Read: Matthew 5:17–20

Have you ever filled a glass with water right to the brim? It was that full that you couldn’t fit another drop of water into it. This is what the word fulfill means: to make completely full.

Now Jesus tells the disciples that he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it. Jesus was teaching the disciples about his kingdom. They are God’s special people. But Jesus doesn’t want them to think that they can now forget about the whole Old Testament; that now it is time for the New Testament church, and that the whole Old Testament laws and prophets can be forgotten.

Jesus says, “Don’t you think that at all. I haven’t come to destroy the laws and prophets, but to fulfill them.” The prophets all preached about the coming of a Saviour. They talked about a suffering servant who would be punished for the sins of his people. The laws and sacrifices all pointed to blood needing to be shed so that the people could be saved.

And now Jesus says, ‘I am the one who has come to fill all these promises.’ If Christ hadn’t come, then these Old Testament promises would still be empty. But Jesus has filled them. And now Jesus wants us to focus on him and the work he is doing. If a jar is filled to the brim with gold, you will focus on the gold and not the jar. And so, we must focus on Christ and his work.

But there are still more promises in the Bible that haven’t been fulfilled yet. God promises us a new heaven and new earth, when there will be no more death or pain or crying. Jesus tells us that every single promise will be fulfilled. Christ is still working in heaven for us. That’s what Jesus means by jot or tittle. These things were the tiniest dots of their alphabet. So, Jesus is saying that even the smallest promises will not be forgotten. Every single promise of God will be fulfilled in Christ!

Reflection with your child:

What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law and prophets?

Source: Sermon by Rev. D. Agema