Christians, how do you intrepret this verse?

Question

Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but rather to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until Heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until all things are accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever keeps the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.”



I think this is the one about the OT and all, so what about that breaking the law thingy and how do you intrepret it?

Answer 1

This is how the Catholic Church interprets that verse.

This statement of Jesus' position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew's sermon documentation (see the note on Matthew 5:1-7:29), other Q material (cf Matthew 18; Luke 16:17), and the evangelist's own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Matthew 5:18). Yet the "passing away" of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The "turning of the ages" comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus' death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of "new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus' ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Matthew 5:21-48) show.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 2

These were the words of Christ. He was telling us that the original laws or ten commandments given by his Father were still the rule, that He, Christ, had not come to change those laws, but to fulfill them. He was telling us that God and He had much to do, and that until all they had to do was accomplished, the laws given by God would remain in place.
He goes on to say that anyone who breaks any of these laws, even the smallest one, and especially someone who encourages the breaking of the commandments in others will be the last one called to the kingdom of heaven. But those of us who keep the commandments and teach others to do the same will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
In other words, live a good, kind life to the best of your ability and encourage that behavior in others, even in the face of adversity. Peace.

Answer 3

Keep in mind that no one can fulfill the Law or the prophets, except Jesus Christ. That is exactly why he came to earth to live the law perfectly and to fulfill the prophecies of the prophets, that is why he says, "but rather to fullfill them." The Law will not disappear because it is the Word of God. The only way to get to heaven before Jesus was to live the Law perfectly which no one did then(except Jesus) and no one can do now. This meant getting to heaven was impossible for man but not for God who provided us the way through Jesus Christ. Notice Jesus says whoever breaks a command and teaches other the same is least in the Kingdom of Heaven. They are still in the Kingdom of Heaven because they got there by faith in Christ and not keeping the Law. However, if you do this you will be called least, but if you strive for holiness through the Holy Spirit, then you will be called great. Notice how in both situations they are still in the Kingdom of Heaven, that is because they accepted the only way to Heaven man can accomplish and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Basically this scipture can be broken into two parts. One the Law is here to stay and if you have not received Christ by faith you will be judged by the Law. The second part is the importance of repentance and the strive for holiness after one has received Christ. Jesus is into changing lives not leaving them the same. You still are in heaven because of Christ but the Holy Spirit will change the believers heart and mind to reverence and repentance towards God. See Jesus died for the sins of man. He was sinless yet he still took the punishment for our sins on the cross. When you believe in the Lord Jesus, God does not see your sin but rather he sees the rightousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not saying in this verse keep the Law or not go into Heaven, rather he is saying the importance of trying to keep the Law and teaching others the same once you have received admission into heaven by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer 4

Jesus PREDICTS the END of the law... People take the beginning of the statement and stop listening. The "until all things are accomplished" clause makes the whole statement CONDITIONAL.

When Jesus' ministry and mission were completed, The condition WAS MET. Then the law was set aside so that it no longer stood between God and humankind.

...The FIRST until (until Heaven and earth disappear) relates to the unchangeable nature of the law. He says NOTHING will DISAPPEAR from the law, that is, it CANNOT be CHANGED. It cannot, as some claim, have PART of it still in effect and another Part set aside by Jesus' sacrifice. It MUST be dealt with as a UNIT.

SO, on a BROAD scale:
1. Jesus' mission is the fulfillment or completion of the law.
2. The law itself must stand or fall AS A WHOLE.
3. The Prophecies about Jesus had to ALL be fulfilled to COMPLETE the law.
4. Someone CAN break them, even when they were still in effect, and STILL be IN God's kingdom (Least - Greatest).
5. Once COMPLETED, it was NO LONGER in effect.

See also:

Ephesians 2:15 Through his body on the cross, Christ put an END to the LAW WITH ALL ITS COMMANDS AND RULES. He wanted to create one new group of people out of the two. He wanted to make peace between them.

Colossians 2:14 He wiped out the written Law with its rules. The Law was against us. It opposed us. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

Galatians 2:16 ...No one can be made right with God by obeying the law.

Galatians 2:21 ...What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!

Galatians 5:4 Some of you are trying to be made right with God by obeying the law. You have been separated from Christ. You have fallen away from God’s grace... The ONLY verse that talks about falling from grace, and they did it by trying to follow the law!

On the cross, Jesus' last recorded saying, "It is finished," is an important milestone. Because of Jesus life, Satan had been defeated. The law was finished and would no longer stand between God and mankind.

The 10 commandments along with the rest of the law ("commands and rules" from Ephesians 2:15) were "set aside" when they were fulfilled or completed at Jesus' resurrection. We are no longer bound by that law.

Answer 5

The Law that Christ came to fullfil is the part of the sacrifices and clensing of the sin. The OT saints were commanded by God's law to sacrifice certain live stock to be forgiven of sin and to be cleansed and forgiven. God fulfilled this by His death once and for all so that no more animal sacrifices were needed, for He was the ultimate and last sacrifice. If anyone teaches different than this will be counted least in the Kingdome of heaven and this is the people who will be judged in heaven and sent to hell. If you believe in any other sacrifice than Christ' you cant be saved. The ones who teach He is the sacrifice for our sins will be in Heaven. You cant teach what you dont believe.

Answer 6

I am not a christian. But it is speaking of changing the laws of the commandments. The person speaking is obviously trying to squelch the tension of the christians he is speaking to by telling them that he is not altering the commandments. By the meaning of all things are accomplished he possibly means the fullfillment of gods plan. untill judgment none of the teachings will change, but he is also warning the people that by not following the commandments you will be the last to join god in the kingdom of heaven. Those who are faithful and follow the commandments will receive this "gift" first. Also it has an undertone saying that if you "teach" diffrently from the commandments you will be one of the last to enter the kingdom. Oddly enough that would be an interesting statement if from god himself since teachings of the old testement would have had you killed for teaching other than the words of god.

Answer 7

Complicated issue.
While we are not saved by anything we can do, including keeping the commandments, we are not to trample the gift of grace under our feet by abusing it, either, nor are we to teach other people such nonsense as "since Jesus paid for our sins, we can sin all we like, and get away with it"...obviously a very foolish thought.
We are also taught that, if we try to justify ourselves by living by the law, then we'd best be very careful to keep every single bit of it, because if we break even the tiniest part, God will judge us guilty of all. That, to me, is a frightening thought, since I don't think I even KNOW all of the laws.
My advice...try your very best to live a good life, be kind, be charitable, behave...and by your example, try to teach others to live the same way. Accept the fact that you are not perfect with the same loving grace Jesus does. Tell about Jesus when you are asked, otherwise, keep your own counsel...as someone else pointed out, too much preaching at someone is more likely to drive her away from Christ than to draw her closer, and we surely don't want THAT blood on our hands.
God bless you!

Answer 8

ok, well i looked it up in another translation, cuz a lot of times that makes things a lot easier to understand. i used the new living translation, cuz i think that is one of the more regular talk bibles there is. anyways, matthew 5:17 says

Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.

thats just Jesus saying he didn't come to break biblical laws, because he didn't, he came to follow them and accomplish their purpose. now i think that we have to look at what the laws purpose is, or what Jesus meant by that. if you read on it says stuff about more events being accomplished, and that probably means profecies that have yet to come true. like the rapture for instance.

i don't get what you mean by the breaking the law thingy, but Jesus told us to be like him, and in this verse he said he didn't come to break the law, so we shouldn't break the law... meaning biblical laws... but i would recommend following the speed limit too.

Answer 9

Especially since Christians claim that all the things prophecied of Messiah that Jesus didn't do will be done upon the Second Coming.

Sooooo... all things are NOT finished.

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You know, I just noticed something else ... the person who breaks the rules will be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Not "Cast out of heaven into hell." Just least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But all the same, IN the kingdom of Heaven.

Answer 10

So I am to understand from one of the responses that the commandments don't apply after Jesus died?

Christians: Are you completely without reading comprehension? Your interpretation is COMPLETELY selective and doesn't take the entire sentence into consideration.
Clearly in the CONTEXT Of the SENTENCE, 'all things accomplished' means 'until heaven and earth disappear'.

Where the heck are you getting anything about his mission at all?