By Cyril Anderson

“ Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 

For truly I say unto you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one dot, not one iota shall pass from the law, until all is fulfilled.

 Whoever therefore shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.

For I say unto you, that except that your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no ways enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 In this famous passage of the New Testament, Jesus (as) teaches the people about the Law and his teachings and mission in relation to it.  There has been some discussion in Christian circles as to what is meant by “The Law.”  Many believe that what is meant is the general laws of the Ten Commandments, and not the detailed  regulations, or mitzvot of the Torah.  After all, the later explanations of Paul make this clear, that Christians, through their faith in Christ the redeemer, are freed from the obligation of this law.  However, such a reading requires a denial of the simple words of the passage, and rests on an unawareness of the Jewish Hebrew culture in which Jesus (as) lived.  To understand what is meant by “Law and Prophets” one must understand a bit about the Hebrew scriptures.  These scriptures, familiar to Christians in translation as the Old Testament, were known as the Tanakh, which is an acronym standing for the three major parts of the scriptures, Torah, or “The Law,” (i.e. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) Neviim, or “The Prophets,” (e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc) and Ketuvim, or “other writings (e.g. Joshua, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, etc)”  So when Jesus (as) referred to “The Law and Prophets,” he was referring to two of the major sections of the Hebrew scriptures.  This would have been unmistakeable to the principally Jewish audience that listened to him.  What he told them was that his teachings were not meant to alter the teachings of these scriptures or to render them null and void. 

 Instead, as shown in the verses that follow, he meant to fulfill the letter of the Law by expanding on this law, helping people to understand the spirit as well as the letter of the law by expanding on the psychological, internal aspects of the Law to match the external.  For example, he explains that while before, it was simply said that adultery and murder were prohibited, Jesus (as) expands by explaining that even by gazing lustfully at a woman, or by holding anger without cause at ones brother, one has already committed these crimes in his heart, impurifying himself.  Jesus (as) did not seek to make the external law “null and void,” but rather to fulfill and complete it by strengthening the external with internal purity of heart. 

What is the Value of the Law?

 God has infinite knowledge of us; He created us, and knows how we work, including our weaknesses.  He is able to design laws that if followed, will maximize our happiness and health.  And in His infinite mercy, He chooses to send Messengers to the earth to communicate this message to humankind.  This great gift represents the giving of the blueprints to an ideal way of life here on earth.

 Many Christians balk at the detailed and strict religious laws of Jews and Muslims.  Many see these as unnecessary restrictions.  Even laws enjoined in their own Bible, such as the covenant of circumcision and the prohibition on eating pork, are largely ignored and scoffed at, even by religious Christians.  These people seem for some reason to think that God gave these laws arbitrarily, or simply to burden us, or that despite God’s knowledge of us as our creator, that these laws are obsolete.  But little do these people realize that they are in fact insulting their Creator by saying this.  Our Creator is merciful, and does not give us regulations to burden us or to oppress us; He is not a tyrant.  Rather, like a parent, He knows, with His infinite knowledge, what is best for us, and tries to liberate us and keep us away from trouble.  

 The reality is that it is peoples’ pride and arrogance that are the real oppressors and tyrants here.   For by rejecting the law, they are in effect rejecting the One who wrote it, placing themselves foolishly above God, thinking themselves a better lawmaker than He.