Jesus emphasized that his Kingdom fulfilled the law; it did not cancel it (Matthew 5:17). The Good News of the Kingdom of God was not a new system but the culmination of the old. The same God who had worked through Moses was working through Jesus. John the Baptist’s ministry was the dividing line between the Old and New Testaments (John 1:15-18). Up until his time, the only revelation of God available to people came through the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets. The Good News was the culmination of all that the Law demanded and the Prophets foresaw. Those who recognized his true identity realized that the Kingdom had come and were forcing their way in, so desiring to be part of it.
Jesus had just made the point that his coming fulfilled the law and the prophets. That did not mean, however, that the law was no longer valid. In fact, in many cases, Jesus took the law and required even higher standards for those who would follow him.
Divorce was a hot topic of debate. Stricter than any of the then-current schools of thought, Jesus’ teachings shocked his hearers, just as they shake today’s readers. Jesus stated in no uncertain terms that marriage is a lifetime commitment, and he explained that divorce dissolves a divinely formed union.
He also explained that marriage after divorce is adultery. While the application of Jesus’ words requires interpretation to specific situations, one truth is inescapable: God created marriage to be a sacred, permanent union and partnership between husband and wife. Anyone who takes this lightly forgets God’s law and his plan for marriage from the very beginning.
Through this statement about divorce, Jesus was showing the unbelieving religious leaders that his words do not violate the law. He also wanted to point out to them their hypocrisy in attempting to keep the letter of the law while failing to fulfill its moral obligations.
SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)
You hear many people today saying that the Old Testament is irrelevant or some nonsense along that line. Usually they propagate this heresy to avoid a commandment found in the Old Testament. The reason they give is that Jesus came to do away with the law. But here in this passage today Jesus sets the record straight. His life and coming fulfills the law.
What's the point? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)- "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Since all of the Bible is ALL of God's Word, we submit our lives to come into conformity with it. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay thew course. Happy Birthday my daughter Katie!!!
First of all, happy b day katie. I believe that most people read the bible as a direct application for their lives, which some of the times works but some of the times it doesn't. If Jesus says that we should love our neighbors, that literally means we should love the people around us. However in the old testimont it is, most of the time, impossible to take the law as a direct command to us because of how many "cultural barriers" there are. Someone might open the ever so exciting book of Leviticus and notice that we should not have tattoos. Without understanding the cultural context of this command, you would miss the entire purpose of the command. Now that I have said this, there are some commands in the OT that you can take directly and apply it to your life such as the ten commandments but never forgeting that Jesus has risen the bar. Not only are you not supposed to commit murder, you are also not suppose to have that mind set as well. This "go the extra mile" mind set is rarely see, it has been replaced with a "job description" mind set.
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