“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets,” Jesus says. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). With one sentence, He tells us who He is, why He came, and how we’re meant to live in His kingdom.
Jesus doesn’t lower the bar; He reveals its true height—and then, by grace, lifts us to it.
He fulfilled the Law by perfect obedience. He kept every feast and fast, honored every command, and never sinned in thought, word, or deed. He fulfilled the Prophets by living the very story they foretold—His birth, His ministry, His suffering, His cross. The sacrifices were shadows; He is the substance. The Sabbath was a sign; He is our rest. At the cross He cried, “It is finished”—paid in full.
So what now? Jesus says not a stroke of the Law will pass “until everything is accomplished” (v. 18). He’s not inviting us to toss Scripture aside; He’s inviting us to read it through Him, to practice and teach what He loves (v. 19). The question is not, “Is the Law irrelevant?” but, “How does Jesus fulfill and form it in us?”
“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees,” He adds, “you will never enter the kingdom” (v. 20). Startling—until you see the kind of righteousness He gives.
Four ways His righteousness surpasses:
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Imputed righteousness
By faith, His perfect record is credited to ours. We stop trusting our goodness and rest in His. In a moment, filthy rags become white as snow.
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Implanted righteousness
By the Spirit, God writes His Word on our hearts. We don’t merely admire commands; we desire to obey them. Truth moves from ink on a page to life in our bones.
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Internal righteousness
Jesus goes beneath behavior to motives. Anger becomes the seed of murder, lust the seed of adultery. He forms holiness where no human eye can see.
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Integrated righteousness
Not performance in public, compromise in private—but the same heart before God and people. Integrity becomes wholeness: one life, one Lord, one love.
This is the culture of the kingdom Jesus is ushering in—where character (the Beatitudes), courage (expect opposition), and influence (salt and light) flow from union with Him. As the Sermon unfolds (anger, reconciliation, purity, fidelity, speech, enemies, giving, prayer, fasting, money, anxiety, judgment), He isn’t handing us a heavier burden; He’s handing us Himself. The Law’s standard remains good; the Savior’s presence makes obedience possible.
So here’s our hope: the mission is accomplished. Christ fulfilled what we could not, and now calls us to follow—clothed in His righteousness, empowered by His Spirit, shaped by His Word. We don’t keep the law to be loved; we are loved, so we learn to keep what delights the One who saved us.
