Jesus and the Law

Jesus never disobeyed the Mosaic Law
Jesus was a fully observant Jew, and obeyed the Law of Moses in all of it’s particulars. Jesus said that he had come to “fulfill” the law (Matthew 5:17-18). Part of the meaning of that is that Jesus did obey the law in all of it’s particulars (see below). And, in fact, he obeyed the law better than Moses or David. Jesus’ opponents were looking to catch Jesus in a sin, but they never did. When they brought him to trial, they accused him of false crimes—things he never did. Jesus even invited them to publicly state what part of God’s word he had broken—but they came up with nothing (John 8:46).

Jesus never taught in opposition to the Mosaic Law
Although it may seem like it at times, Jesus never taught against the Law of Moses. Every one of the cases where it seems that Jesus opposed the law of Moses, he was interpreting it, but not disagreeing with it (see the next tract—“Did Jesus oppose the Law?”) In fact, Jesus said that the one who taught anyone to disobey even the least of God’s commands would be least in God’s kingdom. Jesus himself did not in any way teach anyone to disobey the law of Moses.

Jesus’ view of the Law
1. The Law was given by God and would endure until the beginning of next age
Jesus made it clear that the Law was God’s word, and it is God’s standard. He said that as a standard, it would be protected and stand firm until the next age began. Jesus actually placed the Law of Moses on a similar level with his own words. (Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:35).

2. The Law was given for God’s people on earth to live in Israel
At the same time, Jesus was saying that the Law of Moses was the law for this age—it would not continue into God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom would see a greater law come about, one based on Jesus’ words.

3. The Law can contradict itself
Jesus showed that different laws within Moses’ law contradicted each other. In Matthew 12, Jesus showed that the sabbath law could contradict the law of love, and that the law for priests can contradict the sabbath law. In these cases, Jesus said, one law was greater than the other, and so the greater law is the one to be followed. Jesus stated that the cultic law was less than the ceremonial law, and the ceremonial law is less than the civic law and the civic law is less than the ethical law.

4. The Law was inadequate for passing God’s judgment
The problem with the law, Jesus felt, is that humans interpret it. The two main schools of thought about the law in Jesus’ day—the Sadducees and the Pharisees—were wrong in their interpretations and obedience of the law. Thus, Jesus said, if one’s obedience of the Law was only up to the standard of the Sadducees and the Pharisees, then one would be judged inadequate by God’s standard. Thus, just having the Law is not enough—one must also have the proper interpretation of it.

Jesus often opposed the traditional interpretation of the Law
There were many cases in which Jesus was confronted with a traditional interpretation of the law. He opposed these interpretations on two bases. He said, first of all, that often the interpretations oppose the true obedience of other commands. For instance, he said that a traditional understanding of surrendering wealth to God (known as “corban”) was in opposition to honoring one’s father and mother with one’s wealth when they needed it in their old age (Mark 7:1-13). Second, Jesus said that requiring all Israel obey their interpretations hurts the needy among them. Jesus said that sacrifice—the obedience to the Temple laws—comes secondary to mercy—obedience to meet the needs of one’s neighbor. Thus, Jesus said, there should be no mandatory imposing of a strict law if it harms the needy (Matthew 12:7). In this way, Jesus opposed many of the requirements that modern Jews (and even Messianic Jews) impose upon their followers based on the Talmud.

Jesus taught submission and disobedience to Pharisee’s authority
On the one hand, Jesus taught that his disciples should recognize that the Pharisees had the authority of Moses, and so they were to be obeyed. Then, immediately after, Jesus described the areas the disciples should disobey the Pharisees. Fundamentally, Jesus taught obedience, except where the teachings or actions of the Pharisees contradicted the higher law of God. (Matthew 23:1-2)

Jesus saw himself as fulfilling the Law
Jesus said, “I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.” (Matthew 5:17-18). However, when Matthew uses the word “fulfill”, he means it in three ways in connection with Jesus:

a. Jesus would obey the Mosaic Law to the full extent
As stated above, Jesus was a fully observant Jew, and never disobeyed the law of Moses. Not only did Jesus obey the law that was written down to the letter, but he obeyed the Greater Law that stood behind the Mosaic Law.

b. Jesus would fulfill the paradigms that were only partially fulfilled in the Mosaic Law
All throughout the books of Moses, as well as the rest of the Hebrew Bible, there were many examples of God’s people, but all of them failed in some way. Moses and David were murderers, Aaron participated in idolatry, Abraham was a deceiver and Jacob was greedy. The children of Israel failed God’s law again and again. However, Jesus took Moses’ and David’s place, as well as the nation of Israel as a whole, and he fulfilled all of their roles perfectly, without any fault before God. Thus, Jesus fulfilled every role the Hebrew Bible presents—he was an obedient deliverer, a just judge, a devoted mediator, and a holy nation who endured through testing. Many of the Scriptures that Jesus was fulfilling were not prophecies at all, but simply stories that needed to be completed (see Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1-2).

c. Jesus would fulfill the prophecies that are stated in the Hebrew Bible
Jesus stated many times that the Scripture would be fulfilled in him (for example, Matthew 26:31, 54). By this, he meant that there were many things in the Hebrew Scriptures that God says would happen. However, they had not occurred yet. Jesus said that he himself would be the focus of the completion of these promises.

Jesus taught a higher law
In order to assist us to be fully acceptable and obedient to God, Jesus taught us how to follow the law. He did this by teaching us the greater law by which one would be acceptable on the judgement day. This higher law is: The one who is faithful to God will receive reward from God; The one who is merciful to others will receive mercy from God; The one who is lowered by others will be raised by God; Whatever one repents of will not be held against them. These laws do not replace the law of Moses, but they adequately explain how anyone could obey any law and be right before God. This could be another way in which Jesus fulfills the law: by teaching the true obedience of it.

Jesus blessed Gentiles apart from the Law
There were two times that Jesus was asked by a Gentile to give them the power of the Spirit, which is only offered to the children of Israel (Matthew 8:5-13; 15:21-28; 10:1, 5-6). Jesus provided the blessing of God to them, as they asked—but only because of the faith they had shown. But either before or after this, Jesus made no requirements that they follow the law of Moses, and there was no expectation that they would, especially for one. Thus, Jesus showed that the blessing of God could be given to non-Jews, even though they did not follow Moses’ law.

The Law is good, but Jesus’ higher law is better.