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The Spirituality Of The Law, February 22
I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:17
.
It was Christ who, amid thunder and flame, had proclaimed the law upon
Mount Sinai. The glory of God, like devouring fire, rested upon its summit,
and the mountain quaked at the presence of the Lord. The hosts of Israel, lying
prostrate upon the earth, had listened in awe to the sacred precepts of the law....
When the law was given, Israel, degraded by the long bondage in Egypt, had
need to be impressed with the power and majesty of God; yet He revealed Himself
to them no less as a God of love....
The law given upon Sinai was the enunciation of the principle of love, a
revelation to earth of the law of heaven. It was ordained in the hand of a Mediator—
spoken by Him through whose power the hearts of men could be brought into
harmony with its principles. God had revealed the purpose of the law when He
declared to Israel, “Ye shall be holy men unto me” (
Exodus 22:31
).
But Israel had not perceived the spiritual nature of the law, and too often their
professed obedience was but an observance of forms and ceremonies, rather than
a surrender of the heart to the sovereignty of love. As Jesus in His character and
work represented to men the holy, benevolent, and paternal attributes of God, and
presented the worthlessness of mere ceremonial obedience, the Jewish leaders
did not receive or understand His words. They thought that He dwelt too lightly
upon the requirements of the law; and when He set before them the very truths
that were the soul of their divinely appointed service, they, looking only at the
external, accused Him of seeking to overthrow it.
The words of Christ, though calmly spoken, were uttered with an earnestness
and power that stirred the hearts of the people.... They “were astonished at his
teaching: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes”
(
Matthew 7:28, 29
, R.V.). The Pharisees noted the vast difference between their
manner of instruction and that of Christ. They saw that the majesty and purity and
beauty of the truth, with its deep and gentle influence, was taking firm hold upon
many minds. The Saviour’s divine love and tenderness drew the hearts of men to
Him....
The Saviour said nothing to unsettle faith in the religion and institutions that
had been given through Moses; for every ray of divine light that Israel’s great leader
communicated to his people was received from Christ. While many are saying
in their hearts that He has come to do away with the law, Jesus in unmistakable
language reveals His attitude toward the divine statutes. “Think not,” He said,
“that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets.”—
Thoughts from the Mount
of Blessing, 45-48
.
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