How do Christians reconcile this passage?
Upvote:0
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets (Matt.5:17) but does He endorse them? Well if you only read to verse 20 it would seem so. However Jesus now explains what the Law is. God has not changed his mind. I know many Christians will say Jesus is merely adding to the existing Laws or something to that effect. But he repeals completely the ‘God given’ law on oaths, retaliation and divorce and finally emphasises the love behind the Law in Matt.7:12 (KJV) Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. The greek is even more emphatic – this(οὗτος) indeed(γάρ) is(ἐστιν) the law . . . I believe it was no accident that Jesus took the people up the mountain to give them the correct law, symbolising Moses going up the mountain. The law had become corrupted by additions and or errors and this Sermon from God Himself should supersede any notion we have of Old Testament law.
Upvote:1
The law was created before Eve sinned, or she could not have broken Gods Law,
God wrote this same law on stone to people that had come out of slavery in Egypt and starts it with l am the Lord your God
Noah was not a Jew,
The prescription for eating meat was given after the flood
The Sabbbath was created and blessed on the 7th day of creation, scripture no where says it was created for the Jews
Upvote:2
Christians have addressed this in various ways:
Some (a very small minority), such as Marcion challenged premise 1. - they didn't believe in the Old Testament. Most Christians have rejected this approach to the extent of labelling those who adopt it as being heretical.
A slightly bigger group (comprising the likes of Seventh Day Adventists and Messianic Jews) would take serious issue with your premise 2. - they take the Old Testament law seriously and do seek to follow whatever part of it that can still be followed (considering that the destruction of the temple has practically put paid to all the laws related to temple worship, Orthodox Jews are in the much the same boat here).
The vast majority of Christians would challenge your premise 3. as being a completely false characterization of what Jesus did and taught:
17 “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. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. - Matthew 5:17-20 NIV
Additionally, many would make the point that although God is Lord over all, the Mosaic law wasn't given to humanity in general, but to the children of Israel in particular, and the vast majority of Christians are not descendants of Israel, but gentiles - they are, by default, excluded from the Mosaic Covenant therefore they are not bound by it's provisions. Of more relevance are the commands given to Noah from whom all are believed to be descended and these provisions were actually reiterated by the early Christian Church at her first general council.
Your point 4. is completely moot - the Old Testament has not (except by Marcion and his ilk) been disavowed and there is therefore no direction to follow "other Gods".
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