Read: Matthew 5:13-20
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. (v. 17)
Suppose you get the flu and go to the doctor. Along with the usual suggestion of fluids, rest, and maybe some medication, he tells you to stop eating red meat and start running five miles every day. Those directions would be a shock! The doctor is going beyond traditional medical wisdom and offering a new interpretation.
That’s a little bit like what Jesus teaches in today’s reading. The Law of Moses—taught in every synagogue for thousands of years—is a “preliminary.” Jesus is its fulfillment. His word, his life, brings the Law to its completion and delivers on its promises. God’s word is about him.
Every religion, every belief system, has its authoritative writings, its sacred books. We use instruction manuals and computer prompts to “fix things” in devices and programs. But what if the problem in our lives is us, and the solution is him, Jesus? What if it is a life that enables us to follow the instructions, not the instructions that enable us to live? That is who Jesus thinks he is—the life that is the instruction to knowing God. Will you trust that life and follow that person as your instructions? Jesus offers a way to life that knows no other route.
As you pray, ask Jesus to help you understand what obedience to God’s law means. Ask him to form righteousness in you that can be a source of life in Christ.
Fred Van Dyke is a conservation biologist dedicated to the care for God’s creation. In this role Fred has served government agencies, private consulting firms, and academic institutions doing research, management, and teaching in conservation science. He is also the author of two books on faith and environmental stewardship.
