law, He meant all of it. That would imply what He did in His first coming and what He will do in His second since both are referred to in the Law and since He did not accomplish it all in His first coming. This would include the prophetic elements of the fall Festivals and even some of the last chapters of Deuteronomy among others. Remember He only fulfilled the spring Festivals in His first coming.
Then Jesus says that none of the Law would go away until heaven and earth disappear. It all must be accomplished. We know that heaven and earth are still here. Therefore, we know that there is still part of the Law for Him to fulfill and accomplish. He still has part of the Law to fulfill in His second coming. Therefore, the Law, all of it, still stands because not the least stroke of the pen would be done away with until He accomplished all of it and heaven and earth are still here.
I have a question. Is Yeshua/Jesus the least in the Kingdom of Heaven? Absolutely not! Did you catch how Yeshua makes the distinction between least and great? The one who is least is the one who sets aside even the smallest of His laws and teaches others to do the same. So if Jesus taught others to set aside any law from God by His own definition He would be called the least in the His Father’s Kingdom. Is that the case? No, so how can the former of Him setting one or more aside be the case? It can’t!
However, the one who obeys the laws of God and teaches others to do so is called great in God’s Kingdom. We know that Yeshua obeyed His Father and was our spotless Lamb. However, to be great in His Kingdom He would also have to teach His people to obey His Father, even the least of the laws. He is absolutely great and the only one who has ever completely obeyed the Father and taught His people to do the same.
It is important to remember that every time Yeshua clashed with the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law it was over the Tradition of the Elders that the Pharisees and teachers equated with the Law. Jesus firmly rejected that because the Tradition was really a list a things added to and subtracted from the Law of His Father. They found ways to not fully obey the Law or they added on boundaries around the Law. Which the Law itself forbids. That is why Yeshua said ones righteousness must surpass theirs’.
It should be our heart, as it was our Saviors, to obey our Father. Yeshua said in John 14 that if we love Him than we would keep His commands. He also makes it clear in that chapter that He and His Father are one and if that is the case than His commands or Law is no different from His Father’s. If it were they would not be one and Jesus would be a sinner and we would forever be lost. We must remember that Scripture says God and Jesus are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
May it be our heart to obey every word that comes from the mouth of God out of our love for Him!
In Isaiah right between chapter 7, which gives us the sign of Immanuel, and chapter 9, which tells us a child is born and a son is given, sits chapter 8. I want to look at some things in this very interesting and prophetic chapter. In verse 16 it states, “Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.”(NIV) This is a very compelling verse. When I first saw this verse it was the word “disciple” that caught my attention. I thought that was an odd word to use in the Old Testament so I looked it up and it appears that Isaiah and Jeremiah are the only two who use this word and Isaiah is the only one who uses it to refer to the disciples of God. I found this interesting because I think, like most of you probably, of a disciple as someone from the New Testament era. I was not aware that it was also in the Old Testament.
If you notice Isaiah is being told to bind up something and seal up something. He is to bind up the testimony and seal up the law. This language reminds me a lot of when Gabriel tells Daniel to seal up the vision for the time of the end. But he is being told to seal up the law. We all know what that is. It is the Books of Moses, the Torah. But what of the testimony, what is that?
It reminded me of a verse in Revelation 12, verse 17: “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring-those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”(NIV) The commandments could very easily be another word for the law since Psalm 119 uses many different words to refer to the Law: Law, Commandment, Precept, Ordinance, and even Word. So we have the Law represented here, but is the testimony of Jesus the same testimony that Isaiah is referring to? Let’s find out.
Let’s look at 1 Timothy 2:5 & 6. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men-the testimony given in its proper time.”(NIV) Paul here is referring to Jesus as the testimony. But can we be sure it is the testimony that Isaiah is speaking of?
Back in Isaiah 8 let’s go back a few verses and read what is above verse 16. Let’s start in verse 13 and go through 15, “The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.”(NIV) That sounds familiar!
Romans 9:31-33 says, “but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”” Paul definitely believes the “stumbling stone” in Isaiah is referring to Jesus.
Peter also speaks of it. In I Peter 2:4-9 he says, “as you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message-which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”(NIV) Yes, even Peter sees Jesus as the stumbling stone.
These verse are definitely declaring Jesus to be the “testimony” that Isaiah was referring to.
The verses in 1 Peter tie back to Isaiah 8 in another way as well. Peter speaks of being brought to His wonderful light. We are brought to the light of Him. If we go back to Isaiah 8 verse 20 we read, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” That’s right the Law and the testimony of Jesus is what gives us light. He is the Light!
Finally, In Revelation 22 we see Jesus-the testimony-declaring He is coming soon and in verse 14 it says, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”(KJV)
So we have seen how Jesus, YESHUA, is the testimony of God to man and that He is linked all through Scripture to the Law, TORAH. He is the living word, the living Torah, the living Law. We cannot separate Him and faith in Him from the Law anymore than we can separate His humanness from His deity. They are forever linked and meant for His disciples.
Not surprising since we see in Isaiah 2:2 & 3, “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”(NIV) That’s right, in His kingdom, Yeshua will sit on His throne in the House of God and teach the Torah. How awesome is that!
Let us be ready! Let us know His word and obey it! In doing so we are declaring our love for Him. Oh, what a love! A love that seeks to obey every word that comes from the mouth of God. It is never contrary to Grace to obey the One we claim to love. Otherwise, it is words alone, it is faith alone, and as James (Jacob) the brother of our Lord said, “faith without works is dead.” May it never be, may our obedience prove our faith day after day.
Yeshua-the testimony-and the Torah are forever linked. Hallelujah!!
Esther's Legacy 