“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in now wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
— Matthew 5:18
“For the priesthood being changed,
there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”
— Hebrews 7:12
Now, was Jesus being parabolic in his sermons or prophetic? Jesus said to his disciples, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail, [1]”yet Hebrews is telling us that the law indeed has changed. We do not have a temple, or priests, or animal sacrifices in the New Covenant. When Christ cried out, “It is finished [2],” it means that the demands of the law have been fulfilled in the person and work of Christ. Matthew Henry writes in his commentary on John 19:30:
It is finished, that is, all the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, which pointed at the sufferings of the Messiah were accomplished and answered. The work of man’s redemption and salvation is now completed, at least the hardest part of the undertaking is over. A full satisfaction is made to the justice of God, a fatal blow given to the power of Satan.
Christ says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away[3.]” Indeed Christ IS the word made flesh (John 1:1) and “because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood [4.]”
The cross of Calvary was an inflection point in human history. Time has been winding down from that point on. John the Baptist and Jesus were preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I don’t think 2,000 + years fits the definition of at hand. However, “except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,[5] and even if he is born again, “we know in part, and we prophesy in part...For now we see through a glass, darkly[6.]” I’m not dogmatic about this doctrine of the new heavens and new earth. Greater theologians than myself do not all agree. It may be one of those things we can discern to some degree in our limited understanding, or not, but either way the Holy Spirit is sanctifying and renewing us in our minds until the day when we will see face to face.
Selah.
Scriptures
1Lk 16:17
2John 19:30
3Matt 24:35
4Heb 7:24
5John 3:3
61st Cor 13:9-12
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