17 Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17–18, NKJV)
Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the prophets, not to invalidate them. He did exactly that as He fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law (He never sinned against it). Thus, Scripture says Jesus Christ is “the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ‘The man who does those things shall live by them’” (Romans 10:4-5). Jesus was the aim or outcome of the Law to believers. Jesus is the Messiah who fulfilled the Law and the prophets, becoming the perfect and adequate sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 5:8; 10:5-10). Therefore, Jesus was fulfilling the Law and the prophets as He was preaching “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23; 5:2; Luke 4:16-21). To conclude Jesus was preaching the Law to Jews to teach them how to be faithful Jews misses this fundamental point. Jesus came teaching His gospel, which contains the righteousness of faith (Romans 10:6; 1:16-17). We must hear Jesus because, as God’s Son, He fulfilled the Law and the prophets (Matthew 17:5; Hebrews 1:1-2).
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