AND YOU SHALL BE MY DISCIPLES – Lesson #5
- Honor God’s Law
““Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17).
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
These Laws and the Prophets were meant to teach and guide the Jewish people in all their thought and conduct to live a life pleasing to God to have success in their affairs.
Then, In one bold and sweeping statement Jesus announces that He is the fulfillment, the revealing and the completion of all the Law and the Prophets spanning their four thousand years of history.
Jesus is saying that His life, ministry and teachings not only explain the Law and the Prophets but completes their meanings and requirements.
The significance of this announcement is that it relegates the Torah and the Prophets as subject to Jesus and His teachings.
“The Torah” – The “Jewish Law” or the “Torah” is the 5 books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Jewish tradition is that there are 613 commandments, or mitzvot, in the Torah (also known as the Law of Moses). Also known as the “Pentateuch“, which is Greek and means “Five Books”, refers to the Torah i.e. the 5 Books of Moses. These Laws and the Prophets teach and guide the Jewish people in all their thought and conduct how to live a life which is pleasing to God and leads to success in their affairs.
Secondly, the “Prophets“, or The Twelve, also called The Twelve Prophets, or The Minor Prophets, the book of the Hebrew Bible which contains the books of 12 minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
These books contain an account God crating the world and the emergence of human civilization.
The first six books narrate not only the history but the genealogy of the people of Israel to the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land under the terms of God’s covenant with Abraham, whom God promised to make the progenitor of a great nation.
The following seven books continue their story in the Promised Land, the establishment and development of the monarchy and the warnings by the prophets both of impending divine punishment and exile and of Israel’s need to repent.
The last 11 books contain poetry, theology, and some additional history.
Again, in one bold and sweeping statement Jesus announces that His life, ministry and teachings not only explain the Law and the Prophets but completes their meanings and requirements.
Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets spanning their, now, four thousand years of history.
Now, it is your turn:
HOW MUST YOU DO IT? _______________________________________
HOW MUST YOU TEACH IT? ___________________________________
Jesus is our One True way to life and life more abundantly
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Whitestone Fellowship 