Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill”
Last week the article topic was one of common misconception amongst those of the religious world. How and Why are we not bound by the 10 commandments today? In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says that he came to “fulfill” the Law and the Prophets. The Old testament is comparable to a contract between God and his people. The children of Israel were to live their lives by this testament/contract. But the Old testament always pointed to a future fulfillment.
When we think about contracts and their purpose, it makes it a bit easier to understand Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law and prophets. Anytime we need a service rendered in the world today, the use of a contract is regularly utilized. The purpose of the contract is to list the works to be done and the payment agreed upon for those works. Once the agreed works of that contract have been completed, no more work can be done until a new contract is drawn up.
The Old Testament/contract was not intended for just any man to satisfy. The only one who could satisfy the requirements of the Old testament was Jesus Christ, who for our sakes became fully man and was fully God (Phil 2:6-8). Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus was tempted just as we are but was found without sin. This means that Jesus was able to satisfy the requirements of the Old Law while in the flesh.
Furthermore, it wasn’t just the Law that Jesus fulfilled but also all that was spoken by the prophets concerning Him. Acts 3:18 “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.” Jesus satisfied the Law and the prophets to completion.
Just as one fulfills a contract in society today, if more work needs to be done a new contract has to be drawn up. Christ signed the Old testament with HIS blood and drew up a better one (Heb 7:22). But no one throws out the old contract, they keep it for a record of work completed. We have the Old Testament today to reference the work done by God Almighty. And so, the OT was fulfilled and the New Testament is in effect (Heb 9:15-18).