A
while back I started working on my own translation of the New
Testament. My original idea was to fully translate all the words in
the Bible that have been left untranslated. As I began I started
running into an increasing amount of words that even though they were
translated into English properly, the English word had it's original
meaning destroyed by religious tradition. So in these cases I decided
to describe the meaning of the word instead of using the word itself.
But then I ran into this scripture and as always it stumped me and I
couldn't continue until I figured out what it meant.
"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.” Matthew 5:17
So,
my problem here was the word “Fulfill”. The Greek word is a very
open word that can lead to several different conclusions. The English
word is a little more limited but again it can have a few different
meanings. So I wanted to read the thoughts of some Jewish Christians
on this scripture. The web sites I had checked out before really
stressed the Hebrew meanings to words even in the New Testament and
they really always seemed to attack the people who also look at the
Greek meanings. But in this case I was really surprised, they all
seemed to universally
be talking about the Greek word for fulfill. This made me very
suspicious especially because there is a Hebrew book of Matthew that
they were all sold out on as the “original”. So I decided to look
up the Hebrew word for fulfill and then I understood why they seemed
to be steering away from that. The Hebrew word seems to have a very
limited and clear meaning, it pretty much means to end. But this
wouldn't make much since. So Jesus is saying “I didn't come to
abolish the law, I came to end it”? This doesn't make any since to
me and therefore I have to assume that Matthew was originally written
in Greek. So now I just had to figure out which meaning to this Greek
word applied to this scripture.
Then
I came across this scripture and it got me thinking....
Therefore
do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ. Colo 2:16-17
What
is a shadow? Literally it means “a dark figure or image cast on
the ground or some surface by an object intercepting light.” But
some other meanings of the word include “a hint or faint,
indistinct image or idea” - “outward aspect” - “a likeness,
image, or copy.” - “exterior aspect” - a hint or suggestion”
So
in other words Paul is saying that the eating restrictions and the
sabbath day, both of which are a part of the law, are a physical act
that represents a spiritual reality that we find in Christ. Another
example of this is found in baptism....
"I
baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is
more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11
John
is in essence saying that water baptism is the shadow, the physical
representation of the Baptism of Christ which is the fire.
So
then in my study I came across this group of passages from the book
of Hebrews which I found to be very helpful to my understanding of
this topic
See
to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful,
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage
one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none
of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to
share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to
the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Who were
they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of
Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with
those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to
whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to
those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter,
because of their unbelief.
Therefore,
since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be
careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we
also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but
the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not
share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter
that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my
anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.” And yet his works have
been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere he has
spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day
God rested from all his works.”And again in the passage above he
says, “They shall never enter my rest.”
Therefore
since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those
who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in
because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling
it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through
David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts.”
For
if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about
another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of
God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,
just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to
enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their
example of disobedience.
Hebrews
3
So
here we see the writer of Hebrews describing one of the central
elements of the law, the sabbath day as a shadow, a physical
representation of the rest we find in Christ. This rest was offered
to the people of Israel in the times of Moses but because of their
unbelief, they could not enter into God's rest and so a day was set
aside as the Sabbath day of rest . But now in Christ we can enter
that rest...
“Come
unto me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
We can
argue all we want as to what day the
Sabbath day is
but we would be missing the point. A
day was selected because their unbelief prevented them from
experiencing the real rest of God. So now armed with these scriptures
I went back to my original scripture confident in how to translate
the word fulfill..... Some say the word means to end, others say it
means to complete, and yet others say it means to properly live
out.... but in the context of these scriptures I firmly believe that
proper translation for that word would be “bring
to realization” because He was bringing the physical acts of the
law into spiritual reality. The Sabbath day becomes the rest we find
in Christ. The diet restrictions that were in place to separate God's
people from the world, becomes the true spiritual separation from the
world we find in Christ. The tabernacle/temple, the place where God
lives becomes us. Point by point, law by law, Jesus brought all of
these physical representative acts and made them spiritual reality.
In
other words Jesus
turned the shadow into the fire. When we focus only on the shadow
it's kind of like a parent who gives his child a picture of his dream
car with all of the details written down on it. From the engine to
the tires every detail of that car is there on the picture and the
Dad tells him “I'll buy that car for you on your 18th
birthday”. As the years go by the child looks and looks at that
picture and memorizes every detail and every spec of that car
dreaming of the day that the car is his but when his 18th
birthday comes around and his Dad hands him the keys to the car, He
would rather keep looking at the picture instead of going for a
drive. The law is the picture with all the details and specs, the
cross is the key, the car is the reality of that picture. Do we just
throw away the picture? No, we keep it
because
on the picture we have all of the details, all of the specs and we
always have to know what is under the hood. But we must not just
focus on the Picture, we actually have to take the car out for a
spin. The car is sitting in the driveway.....will you keep looking at
the picture, or go for a drive?
"Do
not think that I have come to get rid of the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to get rid of them but to bring them to realization.”
Matthew 5:17
