To Fulfill the Law and the Prophets

Christ the Lord said:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:17-19

So how, pray tell, is "fulfill" a word that fits? He had His Twelve do physical work on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-2), a serious crime for the descendants of the man named Israel. He gave high principles, very provocative, for the moment, including:

For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Matthew 12:8

but this does not answer our question of this moment. And there are many related troubles. There are many, many laws to which Christ the Lord referred in Matthew 5:17-19. These are requirements, commandments, things that "children of Israel" must do. Here is just one:

For every one that curses his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
Leviticus 20:9

There is no wiggle room there. The same is for both who commit adultery together, and others. And there are also long lists of definitions of people and things which God has declared "clean" and "unclean" to the children of Israel. Keeping to the "clean" was required. Tiny excerpts:

You must therefore distinguish between the clean animals and the unclean, and between the unclean birds and the clean. You must not defile yourselves with unclean animals or birds or with any creature that crawls along the ground, which I have separated as unclean from you.
Leviticus 20:25

Or if anyone touches anything God has designated as unclean, whether it be the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of any livestock that has died, or creeping animal, even if the person did not intend to touch it, he is unclean and guilty.
Leviticus 5:2

When someone is guilty in any of these things, he must confess whatever sin he has committed. Then he must bring his guilt offering to Yahweh for the sin that he has committed, a female animal from the flock, either a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering, and the priest will make atonement for him concerning his sin.
Leviticus 5:5-6

These are commandments, requirements, to the descendants of that Jacob whom God renamed Israel. Others lately "interpret" by claiming that some are and some are not commandments, adding words to the Holy Scripture, demanding that some be called "civil" and some be called "spiritual". But this is not interpretation. This is human perversion of that which is written. So what is this word "fulfill"? What does it mean to "fulfill" the law and the prophets?

Well, we might start with one of the shorter lexicon entries, NASB, using Strong's number G4134:

to bear or bring full, to make full
to cause a thing to be shown to the full
to fulfil the ministry in every part
to carry through to the end, accomplish
things that have been accomplished
to fill one with any thought, conviction, or inclination
to make one certain, to persuade, convince one
to be persuaded, persuaded, fully convinced or assured
to render inclined or bent on

So how, exactly, might a law be fulfilled? Notice that this is not the same as "obeyed". There is something else here. And it is most interesting that Christ the Lord includes "the Prophets". The Holy Scriptures of the Prophets, contain few commandments, and instead, they contain many general statements of that which the Lord desires and does not desire. He desires love, and peace, and justice, and honesty. He desires devotion and dependence to Him, and not devotion to the loves, weapons, purposes, and other stuff of this world. He responds in most serious, most unpleasant fashion, to the opposites of His desires.

But He said that "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:19 again. So how exactly is it that Christ the Lord, the King of the Jews, wants us to remember this:

You should go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous to repent, but sinners.”
Matthew 9:13

where so many of His laws command the many different sacrifices? And there is much more.

Well, about now we ought to introduce a statement of Christ the Lord that is largely disregarded. It has never been an easy one:

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Matthew 23:9

Notice the totality of this. Some claim that the word "spiritual" needs to be added into there, and by this many do cast down demands of the Roman and quasi-Roman churches. It is right, to cast down those demands; but it is not right to limit that statement of Christ the Lord to religious leadership, especially given that religious leadership then and there did not call themselves "father"; this was not done until Rome began to claim so, much later. No, we must not add that word "spiritual" to that which the Lord has said, even though it leaves His teaching terribly difficult. How do we proceed?

There is immediate consequence of that which the Lord has said about fathers, regarding the written laws of the Holy Scripture. All of those laws, are explicitly written in direct relationship to one specific human family and those adopted into it. Leviticus 1:2 and the others above are present among many, many, many others. And the words are explicit: they are present for those with a certain father of this world: they themselves say, that they are written to and for the children, the descendants, of the man first named Jacob, whom God later renamed to Israel. And Christ the Lord has told we who follow Him, that we should consider that our fatherhood, has changed. If we were descended from that Jacob, we are no longer. The Law is defined in the Holy Scriptures according to fatherhood...and Christ the Lord, if we are His, has changed our fatherhood. We are born again.

And certainly, no one whose ancestor was never Jacob, and was never adopted into that people, should consider that those laws apply to them, because of every word that the Lord has said.

And so how is the Law and the Prophets fulfilled?

The Law and the Prophets existed, to deliver as many people as would come, to God Himself, in His purposes, to His presence. Without them, humankind had no concepts which led towards understanding, of right and wrong, good and evil, purpose and chaos. Christ the Lord came to fulfill this delivery. He fulfilled it by word and by deed. He made of Himself one Sacrifice by which no more are needed. And He sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to enliven and comfort His people, that His fulfillment will continue. His people will continue to do this, until the Father in Heaven decides that He is done with this world, His footstool, and throws it into the fire.

Jonathan Brickman
Please do email me!
jeb@christian-oneness.org