Jesus, the Law and the Prophets - Mt 5: 17-20
Jesus 'attitude to the Mosaic Law is of particular importance in the context of the first set of Jesus' speeches in the Gospel of Matthew, if we assume that the Sermon on the Mount constitutes statutes, a specific constitution for the Kingdom of heaven that is being realized on earth and the Church functions within it. On the one hand, the Savior's statement indicates his bond with the religious tradition of Israel, which was close to him due to his national origin, on the other hand, his words outline a vision of the relationship between the people of the Old Covenant and the new reality created by the efforts of Jesus and His apostles. Jesus' statement reveals the truth about the continuity of salvation history. The Son of God could not cut himself off from what was the realization of His Father's plans, even if it were marked by human imperfection.
The main emphasis in Jesus' declaration is on His will to fulfill the Law, at the same time provoking the question of how to properly understand His words. Basic understanding could assume the fact of the nationality of the Messiah. Jesus, being a Jew, was obliged to obey the provisions of the Law, which he personally accepted and carried out in full freedom. However, this is certainly an unsatisfactory, too superficial and limited explanation. Therefore, going a little further, you can see in the Messiah someone who was able to perfectly meet the requirements of the Old Testament Law. Indeed, Jesus as a man free from sin and inclination to evil, filled with the Holy Spirit, perfectly united with the Father, could fulfill the Law perfectly and he could also declare it with all responsibility. However, this is not - as it seems - a satisfactory answer. The reality of 1st century Palestine is not only the requirements of the Bible, but also a range of various traditions and regulations created by scribes, which were to be a kind of barrier wall for the Torah, protecting its holiness and explaining the richness of its content. However, these regulations were the cause of endless disputes and discussions among rabbis, and for the common people they remained a tangle of incomprehensible commands and prohibitions, hindering access to God and inconvenient everyday life.
Jesus was more ready to fight and criticize this situation, which he did many times, than to submit to it. It seems that the person of Jesus will be the most appropriate to see this next link in the chain of God's economy of salvation, a specific and decisive link. The hitherto history of salvation has prepared the way for the coming of the Savior of the world and finds its fulfillment in Him. In this case, however, fulfillment does not mean the final. The history of salvation will continue, but in a different way than it has been so far. The history of the world will run through Christ, with Christ and in Christ. Jesus expressed this remarkable truth in his decisive statement.
The history of salvation, in addition to being a combination of different events, a manifestation of God's presence in the history of humankind, and an infinite, rich number of encounters between man and his Creator, is a bridge connecting the work of creation with the gift of redemption and eternal salvation. This inconceivable reality found its resume in the Old Testament. Then the New Testament Books will come. Although Jesus came to fulfill what was written, He himself foreshadows yet another, final fulfillment of these contents at the end of the world, when heaven and earth no longer exist. His coming into the world was necessary for this to happen. However, He warns all those who would like to prevent the fulfillment of God's plans in any way. Jesus' warning is at the same time an invitation to everyone to be willing and joyful to join the work of realizing God's history of salvation.
The Old and New Testaments are like two wheels of one bicycle. If someone closes himself to the New Testament, the news of Christ the Savior will not come to him. And if someone does not appreciate the Old Testament, his faith in Christ will not be authentic, because the Old Testament presents the history of God's love, which prepared people for the coming of the Savior.
But this is precisely thanks to this, we can only fully understand the Old Testament through faith in Christ. Just as Christ the Lord himself explained to the disciples walking to Emmaus the events after events of the Old Testament prophecy. We will understand the Old Testament only when we try to read it with the eyes of the Lord Jesus. Origen, the great theologian of the third century, was able to illustrate this with wonderful pictures. For example, he said that when we read the Old Testament, Christ the Lord wants to repeat the miracle at Cana in Galilee. Until the light of Christ the Lord illuminates it, the Old Testament is like water gathered in jars. Only when Christ the Lord touches it, the Old Testament turns into a wonderful wine, filledwith the Holy Spirit.