In this text we will study some passages of the Gospel trying to understand the words of Jesus, aiming to make as clear as possible what He thought, so that you too, the reader, have enough elements to draw your own conclusion.

Matthew 5:17-18: “Do not think that I came to revoke the Law or the Prophets; I didn't come to revoke it, but to fulfill. vDo not think that I have come to revoke The Written Law or The Prophets; I am not come to revoke but to fulfill. Very truly I say to you: 'Until Heaven and Earth pass away, not an 'i' or a 'tilde' shall ever pass from the law, until all is fulfilled.'” (Our italics)

This is the passage they rely on to conclude that Jesus would be confirming the entire Bible. But, with this speech, He was just meaning that everything that is written about Him in the Law and in the Prophets should be fulfilled, saying that neither an “i” nor a “tilde” of what is therein would not be fulfilled; this will become very clear in the course of this study.

Luke 10:25-28: “And behold, a certain man, an interpreter of the law, stood up, intending to put Jesus in trials, and said to Him, 'Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' Then Jesus asked him: 'What is written in the law? How do you interpret it?' To this he replied: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Then Jesus said to him: 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you shall live.'” (Our italics)

If Jesus, when He mentioned the Law (Matthew 5:17-18), was really referring to the entire Mosaic Pentateuch, He would be in contradiction with this passage, since He considered the interpreter's answer as correct, who only said that it is written: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. Now, in the legislation of Moses there are many other things to be fulfilled besides these, which, according to the exegetes, are, in all, 613 norms.

Luke 16:16-17: “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since that time the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been preached, and every man strives to enter into it. And it is easier to pass Heaven and Earth, than to fall even a tittle of the law”. (Our italics)

If the Law and the prophets were in force until John, it is because after John something different is in force, a new legislation. It is nothing less than the Gospel, that is, the New Testament. The question of "falling even a tittle of the law", refers to everything in it regarding the prophecies about the coming of Jesus. Thus, the events that would occur with Him would be fulfilled and not, as some want, that all the ordinances contained there, should be strictly followed. Even because, as we will see later, specifically some of them He changed deeply, as is the case, for example, with the issue of “an eye for an eye”.

Luke 24:25-27: “He then said to them: 'Oh men of no understanding, how slow is your heart to believe what the prophets have announced! Wasn't it necessary for Christ to suffer these things to enter into glory?' And starting from Moses, he began to go through all the prophets, explaining in all the Scriptures what concerned himself.” (Our italics)

After resurrecting, Jesus walks with two disciples who were going to the village of Emmaus, and explains to them what the Scriptures say about Him. Starting with Moses, he goes through all the prophets, that is, He only clarifies to them what was important and what should be fulfilled in this context. Therefore, he confirms what we have been saying from the beginning, namely, that He did not come to revoke or abolish the prophecies regarding Him. If everything in the Scriptures were really important, it would not restrict itself to just explaining what they said about Him. And to prove that we are not distorting the facts, let's look at the following passage:

Luke 24:44-45: “Then Jesus said to them: 'These are the words that I spoke to you, while I was still with you, what did it matter if I fulfilled all that is written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms.' Then He opened their understanding to understand the Scriptures.” (Our italics).

You see, dear reader, that it is perfectly clear what Jesus meant about the fulfillment of the Scriptures. It wasn't, therefore, everything that existed in them, but it only mattered that everything that was written about it was fulfilled, that is, its origin in the house of David, its mission, all its suffering that culminated with its death on the cross and its glorious resurrection. Thus, there is no way to understand otherwise, unless the words of Jesus are of no use or we want to distort them.

John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Our italics)

Here we have a clear demonstration that the Law of Moses is not of paramount importance for Christians, since the TRUTH came through Jesus Christ, and it is Him we seek to follow, not Moses. We cannot say that the Law of Moses did not have its value; of course it did; however, as Jesus says, only until John (Luke 16:16). This because - for a backward people - it was a factor in development.

John 1:45: “Philip found Nathanael and told him: 'We have found the one of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote, Jesus, son of Joseph of Nazareth',” (emphasis added)

This passage confirms that the prophecies about the Messiah were being fulfilled at the time Jesus began his public life. And it was precisely in this that the Hebrews eagerly awaited the fulfillment of the Scriptures.

John 7:23: "If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, to fulfill the Law of Moses, why are you angry with me because I totally healed a man on the Sabbath?" (Our italics)

John 8:5-7: “In the Law, Moses tells us to stone the adulteresses; but what do you say? […] Jesus […] said to them, 'He that is without sin among you, cast the first stone at him.'” (Our italics)

If, in fact, the laws that Moses passed to the Hebrew people were all from the Creator, why is it not said in these two passages: fulfill the Law of God and In the Law, God sends us, respectively? Because they were laws of Moses and not from the deity. So much so that, in the matter of adulteress, Jesus did not tell the people to fulfill the Law; on the contrary, he revokes it, even demonstrating an intelligence that was peculiar to him. God would also never say: “Don't covet your neighbor's wife”, a commandment that highlights being, obviously, a product of the culture of a macho society of that time; nothing more than that, being, therefore, as it is expressed, the law of men and not of God.

Paul, in a letter to the Romans, told them the following:

Romans 7:5: "While living according to the flesh, sinful passions, stirred up by the Law, brought forth fruit unto death in our members." (Our italics)

Can we deduce from this passage that the Law stimulated sinful passions? If this is so, it is because it, the Law, was not the TRUTH, which came only with Jesus. And in the next verse it continues:

Romans 7: "But now, freed from the Law, we are dead to that which held us captive, so that we can serve God according to a new spirit and not according to the old letter." (Our italics)

Free from the Law, that is, that we are no longer subject to it. Isn't that clear? If we can serve God according to a new spirit, namely, the teachings of Jesus, why remain attached to Moses (old letter)? Has the Old Testament been revoked, or do we still want to remain in doubt?

Matthew 5:19-20: “So whoever breaks one of these commandments, even though it is a lesser one, and teaches men in this way, will be considered a minimum in the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who observes and teaches them, he will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I say unto you, unless your righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Our picture is: Jesus in the evangelical passage of the Sermon on the Mount, where He begins by saying the new teachings that we must fulfill. These are the truths that He passes on to all of us as a script for life. It's just the Commandments He said so we wouldn't violate them. From there onwards He also alters alters and repeals the legislation of Moses; we confirm this with the passages relating to the following 5th chapter of Matthew.

Matthew 5:21-22: “You have heard that the ancients were told: 'You shall not kill; and: Whoever kills will be subject to trial'. But I say unto you, whosoever (without reason) is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment; and whoever utters an insult to his brother will be subject to the judgment of the court; and whoever calls him, Fool, shall be subject to hellfire. 

Moses: You will not kill. Jesus: that we must not even anger or insult our brother.

Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard what was said: 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say unto you, anyone who looks at a woman with impure intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Moses: You shall not commit adultery Jesus: Just by looking at a woman with impure intent, we already commit adultery.

Matthew 5:31-32: “It was also said: 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a letter of divorce.' But I say unto you: Anyone who divorces his wife, except in the case of illicit sexual relations, exposes her to becoming an adulteress; and whoever marries the repudiated woman commits adultery."

Moses: one could disown the woman. Jesus: if you repudiate her, you are exposing the woman to adultery.

Matthew 5:33-37: “You have also heard what was said to the ancients: 'You shall not swear falsely, but you shall keep your oaths strictly to the Lord.' But I say unto you, Swear by no means, Not by Heaven, because it is the throne of God; nor by the Earth, because it is His footstool; nor for Jerusalem, for being the city of the great King; do not swear on your head, because you cannot make hair white or black. But let your word be: Yes, yes; no, no. What this passes away comes from the evil one."

Moses: You shall not swear false. Jesus: You don't swear at all.

Mt 5:38-42: “You have heard what was said: 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' But I say unto you: Do not resist the wicked; but whoever bruises you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also; and to the one who wants to plead with you and take your tunic, give him the cloak as well. If someone makes you walk a mile, go with him two miles. Hive to whoever asks you, and don't turn your back on what he wants you to lend him.”

Moses: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Jesus: Whoever hurts you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard what was said: 'You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that you may become children of your heavenly Father, for He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and rain to come on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don't publicans also do the same? And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Don't the Gentiles also do the same? Therefore, be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Moses: You will hate your enemy. Jesus: Love your enemies.

We find support for our thinking in the exegete Bart D. Ehrman, who in his work What Did Jesus Say? What did Jesus not say; who changed the Bible and why, expressed himself as follows:

However, soon after, Christians began to accept other writings alongside the Jewish Scriptures. This acceptance may have originated in Jesus' own authoritative teaching, as His followers took His interpretation of the scriptures as endowed with the same authority given to the words of the scriptures themselves. Jesus may have stimulated this understanding by the way He paraphrased some of His teachings. In the Sermon on the Mount, for example, Jesus is seen expounding laws given by God to Moses and then giving His own more radical interpretation of them, indicating that His interpretation is the authoritative one. (EHRMAN, 2006, p. 40-41, emphasis added)

We regard Ehrman's opinion as of great importance, as he is considered the greatest New Testament expert today.

(This article will be completed in the next issue.)