Fulfill, Not Abolish

 "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 pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." -

                                                                        Matthew 5:17-20

    Jesus is the Word of God. Before the beginning of time, was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.(John 1:1 paraphrased). Jesus cannot contradict the word of the scriptures, because that would be like contradicting himself. When the Law was given to Moses in the wilderness on Mount Sinai, Jesus himself was in these words. The Law told the people how they could become righteous and pure in the eyes of God. Unfortunately, even if the people followed the Law to the letter and performed the required sacrifices for purification of the sin, it would still not be enough to cover the debt that sin has on our life. When Jesus took the form of a man and began his earthly ministry, the very scriptures the Pharisees held against the people were the very embodiment of this teacher/ carpenter from Nazareth, and yet they did not see Jesus for who he was, but rather as a false prophet. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling the people that the things he does is fulfilling the very laws they were hoping he would dismiss. He even goes as far to say that even if you are "more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom." What he is saying here is that the Law passed down through the generations would only be a temporary bandaid to cover a person's sins, but only through Jesus would a person find true Salvation.  You may be asking, " what about the heroes of the faith who lived on the earth before Jesus came and died, did they not get into heaven?" To that, I say that these early believers had seen God face to face, and had lived a righteous life worthy of the Lord. David, a man after God's own heart- whenever he sinned, he fell on his face before God and repented of his sins. Abraham, Father of Many Nations- he willing took his only son up to a mountain to sacrifice him to God, simply because God asked him to do so. When God saw that Abraham's heart was pure and his intentions holy, he provided another sacrifice through a ram stuck in the thicket. Joshua and Caleb, warriors of Israel- They believed with everything in them that God would give them victory of Canaan and the surrounding lands. They were the only 2 people who survived from Egypt to the Promised Land, when everyone else had died in the wilderness. Elijah, prophet of God- He believed God would provide so powerfully, he commanded the rain to not fall on the land for 3 years, and during that time, he never became hungry or thirsty. He then passed his mantle to his apprentice Elisha, and a literal chariot of fire carried him up to Heaven. I could go on and on about the heroes who came before us, but I say all this to show that just because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross, he still lived in the hearts of these Forefathers of the Faith. They followed the Law, but took it one step further and trusted God with every area of their life, without any hesitation or concern for their own life.

    Now that we have the words of the Gospel writers and the gift of the writings of Paul and the early church leaders, we are now covered by the blood of Jesus, and our names are written in the only book that matters, The Lamb's Book of Life. All we need to do is accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and believe in the only name by which we can be saved. 

Adam Semple- A Young Man on a Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount