Day 85 · Week 13
Passage: Matthew 5:17–20
Memory Verse: Matthew 5:17
Matthew 5:17 (KJV)
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Jesus knew that some people might misunderstand what He was teaching.
His message about the kingdom was not a rejection of everything God had revealed before. Jesus said plainly, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.”
The expression “the law, or the prophets” points broadly to the Scriptures God's people already possessed. Jesus did not come to tear down God's revelation. He came to fulfill it—to bring it to its intended purpose and demonstrate its true meaning.
Jesus' life fulfilled prophecy. His teaching revealed the depth of God's law. His perfect obedience showed what wholehearted love for God and neighbor looks like.
Over the next part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus will repeatedly move beyond outward rule keeping to the heart. Murder begins with hatred. Adultery begins with lust. Truthfulness should be so dependable that manipulation is unnecessary.
Jesus is not lowering God's standard. He is showing how deep it really goes.
God wants more than outward compliance. He wants hearts transformed by His grace so that obedience grows from love.
Why is it important that Jesus said He did not come to destroy the law or the prophets?
Do I sometimes think of obedience only as following rules instead of learning to love what God loves?
Ask Jesus to help your family understand God's Word correctly and to obey Him from hearts changed by His grace.