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“fulfill” in Matthew 5:17-20

I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

What did he mean?

(1) Jesus fulfilled the Law by satisfying its requirements in its spirit and actions. No one had ever been able to live up to the Law. The Law had consistently shown people that they were inadequate in themselves (cf. Rom 3:19-20; 2:11-12). The leaders had, in some cases, rationalized their way out of the spirit of the Law and tried to conform to the minimum requirements. Jesus came and lived out the Law in the way it was meant to be lived. In this way he fulfilled (completely filled) the demands of righteous God. This made Jesus worthy. Since Jesus fulfilled the Law, people now have a new way to the Father––the Son.
            This view has some merit, but struggles to make sense of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon. This view focuses on the last clause in 5:18, Until all is accomplished. Hence, when Christ lives out the Law men will be free from its bounds. This interpretation shows that since Jesus fulfilled the law men are no longer bound by it. Then why does Christ go on to speak at such great length explaining the meaning of the Law? Matthew recorded this because of its relevance to the reader. The Law as Christ teaches it remains relevant despite his fulfillment of it in the sense of obedience. The problem here is the way “until all is accomplished” is understood. This does not mean that that the Law will all be obeyed and thus fulfilled. Rather, until all is accomplished is a synonymous idea to the fulfillment of the Law.[1]

(2) Jesus fulfilled the Law in that he brought and will bring its incomplete teaching to fullness. The assumption here is that the Law was inadequate. So specifically, Jesus fills up the Law by providing its full intended meaning.[2] Thus Jesus expanded on its principles and it became adequate in its new full state.
            This interpretation is troubling for it draws a disjunctive content between Moses’ teaching and Jesus’ teaching. Jesus upholds the Law, so that between Him and Moses there can be no real conflict.[3] Further this misses the priority Jesus is placing on the teaching of the Law. He emphasizes in the next verse that the importance of the smallest parts of the Law. In fact , the Law will be around until creation passes away, until all is accomplished.
            A related view is that fulfilled meant to more fully explain the Law to establish its true meaning as opposed to the false interpretation of that day.[4] While this view has a kernel of truth it misses the larger picture. Jesus is not just refuting error, and correcting the misdirected teachings. Rather, Christ is expounding the real heartbeat of the Law. What he teaches is not new. It was already implicit in the Law. Since the religious leaders of his day had distorted the Law he does correct their errors. The correction of the religious leaders is more a by-product of teaching his followers how to understand the Law.

(3) Jesus fulfillment of the Law is only referring to part of the Law. This view is articulated by noticing different aspects to the Law. It sees Jesus indeed as fulfilling the moral law, but the civil and ceremonial law is abolished.[5] This has also been expressed in other terminology drawing a distinction between the time bound Law of the Israelites, and the eternal Law which is for all people (cf. e.g., Rom 2:9-16). This view struggles to explain how 5:18 is to be explained in light of the abolishment of aspects of the Law. Jesus states that not the smallest letter or the smallest stroke will pass away until all of the Law is accomplished.

(4) Related to the previous views, but subsuming them into a fuller view of “fulfill” seems more likely considering Matthew’s whole Bible perspective (see, e.g., genealogy in Matt 1). Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in that he is the full expression of the Scriptures in his life and teaching. This is to say that in some sense all of the Hebrew scriptures anticipate and point toward Messiah. He is the full realization of the Scriptures. This is validated by the way the Scriptures are related to Jesus throughout the Matthew. Jesus fulfilled them not just by obeying them, further explaining them, or even accomplishing that Law which transcends temporal context. Throughout Matthew it has been demonstrated that Jesus not only fulfilled those predictions which point to the Messiah, but further his life actualizes the teachings and the Israelite experience in the Hebrew Bible. Matthew has a profound understanding of how the Scriptures related to Jesus. What they foreshadowed, he actualized; what they taught, he lived; what the predicted, came to fruition in him. He is the incarnate fulfillment of all the Scriptures contain. Messiah is the “fulfillment” (pleroō), the fullest expression of the foreshadowing, the teaching, and the prophecies of the Law and Prophets. Jesus is here teaching that he is the consummation of the Scriptures.

[1] See Carson, EBC, 141-43.

[2] Ibid., 143.

[3] Davies and Allison, ICC, 482.

[4] See Edersheim, I, 530; F. F. Bruce, Hard Sayings of Jesus, 42-48.

[5] See Hendricksen.