So many of us have been “taught” since childhood in the church that Jesus’ statement:
- “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17, NRSV
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means that Jesus was “foretold” in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Jesus has finally coming fulfilling all the “prophecies” found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Others have said that Jesus “fulfilled” the law and the prophets because Jesus was the “final sacrifice.” I’ve come to the conclusion that these interpretations are NOT what this passage means. Why?
Later in the sermon on the mount, from which the above Scripture passage comes, we get this statement:
- “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12, NRSV
Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets, not because he was foretold in the Law and the Prophets and finally “came.” Jesus did not fulfill the law and the prophets because he was the “final sacrifice.” Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets because he actually lived out the law and the prophets – doing to others as you would have them do to you!!
All too often, we have been taught because of Matthew 5:17 that we (human beings) no longer have to “fulfill the law” because Jesus already “fulfilled it.” Yet, it certainly seems in Matthew 7:12 that we, too, should fulfill the law and the prophets! It isn’t just something for Jesus to do!
This and other “revelations” I have been experiencing lately continually remind me that we must be careful not to interpret Scripture by the creeds, theology, and ideas we have heard all of our lives. We must be careful to let the Scriptures say what they say and not force our “preconceived notions, thoughts, ideas, and theology” on Scripture texts that do not say “what we’ve always heard.”
(Originally posted at http://theology-of-t-roy.blogspot.com/2006/09/law-and-prophets.html on September 18, 2006)
