MESSIANIC PHILIPPINES

Mat 5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Mat 5:18  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.

Mat 5:19  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.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (wickedness or lawlessness).

 

Mat 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

“Do not think I came to abolish… ”
The word translated “abolish” by most of the English versions is the Greek kataluo. It is found three times in Matthew in addition to our text. These are Matthew 24:2; 26:61; 27:40, all of which interestingly enough refer to the Temple. For example: “Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matthew 24:2).

It seems clear that for Matthew the term ‘kataluo’ means ‘to tear down,’ ‘demolish,’ ‘do away with’ as the term was used in the 1st century C.E. in connection with the demolition of buildings as well as the nullifying or replacing of laws and constitutions.

“I came to fulfill… ”
“Fulfill” in this context answers to the Aramaic or Hebrew qum which means ‘to stand,’ ‘establish,’ or ‘confirm.’ With this understanding the words of Yeshua are interpreted to mean that He did not come to abolish the Torah but to confirm it and establish it.

Another meaning of “fulfill” is ‘to fill up’ in the sense that Yeshua brings to the Torah and the Prophets their completion by providing its full, intended meaning.

A further meaning of “fulfill” in this context means ‘to fill up,’ in the sense that Yeshua fulfills the Torah and the Prophets in that they point to Him, and He is their fulfillment.

Finally, “fulfill” in this context means ‘to deepen’ or ‘extend’ in the sense that Yeshua takes the Torah and carries it a step further. For example, adultery is taken from a merely physical act to one of the heart, as is murder. This deepening or extending is generally considered as moving the Torah from being external to the deeper reality of the internal.

“Fulfill” in Matthew
The verb “fulfill” is used 16 times in Matthew. Of the 13 times where the word is used in the passive voice, 12 are used in expressing the ‘fulfillment’ of prophecy, and one relates to a boat being filled with fish (13:48). Prophecy is viewed as being fulfilled (passive) by the active hand of God in the events of history.

Perhaps the best clue to the meaning of “fulfill” in this saying of Messiah is the parallelism that goes on in verse 19. In the first clause the verbs “annuls” (loose, destroy) and “teaches” (instructs) are paralleled in the second clause by the verbs “does” and “teaches”.

........Whoever then annuls one of the least of the commandments
.........and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven
..........but whoever does (them)
..........and teaches (others to do them), he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven

“Until all is accomplished… ”
The normal English translations give a passive sense to this phrase, which is misleading. The Greek is active, and perhaps ‘until everything happens’ is the more literal sense. The emphasis, then, from this phrase is that God is working His immutable plan, a plan centered in redemption (the central issue of the Tanach) and that nothing will stand in the way of each aspect coming to happen in the course of time. But more specific to this context is the emphasis that the Torah has, at least for Yeshua, a continuing part to play in the plan of God, and that therefore it is wrong to attempt to “abolish” the Torah in an effort to further the redemptive work of God.

“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments… ”
The Greek word translated ‘least’ is elaxistos, which is the superlative form of micros, meaning ‘least, smallest; very little, insignificant’. The meaning of the word itself is obvious, whether used of the smallest tribe of Israel (Matthew 2:6, quoting Micah 5:1) or of Paul, as the least of the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:9).

In our present text, does the word indicate that in Yeshua’s view some commandments rank higher than others? It would appear so. Note the words of Yeshua at Matthew 23:23, where the tithing of one’s own herbs while neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness, is described as “neglecting the weightier provisions of the Torah.” Certainly, the Rabbis themselves agreed that there was a hierarchical structure in the Torah, the preservation of life being at the highest, or, to use Yeshua’s terms, being the ‘heaviest’ of all the commandments. The Rabbis were clear, however, that even the least commandment was important and not to be neglected. It seems probable that Yeshua here employs hyperbole in order to reinforce His main point—that He does not support any notion of the abolishment of the Torah. The entirety of the Torah is maintained by Yeshua, so that at no point is He willing to admit even the abolishment of one commandment, not even one of the least.

“And so teaches others… ”
The primary emphasis is directed to the teachers of the communities—those who would influence the community in regard to the mitzvoth (commandments). Apparently Yeshua was being accused by His opponents of teaching the abrogation of the Torah, or at least of some of the commandments. He not only exposes such a rumor, but announces His own position regarding any who would teach such a thing.

“…shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven… shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
The penalty for any disregard of the Torah and the Prophets is for one to be called “least in the kingdom of heaven.” ‘Kingdom of heaven’ as a set term is found only in Matthew and must certainly be understood as equal to ‘Kingdom of God’. Apparently, one who annuls the commandments and teaches others to follow in his path is punished only by having an inferior rank in the kingdom. Yet in the very next statement of Yeshua, exclusion from the kingdom is promised to any who do not themselves exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees! To put it plainly, to disregard the Torah and the Prophets, and to teach others likewise to disregard them, is to assure one’s exclusion from the kingdom of God. For, apart from a keeping the commandments, and a teaching others to keep them, it would be impossible to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees…”
The central issue of Yeshua’s conclusion, what constitutes a true ‘keeping’ or ‘doing’ of the Torah, focuses upon the scribes and Pharisees. Since the Pharisaic sect was taken up with maintaining the written Torah as well as the Oral Torah, it was only natural that they would be linked with the scribes. What many lacked was the true, spiritual sense of the heart of the Torah, that is, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. As such, their righteousness was primarily that of performance and not from the heart.

While Yeshua emphasized the utter necessity of heart obedience if one intended to keep the commandments, He did not in any way negate the requirement of outward performance. That is to say, one surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees not by neglecting the outward performance of the mitzvot, but by performing them as the fruit of a heart given over to the true worship of God. Another way of saying it is this: if the commandments are received as purely obligation, it would be naturally impossible to keep them. But if they are received rather as divine blessing and privilege, then the keeping of them is pure delight. Only the heart filled with faith in God is able to so receive the commandments as blessing, and it is this kind of ‘keeping’ which Yeshua teaches His disciples.