Heaven And Earth Will Not Pass Away Until… (Matthew 5:17-18) - Part 3
Let’s start Part 3 by reading Jesus’ words once more in Matthew 5:17-18.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
When we, the modern-day reader, read Matthew 5:17-18 concerning heaven and earth, we understood heaven and earth to be physical in nature.
However, when the first-century Jewish audience heard Jesus speak about heaven and earth, they understood Jesus to be speaking about a spiritual heaven and earth.
They understood the heaven and earth that would pass away was the heaven and earth that was based upon the law and its curses.
They understood a new heaven and new earth would be created by God that would be based upon grace and blessings.
This understanding came from Isaiah 65:17-25.
They understood from Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Isaiah 65:17-25 that the establishment of the new testament would result in a new heaven and earth, meaning the establishment of the new testament would change how God related to the people of Israel on earth.
The change would be that God would cease relating to them by law and would begin relating to them by grace.
The people of Israel who heard Jesus speak the words of Matthew 5:17-18 were ready for this change to happen.
Yet Jesus told his Jewish audience that once everything is fulfilled and accomplished, then the law-based testament heaven and earth would pass away, meaning the new heaven and earth of Isaiah 65:17-25 would be created.
The new heaven and the new earth could not be created until the new testament of grace was established.
This is because the new heaven and the new earth is the direct result of the establishment of the new testament.
There can be no new heaven and new earth if the testament of law is still in place.
Remember, the new heaven and new earth is God no longer remembering the former rebellion to the law by the people of Israel (Isaiah 65:17).
Also remember, the new testament of grace is God no longer remembering the sins (rebellion to the law) of the people of Israel because he would forgive their sins and remember them no more
Jeremiah prophesied this in 31:31-34.
The writer of Hebrews educated the Jewish people about the new testament after it was established.
So the establishment of the new testament of grace was a pre-requisite to the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
According to Jesus in Matthew 5:17-18, the old heaven and earth, based upon the Law of Moses, would not pass away until he fulfilled the law and until everything was accomplished.
These leaves us asking two questions:
Question #1: How would Jesus fulfill the law?
Question #2: What is everything that would be accomplished?
Let’s answer these questions.
We get insight into the answers to these questions through Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish leaders, his conversation with the two men on the road to Emmaus, and his conversation with his disciples just before his ascension.
In Jesus conversation with the Jewish leaders he stated,
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me. (John 5:39-40 - NIV)
The Scriptures refer to the Law and the Prophets.
The Law and the Prophets were synonymous with the Jewish Scriptures.
The Jewish Scriptures pointed to the coming of the Christ/Messiah.
These Scriptures are Genesis - Malachi.
Genesis - Malachi testified about the coming of the Christ/Messiah who would establish a new covenant/testament (Isaiah 42:6; 49:8; Jeremiah 31:31-34)
There are many other prophecies in the Jewish Scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) foretelling the coming of the Messiah/Christ.
I write about these in my book: The Story of Grace.
When Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, he explained to the two men how the Law and the Prophets pointed to him.
Luke wrote in Luke 24:27:
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
In Jesus’ conversation with his disciples, he said (Luke 24:44-28)
“This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written [in the Scriptures]: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance [admitting one’s sinful condition and turning to Jesus in faith] for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.“
According to Jesus, in Matthew 5:17-18, once he fulfilled and accomplished everything written about him in the Law and Prophets, then the Law and the Prophets would disappear and the heaven and earth would pass away.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Jesus is clearly telling his first-century, Jewish audience that once he fulfilled and accomplished everything that was written about him in the Law and the Prophets, then the law would disappear and heaven and earth would pass away, meaning the law-based heaven and earth that testified against them would pass away.
In Part Four, we will examine the disappearance of the Law and the Prophets and the passing away of the law-based heaven and earth.
