So we have learned that Jesus did not oppose the Law in any of his teaching, but affirmed it and even strengthened it. At the same time, we learned that it is now impossible to obey Moses’ law in all its details, for there is no possibilitiy for sacrifices, and there are no priests to consult. So how can one follow Jesus without the law? It would be easy to go to Paul and hear his answers. First, let’s look deeper at what Jesus says about the Law and see if He has anything more to say.
1. The Law is to teach people about it’s fulfillment
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" John 5:45-47
Jesus, throughout his discussion of the Law, is always talking about the fulfillment of the Law. If you think about it, that makes sense—any law isn’t about some abstract code, but about real people living it out. The difficulty with this is that no one ever fully fulfilled it. It was broken by everyone at one point or another, no matter how much they wanted to obey it—even Moses himself broke the law he gave.
That would be frustrating to any lawgiver. But there is one who fulfilled it completely, both in letter and in spirit, both in story and in prophecy. Jesus fulfilled it. Therefore, the law was an ideal for God’s kingdom that was never realized except by one person. And that same system the law created also completely rejected the one who fully fulfilled it. That would indicate that there is a problem.
2. The Law was given by God and would endure until the next age
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18
Jesus here teaches that the law is a solid wall that cannot be revoked. It cannot be bent or broken in any way—until. Until it has been fulfilled. And that fulfillment happened in Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the law in every particular, even taking upon himself the curse of the Law that he did not deserve. And when it was all finished, Jesus declared it finished by saying, “It is completed.” What was finished? First, His obedience of the law, but also His rejection by the Law. Only when both acts were completed can a new kingdom be established. Finally, the law is broken, which opens up the possibility for Jesus to begin a new nation, with all the power of God at its back. With Jesus’ death and, later, the destruction of the Temple and Jewish priesthood, a new age has begun.
3. The Law is to prepare people for kingdom living
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19-20
The purpose of the Law, Jesus says, is not so much for living in the here and now, but to test us for kingdom living. The law was to mark people for their place in God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is all about doing God’s will, and the law was to train a group of people to live according to God’s will. However, it is sad that those who most focused on the Law and knew it best failed the main purpose of the law—to be ready to live in God’s kingdom. How did this happen?
4. The Law was inadequate for passing God’s judgment
Ultimately, the law, according to Jesus, was imperfect, it was weak. The law, it turns out, did not train people to do God’s will. How did this happen?
They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." Matthew 19:7-9
Here, Jesus demonstrates that the Law was imperfect from its inception. Moses weakened the Law by recognizing human weakness. This does not mean that Moses was an inadequate lawgiver—on the contrary, Moses knew his people well and gave laws to curb their lusts. Moses never said that divorce was in accord with God’s will, but he said that if one makes the wrong move of divorcing, then he gave the rule of how to do it. The law interpreters assumed that this was passive agreement to divorce in general. Jesus disagrees, because the law was not supposed to be the tool of hatred. But because of human misinterpretation of the law, it was used that way.
"And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house--for I have five brothers-- in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'" Luke 16:27-31
Secondly, the law was used very selectively. In the case of the parable Jesus gave, the wealthy man was interested in obeying the law, but not about what the law says concerning helping the poor. In another place, Jesus mentions that the Pharisees focus on lesser laws like about tithing, but miss the larger standards of justice and mercy. If people are picking and choosing what they desire to focus on in the Law, then the law is pointless.
5. The Law needed to be re-focused to be useable
Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,' you would not have condemned the innocent.
Matthew 12:3-7
In this place, Jesus demonstrates that it is necessary, in order to obey the greater commands of the law, to disobey lesser ones. The law is not perfect because it cannot all be obeyed in all circumstances. Sometimes the cultic law is in opposition to the ethical law. In this case, then, Jesus says that the focus of the law has wrongly been placed on ritual and authority. Rather, the focus of the law should be on love and compassion. For this reason, Jesus commands that the “greatest” laws are to be the focus—the laws of love. To love all people is to fulfill the law, and the first is like it, for we are to love God as in a relationship—not loving God as in a code or an entity. We are to live our lives focused on doing what is a benefit to God and to others.
6. Jesus was giving a higher law to help us be rewarded by God on the final day
You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Matthew 5:21-22
You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Matthew 5:26-27
In the end, Jesus re-focused the whole of the law, even the ten commandments, to be adjusted to have two goals—to love all; and to be prepared for God’s rule. We need to remember, first of all, that we are going to be judged for every act that we do, whether it is in accord with God’s will or not. And we will be rewarded or punished according to that obedience or disobedience. We need to desire God’s will above all, so that in our eternity we will be treated well. But secondly, we need to recognize that on the last day, God will not judge us according to obedience to the 618 laws or the laws of our nation. Rather He will judge us according to how we had mercy on the needy, on how we remained humble, and on how well we followed Jesus.
Thus, under Jesus, the Law looks very different. It is simply a law of love—both of God and others—and we do it not to rebuke others, but so we can humbly be right before God on the final day. Jesus never denied that we needed a law. Rather, He said that the law we must follow be that of love.
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