Matthew 5:17 – “I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.”
Brothers and sisters,
today we hear Jesus say something that is easy to read quickly but hard to fully appreciate. He says: “Do not think I came to abolish the Law. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” We often hear sermons about what “fulfill” means. People debate whether Jesus made the Law stricter, or softer, or deeper. But today, I want us to ask a more basic question. A question almost no one asks, but which the passage itself demands.
Who is this man who talks this way about God’s Law?
Imagine you walked into the town hall, stood before the city council, and announced: “Everyone, listen! I have not come to abolish your city laws.” The first thing the council would ask you is, “Who on earth are YOU?” And that would be a good question! Because only someone with the authority to change the laws needs to say whether they came to abolish them or not.
No prophet in the Old Testament ever said, “I have not come to abolish the Law,” because no prophet could even dream of abolishing it! Moses never said it. Isaiah never said it. Jeremiah never said it. Prophets didn’t talk that way because the Law didn’t belong to them.
But Jesus talks that way.
And that tells us something stunning.
Jesus speaks about the Law not as a student,
not as a commentator,
not even as a prophet…
but as the one who knows it inside and out because He Himself wrote it.
Not secretly, not on His own, but with full trust and authority given to Him by His Father.
Let me explain this in simple terms.
Scripture tells us again and again that Jesus, the Son of God, is fully obedient to the Father. He says, “The Father is greater than I,” and when the disciples ask Him about the time of His return, He answers, “No one knows—only the Father.” Jesus never speaks arrogantly or independently. He never claims powers that are not His.
And that is exactly why what He says about the Law is so remarkable.
When it comes to the final day, Jesus says, “That timing is the Father’s decision.”
When it comes to the future, He says, “If God wills.”
When it comes to His mission, He says, “I was sent.”
But when it comes to the Law, His language changes completely.
He doesn’t say, “If God wills, the Law will remain.”
He doesn’t say, “As far as I know, the Law won’t be changed.”
He doesn’t say, “The Father told me nothing will pass away.”
He says:
“Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter of the Law will disappear.”
He says it as someone who knows.
He says it as someone who decides.
He says it as someone who holds authority over it.
My friends, that confidence only belongs to a legislator—
to someone who has the right to make and preserve the Law.
And Jesus has that right because the Father entrusted it to Him.
In other words, Jesus is not merely the messenger of God’s commandments—
He is the architect of them.
Not the carpenter hired to build the house,
but the one who designed the blueprint with His Father’s full approval.
When He stands on the mountain and says, “You have heard it said… but I say to you,” He is not offering commentary.
He is not improving Moses.
He is not correcting God.
He is speaking as the original author returning to explain His own words.
This is why His teaching feels so fresh, so direct, so authoritative.
This is why the crowds said, “He speaks as one with authority, not like the teachers of the Law.”
Because He is the authority.
Now, let’s be clear: Jesus never claims to take the Father’s place.
He never says He is the Almighty Father.
He never abolishes the relationship of obedience and love between Himself and the Father.
But the Father, in His wisdom and trust, gave the Son a real kingdom, a real domain of responsibility—
and the Law was part of that entrusted domain.
That’s why Jesus can say, with perfect calm and certainty,
that not one stroke of the Law will fall away unless He chooses it.
And because He is faithful, because He is good, because He is wise and just, He chooses not to abolish it but to fulfill it.
What does it mean for Him to fulfill it?
It means He came to show what it really looks like when the Law is lived out with the heart God intended—
not twisted by human pride,
not corrupted by self-righteousness,
not used to measure others,
but lived from love, mercy, and truth.
He fulfills the Law by embodying its true purpose:
to form a people who reflect the character of God.
So when Jesus says, “I have not come to abolish the Law,”
He is not saying, “Please don’t misunderstand Me.”
He is saying, “Don’t imagine that I came to undo My own work.”
The Law carries His fingerprints.
And when the Author steps into the story, He doesn’t tear out His earlier chapters—
He reveals what they really meant.
So what does this mean for us today?
It means that Jesus is not just our teacher.
He is not only our Savior.
He is also our Lawgiver—the One who shapes our lives, defines our path, orders our steps, and knows exactly how human life was meant to be lived because He is the One who wrote the instructions.
And because He wrote the Law, He alone can also lead us into its fulfillment.
Not by burdening us with rules,
but by transforming our hearts to love what He loves,
to seek what He seeks,
and to live the way He intended life to be lived from the very beginning.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus,
You who spoke the Law at Sinai,
and who spoke again on the mountain in Galilee,
write Your commands upon our hearts.
Not as burdens,
not as threats,
but as the wise and life-giving words of the One who knows us,
who shaped us,
and who loves us.
Teach us to trust Your authority
and to walk in the freedom of Your Law fulfilled in love.
Amen.