Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals
Tuesday July 28 2026
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Matthew 5:17-18-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.
What did Jesus mean that He did not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them?
Let’s study.
The first thing to notice is the definition of the words used here.
The word translated “destroy” means to invalidate: to cast down with contempt. The Jews were accusing Jesus of attempting to treat God’s Law with utter disdain and reproach. The Old Testament had prophesied that the Messiah would treat God’s Law with respect.
Isaiah 42:21-The LORD is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
Christ assures the people that He has not come to “destroy” the Law, but to “fulfill” it.
In Matthew’s gospel the verb plēroō, “fulfill,” plays a prominent role, most notably in its ten occurrences in the formula-quotations (see on 1: 22 and above pp. 11–14) where it denotes the coming into being of that to which Scripture pointed forward (whether by direct prediction or understood typologically). The same sense appears in 26: 54, 56 where Jesus’ suffering is seen as “fulfilling the Scriptures,” and in 13: 14 where a compound form of the same verb (anaplēroō) again speaks of an OT prophecy coming true in contemporary experience. In 3: 15 to “fulfill all righteousness” appears to denote the action which will bring about God’s redemptive purpose through Jesus (see discussion there)….The Torah, then, is not God’s last word to his people, but is in a sense provisional, looking forward to a time of fulfillment through the Messiah. (R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament), 182-183 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)
What were the “jot and tittle?”
“The smallest letter–the letter which the Authorized Version calls the jot–was the Hebrew letter iodh. In form it was like an apostrophe–‘–; not even a letter not much bigger than a dot was to pass away. The smallest part of the letter–what the Authorized Version calls the tittle–is what we call the serif, the little projecting part at the foot of a letter, the little line at each side of the foot of, for example, the letter I.” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume One (The New Daily Study Bible), 184 (Kindle Edition): Edinburgh, Scotland: Saint Andrew Press)
Second, what is the Lord teaching us here?
He is assuring us here that every part of the Old Testament Law will be fulfilled. There will not be any part of the Law and the Prophets that will pass away “till all is fulfilled.”
It does not say that every jot and tittle of the law will stand till heaven and earth pass away; but it does say that it will not pass away until it is all fulfilled. This teaches that it would all be fulfilled and pass away sometime. The idea is that sooner would heaven and earth pass away than one letter of the law would fail of being fulfilled. Luke’s words make this matter very clear. “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail,” Luke 16: 17. Here we cannot mistake the meaning; the idea is not the length of time the law is to last, but the certainty that it will not fail to be fulfilled. “Fulfilled” is defined thus by Webster: “To fill up, to make full or complete; to accomplish.” The Greek word is Plarosai and is defined by Greenfield, among other things, “To fulfill, to complete; to bring to a close, end, finish, complete.” So Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but to finish it. The translation of Campbell, Macknight and Doddridge renders it: “Heaven and earth shall sooner perish than one iota or one tittle of the law shall perish without attaining its end.” That is the idea exactly. Sawyer’s translation says: “I am not come to destroy, but to complete.” At the beginning of his ministry Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. After his resurrection he said: “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me. Luke 24: 44. And then Paul says: “And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree.” Acts 13: 29. So it was all fulfilled at the cross. Hence Paul says it was nailed to the cross. Col. 2: 14-16. “Christ is the end of the law.” Rom. 10: 4. “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Gal. 3: 24, 25. What could be plainer than that the law ended at the cross? (D.M. Canright, Seventh-Day Adventism Renounced, 285 (Kindle Edition): Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate Publishing Company)
The Old Testament prophecies and laws are completely fulfilled in Jesus. This means that He has taken away the Old Testament (Romans 7:4; Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14-17). Although the Old Testament is good for us to study and learn from (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12), we live today under the New Testament (Matthew 26:28; John 12:48).
Thank You, Lord, for fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Law that we could not, and for bringing salvation to Your people. Amen.