Matthew 5:17 “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 say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
When Jesus came and preached and gathered a following, the things He was saying seemed new and refreshing. But He wanted to make it clear that He was "changing the rules" God had given before. He came to fulfill what they (and we) never could. He was not providing "loopholes" for obedience; the religious leaders had already developed plenty of those. What he goes on to do is show there were far deeper issues of the soul behind disobedience to God; it had to do with how they viewed Him and His commands. Jesus loved His Father and thrived on obeying Him. He wanted us to learn to do the same. He wanted us to find that indeed His commands "are not burdensome", but for our own good. They are not only what is best for others around us, but us too. How do you view God's commands?
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