Daily Devotional
"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."
Matthew 5:17
There is something significant buried in the very first words Jesus speaks in this passage: ‘Do not think.’ He is addressing a conclusion people were already drawing about him and his ministry. His teaching was so different, so authoritative, so unlike anything the religious establishment had ever produced, that the crowds were beginning to wonder: is this man trying to demolish everything we have inherited from Moses?
The Greek word translated ‘abolish’ here is kataluo, a term used for dismantling buildings, dissolving institutions, and annulling legal agreements. France notes that the charge being addressed is not merely that Jesus failed to keep the law, but that he aimed to undermine its authority altogether. That is a far more serious accusation. Jesus is not correcting a misunderstanding about his personal behavior; he is correcting a misreading of his entire mission.
His response is not a quiet reassurance. He draws a clear line: ‘I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.’ That word ‘fulfill’ (pleroo) is doing tremendous theological work. J. Adams captures it well: to fulfill the law means to fill it to the full, the way a satisfying meal fulfills every expectation. Jesus is not a wrecking ball. He is the one toward whom the whole structure was always pointing. The Law and the Prophets were a long preparation for his arrival, and his arrival is their completion.
This means that dismissing any portion of Scripture is not only intellectually careless; it is spiritually disorienting. To set aside a command of God is to misunderstand who Jesus is and what he came to do. He did not come to edit the Bible. He came to be its living fulfillment.
Today's Challenge
Is there a portion of Scripture you have quietly set aside because it felt inconvenient, outdated, or too demanding? What would it look like to honestly bring that passage back before God today? How does knowing that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law change the way you read the Old Testament?
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for the times I have approached your Word as a buffet, taking what I like and leaving the rest. You did not send your Son to abolish a single syllable of what you have spoken. Help me to receive all of Scripture as the living word of the living God. Teach me to see Jesus everywhere in it, and let that vision make me more faithful to it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
