Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17, in plain English

Jesus makes it clear: He didn't come to throw out God's law or the prophets. He came to fulfill them, to bring everything they pointed to into full reality.

Why it's here

Some people thought Jesus was starting something completely new. He wasn't. He was completing what God started. The old story and the new story are one story.

Who's speaking

Jesus addresses concerns about the Law.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus doesn't reject the Old Testament. He fulfills it. Everything it promised finds its 'yes' in Him.

The scholarly reading

Jesus explicitly denies that His teaching abolishes (katalusai) the Torah or Prophets. Rather, He came to fulfill (plerosai) them, bringing them to their intended completion and fullest meaning. This is a hermeneutical statement about the continuity of God's revelation.

Language and setting

Early Christians were accused of antinomianism (rejecting the Law). Jesus preemptively addresses this: His teaching deepens and completes the Law rather than discarding it.

Voice

Jesus, beginning His teaching on the Law.

Significance

Jesus positions Himself not as a revolutionary overthrowing Moses but as the one who brings the entire Old Testament to its intended fulfillment.

15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

19So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Read all of Matthew 5 — Jesus turns the world's values upside down. The blessed aren't the powerful — they're the poor in spirit, the grieving, the meek.