ODJ: Fulfilled

July 27, 2016 

READ: Matthew 5:17-19  

I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose (v.17).

In the movie Frozen, a young princess named Elsa has the truly chilling ability to freeze anything she chooses. But then she accidentally harms her beloved sister Anna with her gift. Not being able to control her freezing ways, Elsa eventually hides in her own lonely ice castle. In the end, however, the princess finds that the personal touch of love allows her to see her gift reach its full potential—under control and as a blessing to others.

As Jesus delivered His famous Sermon on the Mount, He proclaimed that “the law of Moses” had been fulfilled in Him (Matthew 5:17). Of the law and the prophets’ words, He said, “I came to accomplish their purpose.” Jesus upheld the Old Testament completely by interpreting it in light of Himself, by explaining God’s original intention in giving the law (see vv.21-48) and by fulfilling the righteousness that the Father requires (2 Corinthians 5:21).

But there’s something more, as one writer wrote, “Jesus was the embodiment of Israel’s God, the God whose Spirit had inspired the Scriptures in the first place.” He displayed the personal touch of God’s love as He healed the blind and lame, confronted and comforted sinners and fed those who were hungry.

Jesus—God incarnate—lived out the essence of the law. And His unmatched sacrifice on the cross has allowed us to know God personally. As we believe in Jesus and follow His ways, He says, “My father will love [you], and we will come and make our home with each of [you]” (John 14:23).

We can now live out the law that Jesus fulfilled as we bask in the personal touch of God’s love and yield to the leading of His Holy Spirit within us (Romans 8:3-4).

—Tom Felten

365-day plan: John 7:1-31

MORE
Read Romans 10:4 and consider the result of Jesus accomplishing “the purpose for which the law was given”. 
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Why is it important to view Old Testament laws through the lens of Jesus’ fulfilment of them? How has the personal touch of God’s love and the work of His Holy Spirit allowed you to experience a fulfilled life in Jesus?