The Fulfillment

Matthew 5

 
 

The Fulfillment of the Law

    17 "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. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5&version=NIV>

 
 

• What is your first impression of this teaching of Jesus?
  

   
   

  Test Yourself Before We Begin.
  

  What does Jesus mean here?
  

   
   

1. I hope you're not having pork for lunch.
   
2. Legalism is in, and grace is out - we are in a holiness competition with the Pharisees.
   
3. In Jesus words, and life is the full meaning of the law.
   
4. Jesus is the fulfillment of everything hoped for by the Jew and Gentile.
   

    
    

• In Jesus ministry was he reputed to be a great keeper of the law, or breaker of the law? By whom?
  

   
   

• In the time of Jesus "law" had multiple meanings. "Law" could mean the ten commandments, or the first five books of the Bible, or it could mean "the law and the prophets" their known canon of scripture, or it could mean the oral, or scribal law, which do you believe Christ is referring to here? Why do you believe this?
  

   
   

• Name some of the things that Christ did that would have been violations of the "scribal law".
  

   
   

• Can you think of a thing that Christ did to violate "the law and the prophets"?
  

   
   

• It is said that Christ fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah, what light does that shed on this passage for you?
  

   
   

• How do you believe that the teachings of Christ fulfill the law and the prophets? Does anything that Christ teaches go against the nature of God as we see Him in the entirety of the Old Testament?
  

   
   

• What attitude does this show of Jesus' toward scripture? Where else do you see Christ giving reverence to the scripture?
  

   
   

• The word that Jesus uses here to describe the smallest letter is "iodh" it is Hebrew for apostrophe - what does it mean to you that in following Christ you have liberty, yet not even an apostrophe has fallen away from the Bible?
  

   
   

• Many have stated in recent years that the Bible contradicts itself, therefore it is unreliable. It has been said that the God of the Old Testament does not match the Jesus of the New Testament. Do you agree or disagree with this? Why?
  

   
   

• What does it mean to read the Bible in the context that it was written? Is it correct for us to interpret it through our cultural lens? What happens to the "iodh" when we do?
  

   
   

• What does righteousness mean to you? Where does the Christian derive their righteousness?
  

   
   

• The Pharisee received his righteousness from following ALL of the law - all of the definitions - his life was a constant list of "shalls and shall nots". How can we compete with righteousness like that?
  

   
   

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