“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” A profound statement by Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:17 (NLT).
What could Jesus have possibly meant, if in fact, he so violated Law in the eyes of the experts, that his life was constantly at stake?
Is there something Jesus knew that we miss, when we read the letter of the Law? If He fulfilled the Law is it of any further benefit?
I am amazed when I read scripture on the New Testament side of Calvary, words so incongruent with the Old. However, the prophecies of the Old are so fulfilled in the New that the veracity, the truth concealed in the Old, cannot be questioned.
Perhaps this is by design, so that a relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus is of necessity, if we are to hear the Spirit? Herein lies the mystery of the Canon and perhaps even the source of error among the religious?
Like no other time in my life, I am hearing the Body of Christ as well as those among other major religions, sincerely wrestling with the truth about God’s love. It seems that truth will not leave our fears or our sins alone. Even the polarization that our political systems have devised seems to be a tool of the Spirit. This Holy tension unknowingly is requiring that we address our shortcomings, even opening our hearts to those whom the Old Testament declares “unclean” and those who continue to suffer injustice in America.
When transparency is afforded among those who truly love God and desire to understand the truth of scripture, it is amazing the wide gap of understanding and the clear awareness of our shortcomings, when it comes to love.
God is love and we are broken. The Apostle John states: “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”
What if we would decide to live as if God loved us all equally and was powerful enough to demonstrate that love individually? I mean, just be open to God? All the sacred texts indicate that necessity in some way! Jesus demonstrated that way!
We are strange birds and the concept of a God, that truly loves us, seems to run right off our plumage!