Fulfillment

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

Mt. 5:17

Have you ever mistaken someone’s actions or intentions for bad when they really meant well? Maybe you were a new manager or leader on staff and brought in a different skillset and others were guarded against you because they thought you wanted to bring change and do things your way. Perhaps Jesus was in a similar situation. The Jewish leaders did not like what Jesus was saying and teaching. They saw Him as a threat to their religion and their people. But Jesus tells the people that He came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus reiterated that those who follow the commandments faithfully and lead others to do the same are regarded as the greatest in the Kingdom.

Not only did Jesus come to fulfill the law, Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. In one of his poems and hymns, St. Ephrem the Syrian wrote, “Blessed is he who through his cross has flung open Paradise.” It was by Jesus’ Cross, His death and Resurrection that Paradise was opened for us. It was Jesus, His life, His all that fulfilled the law. Jesus, God Himself, the Word made flesh, fulfilled the Law. Jesus was not someone new who came in and said “it’s either my way or the high way,” He was someone who got His hands dirty and worked right alongside everyone else. God became man. He became one of us so that we may be redeemed.

In a similar way, may be approach everyone we meet as Jesus approached the people — humbly, seeking only the good of the other, and leading all to His Father.