MATTHEW 5:17-20

Q:  What exactly does this passage mean?

“These verses seem to be basically a criticism of the position of the Pharisees with a warning [however] against antinomianism.” (New Bible Commentary)

Calvin said, “If we intend to reform affairs that are in a state of disarray we should always exercise such prudence and moderation as will convince the people that we are not opposing the eternal Word of God.” (quoted in Hendricksen, Matthew)

There is also the implication that Christ had been accused of either (a) doing away with either all legal requirements or (b) denying that the Old Testament (“law and the prophets”) had any further validity for believers. Some feel that (b) cannot be correct since the phrase “the law or the prophets” is used instead of the common phrase for the OT: “the law and the prophets.” (Hendricksen) Others disagree:

“Christians must remember that the OT [law and the prophets] is as much divine canon as the NT [see 2 Tim. 3:16]. As such, it is binding; the only question is in what sense it is binding.” (Osborne, The Hermeneutical Spiral)

“The issue is not simply an accusation of [Jesus] failing to keep the law in practice, but of aiming to abolish scriptural authority.” (France, Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament)

“If it appears that certain elements of the Law are for all practical purposes abolished, this will be attributable not to the loss of their status as the word of God but to their changed role in the era of fulfillment, in which it is Jesus, the fulfiller, rather than the law which pointed forward to him, who is the ultimate authority.” (France)

In what manner did Jesus fulfill it?

Fulfillment occurred during Jesus' teaching ministry on earth. The Law only lives on “in so far as it has been taken up into that teaching.” (Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 3)

“The Torah has not been abrogated and in fact is intact in him...Jesus followed Torah...'Fulfill' in Matthew 5:17 means Jesus does not abolish the law but brings it to its intended eschatological climax, that is, his teaching transcends the law and completes it. The Torah is complete in him. The law had not been abolished, but it had been completed, and the ceremonial laws were no longer binding. In the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, the sacrificial system was no longer necessary.” (Osborne)

“Christ is the end of the law.” (Romans 10:4)

“The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John, etc. (Luke 16:16-17)

Fulfillment means “bringing to completion everything that was originally intended by God...One will have to pass specific OT commands through a grid or filter of NT teachings to see the ways in which they apply to Christians today.” (Beale, Commentary on the NT Use of the OT)

“Jesus said He would fulfill the Law by obeying it perfectly and would fulfill the prophet's predictions of the Messiah and His kingdom.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)

Fulfill = “give them their full meaning.” (NBC)

See Matt. 3:15. “Jesus has shown this love from the first in fulfilling “all righteousness.” (DNTT, vol. 1)

Matthew uses “fulfill” in ten formula quotations “where it denotes the coming into being of that which Scripture pointed forward (whether by direct prediction or understood typologically). Other uses are Matthew 26:54-56 where Jesus suffering is said to fulfill the Scriptures or Matthew 3:15 where Jesus will fulfill all righteousness in bringing about God's redemptive purposes.” (France)

The fulfillment was in terms of Jesus' teachings, his vicarious death, and delivering his people from the enemy as their eternal king. (Hendricksen)

“In his coming, whereby God's kingdom has become a present though hidden reality, he accomplishes the fulfillment of the law, giving it abiding reality, and that to do the law (or the will of God), is to do the greater righteousness [v. 20], at the heart of which, one will recall, is love toward God and neighbor.” (Kingsbury, Interpretation)

“He fulfilled the law by dying on the cross and thereby satisfying forever the demands of the law...by keeping it perfectly (Matt. 3:15)...by means of His Spirit in the lives of those who follow Him (Rom. 8:4)...He also fulfilled the prophets...in an entirely different way...He had come to fulfill the great statement that had been made about Him in the OT.” (Boice, Sermon on the Mount)

“Jesus came to fulfill the law – that is, presumably as documented in the following antitheses, to bring to light and to reinforce the deeper principles that the individual commandments were intended to safeguard.” (Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels)

Fulfill may mean “clarifying the true meaning of,” end, conclude, or make complete. (Anchor Bible)

Fulfill may mean confirm, validate, bring into actuality by doing, or set forth in its true meaning. “Jesus establishes the Law and the Prophets by realizing (or actualizing) them completely in his teaching and in his life.” (NCBC)

From the context of the Sermon on the Mount “it becomes clear that 'fulfill' is not the opposite of 'abolish,' as if it were equivalent to somethings like 'preserve intact.' Rather, Jesus demonstrates a sovereign authority to interpret, transcend, and even change the way the law does or does not apply to his followers.” Fulfill means “to bring it to its intended goal.” “All of the OT remains normative and relevant for Jesus' followers (II Tim. 3:16), but none of it can rightly be interpreted until one understands how it has been fulfilled in Christ (both his person and ministry).” With the coming of Christ, many aspects of the law are brought to complete fruition (e.g., the need for sacrifices, on which see Hebrews).” (New American Commentary)

“all Christian interpretation of the OT must be christological” (Dictionary of the OT: Pentateuch)

“The important question is not that of Jesus' relationship to the law, but that of the law's relationship to Jesus.” (C. G. Kruse, NDBT, 636)

Matthew 5:18

This verse, and/or the somewhat parallel in Luke 16:17, may in fact be an ironic comment quoting the scribes' attitude toward the law, right down to the various ornamental marks in the texts that they would add. (DNNT, vol. 3)

It is an ironic saying meaning, “The world will come to an end before you scribes give up the tiniest part of your traditional interpretation of the law.” (Kaiser, Hard Sayings)

Jesus defends himself against the charge of abolishing the law by using hyperbolic language. (AB)

“The Law of Moses as an expression of the will of God is permanent, and I came to emphasize its true meaning. No smallest part of it may be eroded or explained away until everything has been accomplished.” (AB)

Explained by the parallel in Mark 13:31: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (New Century Bible Commentary)

Matthew 5:18a

“Until heaven and earth pass away” = “till all that must happen has happened” (NEB) = at the end of time (DNNT, vol 3) = when Jesus died to fully inaugurate the New Covenant (DNNT, vol. 3) = forever (see Job 14:12 and Is. 51:6) (Marcus, Mark 8-16) = “until everything is accomplished” (IBC) = never [See Jer. 31:35-36; 33:20-21,25-26; or the reverse in Ps. 72:5,7,17] (France) Also see Is. 34:4, 51:6; Ps. 102:25-26. (Hendricksen)

“Till heaven and earth pass away = for ever, until the end of the world. The eternity of the law was taught in intertestamental Jewish writings. (NCBC)

“In this age nothing shall pass away from the OT until everything which it predicts about the Messiah has happened and so been given its full significance.” (NBC)

In France's massive commentary on Matthew, in which he devotes 14 pages to discussing these verses, he does note for completeness' sake, without comment, in a footnote that one scholar feels that “heaven and earth” refers to the Temple. This is unlikely for the reason stated above – the two nouns are separated by “or” instead of being considered as a unity.

Matthew 5:18b

“Jesus' message fulfills the law by penetrating behind the letter and clarifying its underlying principle, thus bringing it to its ideal completion.” (New Bible Dictionary)

“Since his great conflict with the Pharisees would be about the law, He confined His remarks to it.” (IBC)

“The second 'until' is not speaking of the time of their abandonment but of their intended goal.” (France)

“Until all is accomplished = establishment of the New Covenant with Christ's death. NEB translates as “before all that it stands for is achieved.” (NCBC)

Matthew 5:19

The Law in v. 17-18 should be distinguished from the commandments in v. 19. “In Jesus Christ we have the fulfillment of the law, one aspect of which is precisely that it is no longer law at all, but entirely commandment...Law is always objective...impartial. It has a sort of independent existence. The law is established over against me...It relates to me externally...The commandment is the reverse of all that. It is a personal word addressed to me...it takes into account...the human reality.” (Ellul, Prayer and Modern Man)

This verse introduces the stricter interpretations of the Ten Commandments which follow in the Sermon on the Mount. “He maintained that the proper way to keep any commandment was to fulfill the purpose for which it was given.” (Kaiser)

“These commands” refer forward to the rest of the Sermon rather than backward to the OT law. (NBC) “These commandments of v. 19 refer to the binding force of Jesus' interpretation of the Torah which forms the teaching of the Sermon [on the Mount].” (Guelich, Interpretation)

France disagrees and feel that “commandments” refers back to the Law, not Jesus' teachings that follow.

This verse is ambiguous in the Greek and may refer backward to the OT law or forward to the commands of Jesus which follow. (NCBC)

Matthew 5:20

The scribes were actually breaking the command in favor of their traditions (see Matt. 15:3; Mark 7:9) (Kaiser)

“The responsibility of the people was made clear. The righteousness He demanded was not merely external; it was a true inner righteousness based on faith in God's word.” (BKC)

“The righteousness demanded by Jesus is nothing less than complete conformity with God's holy law in all that a person is and does. Such a righteousness means that the heart, not only the outward deed, is right.” (Hendricksen)

Despite the quibbling among these scholars on the details (which should at least prove to you that group-think is not in operation among all Bible professors), there is general agreement that OT authority remains in effect for Christians today even it needs to be radically interpreted through a NT grid. In addition, the fulfillment /accomplishment that is mentioned in vv. 17-18 happened sometime during Christ's time on earth, with various Scripture indications that it began with Jesus' birth, was furthered by John the Baptist, continued through Jesus' three-year teaching and healing ministry, and was completed by Christ's death and resurrection. You could also make the case that most of these same points in Jesus' career also marked times in which Satan was defeated.