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The Law and Prophets were major sections of the Jewish scriptures or Tanakh which Protestants call the Old Testament. The Tanakh is divided into three sections: The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings.” Jesus was claiming that He had come to complete the Old Testament, or bring it to full measure and He did in two major ways.
First, Jesus corrected the teachings of the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees. So the people thought that He was teaching them something new. The people were amazed.
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (NASB) Matt. 7:28-29 The religious leaders had corrupted the very book that they claimed to know. Later in Matthew, we will hear Jesus tell the Sadducees that they do not know or understand the Tanakh (Matt. 22:29). Yes they had memorized it, but they did not understood it. Jesus corrected their errors.
Today there are many religious leaders just like the Pharisees and Sadducees who claim to know the Bible. They write scholarly books about the Bible, but they do not have the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives to help them understand it. They are just like the highly educated Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees who had major portions of the Tanakh memorized. How many scholars today have it memorized? Yet, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not understand the scriptures, and some religious scholars today do not either because they have never really believed in God and submitted themselves in faith to Him.
Jesus fulfilled the Law in another way. He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament or the scriptures. Jesus told the twelve Apostles that The Law and The Prophets had predicted the events that would occur up to the time of John the Baptist,
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. (NASB) Matt. 11:12-13 John was the forerunner of Jesus. And later Jesus includes Himself in the prophecies.
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures . . . (NASB) Luke 24:44-45 Jesus literally satisfied the prophecies about the The Law and The Prophets and brought to full measure its teachings.
Truth Is Not Relative. Today, some religious leaders are claiming that the Bible changes meaning with time. For example, one author claims that 1 Timothy 2:12 has two different meanings. He claims that one meaning applies to the early church, but there is a different meaning for us today. Did those who were listening to Jesus think that the meaning of the scriptures changed with time? |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
