"He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." Matt 14:52
Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law not to abolish it. He came to perfect it, fill it up, bring out its meaning. The Gospels are full of scripture telling us that "This was to fulfill..." and "As it is written..." or "He did this in fulfillment of..."
Was Jesus opposed to God's Torah (instructions)?
"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. I tell you the truth, 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. Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matt 5:17-19
When we teach that Jesus "fulfilled" the law by "abolishing" its application to us, we completely miss the point. It is absurd to suggest that Jesus fulfilled all the Law and Prophets at his "First Coming". When Yashua said on the cross, "It is finished", "the handwriting was upon the wall" in terms of the fate of sin, death and Satan. But who would argue that Satan is not freely roaming about doing his work to this day. Yashua's enemies have not been made his footstool...YET. Since this has not occurred and we are not at rest with him in, all things have not been fulfilled.
Also, Jesus made many future predictions and prophecies that have yet to transpire.
Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Matt 5:17-19 applies to the Church. The least are ignoring the commands and the great are practicing and teaching Torah. Yashua doesn't say the "lost" but the "least". In other words, God is gracious but not necessarily pleased. God is tolerant but will not reward disobedience. Jesus taught that disobedience, even in the "dispensation" of grace has its limits.
"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matt 7:21
We conveniently leave Matt 5:17 for the Jews and breath a sigh of relief that we don't have to worry about every "least stroke of a pen". I once heard someone in the church say "What a terrible system those Jews lived under. Aren't you glad we are under grace!" He forgets that this "terrible system" was established not by the Jews but by the God of Heaven, Creator of the Universe. That system defined both "sin" and "righteousness" thus revealing the will of God himself. How does the Bible talk about this "terrible system"?
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the Law." Romans 7:7
"What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" Romans 6:1
Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! Gal 3:21
Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. Romans 3:31
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 Yashua. Rev 12:17
Law and Faith: A Biblical Balance
"But now a righteousness apart from law has been made known, to which the law and prophets testified. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Rom 3:21-22
If my faith in Jesus justifies me apart from law, why should I care about the "old" law? If Yashua is our justification why should you care about any law? Aren't we now free to murder, rape, covet and steal? Was the Law nailed to the cross or not?
Scripture, in context, tell us that the penalty of the law was nailed to the cross if we put our faith and trust in Yashua. The primary evidence of faith is a righteous life. Righteousness by definition is obedience to Torah. What then is this "righteousness by faith" Paul talks about? Rom 3:21.
What did Jesus actually accomplish, from a Jewish point of view? We know he came to "fulfill" the law and prophets. What did he fulfill exactly? The book of Hebrews goes to great length to tell us that Yashua fulfilled God's sacrificial requirements. He accomplished in the heavenly reality what could not be accomplished in the Tabernacle or Temple (which were only shadows). We understood from the Temple (shadow) that the heavenly sacrificial system required blood atonement.
"Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin." Heb 9:22
Not only blood but the blood of an unblemished animal. Jesus provided a perfect sacrifice: himself. With his own blood, therefore, he "bought and paid" for our sin. He now owns you. You were bought with a price. This is not a compliment. It is a fact. This means that we are no longer at the mercy of the imperfect sacrificial system but we are at the mercy of Yashua Messiah and dependent upon his continued favor and grace. Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Lord that he is merciful. This does not mean that the definition of sin and righteousness (God's will) has changed one "jot or tittle". This means that it is possible to be forgiven of sin but we should try to avoid doing it. If we say, "Jesus is Lord" and treat his Torah (instructions) like an old rag we are fulfilling the role of Pilots soldiers on the day of the crucifixion.
The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face. John 19:1
Or as the Hebrew writer says:
"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God, and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." Hebrews 6:4
The Law and Prophets are prophesy, shadow, & schoolmaster. All of these things point to Christ (messiah) and are fulfilled in him. Some use these descriptions of the Law as a reason to disregard it. I would argue that these are the very reasons to pay closer attention to the Law and Prophets. At the very least, the Law still holds all kinds of value for us because it teaches and rehearses realities found in Yashua. Some of those realities have already been fulfilled and some are in the process of fulfillment. If we ignore these "old" things we soon forget the significance of the message they taught. When we excuse the "pagan assimilation" of our fathers as harmless traditions and exchange them for God's prophetic rehearsals (Feast Days and Sabbaths) we become blind to the very things Jesus accomplished (Passover>Passover Lamb). More to the point, the Law still represents the will of God and he is pleased to have us "uphold" it.
The Torah still has value for true Israel and when applied with love is still the definition of the will of Yaweh. In terms of prophecy, some of the heavenly reality has already come in Messiah. But do not discount the fact that some is yet to come in Messiah. All things are eventually fulfilled in Messiah but we haven't arrived yet.
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