Wednesday after the Second Sunday after Easter, 5/2/01

Matthew 5:17, 18 Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. --NASB

In the name of the One Whose ministry was to fulfill the Law, amen.

I'm the king of long-distance romance. I've had too many of them in my life, and I finally found one who lived far enough away that I married her. In a long-distance romance pictures become very important. They are cherished because they are the image of the loved one. But I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't rather have the real thing instead of a picture. After all, pictures don't talk, they don't laugh, and they don't hold hands either. After being married for a few years I might add that pictures don't scratch backs! Now, unless a loved one sends you pictures of someone else, when you get together you see that your loved one is the person that the pictures represented. That's obvious, right?

God maintained a long-distance relationship with mankind for thousands of years. During that time He gave us pictures of Himself. When Christ came, the pictures were no longer necessary, and they were soon forgotten. But Christ's ministry was not to tear up the pictures, and be something else, rather it was to be everything that the pictures indicated. Now, before we get the idea that that is painfully obvious, bear in mind that some of the people of Jesus' day, and many people today, wanted Jesus to be something He wasn't. We could mention many things, but let us consider it this way: There are those who would Like Jesus to be someone Who permits us to do anything we want. Nothing could be more different from what Jesus is. He showed us that God is serious about holiness. We are to live lives that are pleasing to our heavenly Father.

On the other hand, there are those who don't want Jesus to be forgiving. But in accomplishing the requirements of the Law, He brought righteousness to those who have faith in Him. Now that we have the righteousness that came by Christ keeping the Law, all the sacrifices of the Law that pictured Jesus are no longer necessary either. If we want to see what our Savior is all about, we can look at the Gospel accounts of His life. There we see Jesus Himself, and the forgiveness He bought for us. So, strangely enough, we can say that the purpose of Jesus' ministry was to be what the Law pictured Him to be. Amen.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, Our Savior Jesus truly fulfilled all of Your Law. We see from His own words that He did this for us. Help us never to want Jesus to be something He is not. Rather, enlighten us by Your Holy Spirit so that we always cherish what our Savior is. Amen.

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