Throughout my life, I’ve encountered fellow believers who have said something like, “I’m more of a New Testament Christian.” This is usually noted as a way to distance themselves from some of the Old Testament’s more strident laws and violent stories.

This is understandable. After all, we have records of Christian scholars challenging various aspects of the Old Testament as early as the second century. While it may be easy to sympathize with this view, today’s gospel presents a significant challenge.

After all, do Jesus’ words sound like someone who wants to distance himself from the Old Testament and the Jewish laws contained in it? It sounds much more like someone who stands in agreement with it. However, remember that Jesus often preached against the Pharisees’
approach to the law.

Sometimes, he preached against the Pharisees for dismissing the law when convenient and, at others, for adopting overly rigorous, legalistic approaches. Among all this criticism, some of Christ’s followers may have picked up some wrong ideas about what was happening along the way.

Thus, Jesus clarifies that he is not dismantling the covenants and laws known to them. Rather, they are being fulfilled through him by following them perfectly from the heart and, in turn, instituting new ones congruent with the old.

Jesus desires for the apostles (and us) to take these ancient Old Testament laws more seriously by rediscovering them in the light that his life, ministry, and teachings have brought. For example, “thou shall not kill” still applies, but now we must also love our enemy! Jesus desires us to have faith in these laws (and the old ones which they spring from), internalize them in letter and spirit, and change how we interact with the world.