Monday, September 28, 2009
Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
JESUS POURS OUT AND FILLS FULL
In the Greek, the word "fulfill" means "to fill full".
Six times in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus says, "You have heard it said . . . but I tell you . . ." With these words Jesus poured out the false interpretations of the Pharisees and poured in the true meaning of the Father's Old Testament word. He "filled it full" for the people's understanding.
But Jesus was more than a teacher. He was also a doer. Throughout His life Jesus filled up the commands of God with His actions. In loving devotion to His Father, Jesus "filled them full" by doing what the Father commanded.
Jesus was also more than a doer. He is the Savior. In addition to fulfilling the Word of God by explaining it and doing it, He also "filled full" every Old Testament prediction concerning the Savior. What God's word said He'd be like, Jesus was. What God's word said He'd do, He did.
In His highest act as the Savior, Jesus even poured out His life, in order to fill up the cup of our forgiveness.
. . . He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
