3RD WEEK OF LENT

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. 

Jesus’ public ministry had just begun, and already his teachings and miracles were generating a sense of hope and expectation among the people. So perhaps it was natural for them to assume that this “new thing” that God was doing meant the end of what had come before.

Not so! Jesus himself made it perfectly clear: he was in the business of fulfilling, not abolishing. He came to bring to fulfillment the entire sweep of Israel’s calling and history, the plan that God had in mind for his people from the beginning.

How did Jesus bring God’s plan to fulfillment?

• God called Abraham and gathered a people dear to his heart; Jesus welcomed them, and all of us, into the family of God, the Church.

• God set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt; Jesus set us free from sin and death.

• God gave his people the Law so that they could walk in his ways; Jesus showed us how to follow the heart of the Law and not get caught up in the letter.

• God guided his people to the Promised Land, a place of freedom where they could grow and thrive; Jesus made it possible for people to live in freedom in this life and live with him forever in the next.

• God gave his people victory over their earthly enemies; in Jesus, we can have victory over our spiritual enemies of sin and the devil.

Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has fulfilled not only the Law of Moses but the deepest longings in our hearts. Now we can be in an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. Now we can receive all the grace we need to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Now we have the Holy Spirit, who convicts us, teaches us, and guides us. And now we have brothers and sisters in Christ who can support us in our walk with the Lord.

Jesus declared what he came to do: to fulfill and accomplish all that was in the Law and the prophets. Then, on the cross, he proclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He has done exactly what he promised to do!

“I praise you, Jesus, for fulfilling your Father’s intentions for me.”

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Matthew 5:17-19