An Analysis of Matthew 5:17-18: Fulfilling the Law

Context of Matthew 5:17-18

Right after the Beatitudes and teachings on being salt and light, Jesus addresses a concern His listeners might have: whether His bold new teachings mean He’s rejecting the Old Testament.

He refers to 'the Law and the Prophets' - a common Jewish way of describing the entire Old Testament, from the first five books of Moses to the writings of men like Isaiah and Jeremiah. By saying He came not to abolish but to fulfill them, Jesus is affirming their lasting authority while also claiming that He is the One who brings their full meaning to life. His mission isn’t to erase God’s commands but to complete what they were always pointing toward.

This sets the stage for what follows, where Jesus unpacks the deeper spirit of the Law, showing that true righteousness goes beyond outward behavior and touches the heart.

What It Means That Jesus Came to Fulfill the Law

Jesus’ claim to ‘fulfill’ the Law, not abolish it, carries deep meaning that reshapes how we understand God’s commands and His mission.

The word ‘fulfill’ in Greek - *plēroō* - means to fill something to the full, to bring it to its intended purpose. Jesus is not merely obeying the Law. He is revealing its true depth and completing what it was always meant to accomplish. The ‘iota’ and ‘dot’ He mentions refer to the smallest letters and strokes in Hebrew writing, showing that even the tiniest detail of God’s Word matters and will remain until God’s plan is fully accomplished. This was a claim that Jesus Himself is the climax of that story, not merely a statement about Scripture’s preservation. He’s not discarding the Old Testament but living out its deepest meaning in His life, teachings, death, and Resurrection.

In His day, religious leaders often focused on strict rule-keeping, especially around purity, Sabbath, and ritual cleanliness. But Jesus consistently showed that the heart of the Law was love for God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). When He says the Law will last ‘until all is accomplished,’ He points to His own work - His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victory over sin - as the fulfillment of everything the Law and Prophets pointed toward. For example, the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was not merely about rituals. It foreshadowed Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:1-4). He didn’t end the Law by ignoring it. He completed it by living it perfectly and bearing its demands for us.

This understanding changes how we read the Old Testament - not as a list of outdated rules, but as a story that finds its center in Jesus. His fulfillment means we’re no longer under the Law as a means of earning God’s favor, but we still honor its wisdom and moral vision.

Fulfilling the Law wasn’t about checking boxes - it was about bringing God’s intentions for justice, mercy, and faithfulness to life in a broken world.

This sets up Jesus’ next teaching, where He shows that true righteousness goes beyond external obedience to the condition of the heart - preparing us for His radical reimagining of anger, lust, love, and forgiveness in the verses that follow.

Living Out the Law’s True Purpose

Jesus affirms the lasting authority of God’s Word while showing that He brings it to full meaning - not by discarding it, but by living it out perfectly and calling us to do the same from the heart.

This fits Matthew’s theme of showing Jesus as the promised Messiah who fulfills Old Testament hopes, not by starting over, but by completing what was begun. The timeless truth is that God values faithfulness that goes beyond rules to genuine love for Him and others.

This leads directly into Jesus’ next teachings, where He shows how true righteousness involves our thoughts, words, and attitudes, beyond mere actions.

Jesus as the Fulfillment of the Whole Story

This moment in Matthew 5 is about recognizing Jesus as the climax of the entire Bible’s message, not merely about rules.

the apostle Paul later wrote, 'Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes' (Romans 10:4), showing that Jesus brings the Law’s purpose to completion by making a right relationship with God possible through faith, not rule-keeping. And after His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, 'Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms' (Luke 24:44), making it clear that He saw Himself as the fulfillment of all Scripture.

Jesus doesn’t just follow the Bible’s story - He is the point of it.

This sets the foundation for understanding everything that follows in Matthew - not as a new set of rules, but as the unfolding reality of what life looks like under the reign of the One who fulfills God’s promises.

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