Gospel of Matthew Chapter 5 Vs. 18

 Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

verily I say... Is a unique form used by Jesus throughout His preaching to draw attention to the authority of His message. Verily; (Greek amen) means “truly” or “certainly.” It is used as a designation of authoritative teaching.

and earth pass... Greek: parerchomai, pass away, be changed, or pass from one condition to another. They will never pass out of existence, but they will be changed and purified by fire, becoming renewed again (Heb. 1:10-12; 12:25-29; 2Pet. 3:10-13; Rom. 8:21-24; Rev. 21:1). They remain forever (Ecc. 1:4; Psm. 72:17; 89:36-37; 104:5). They will pass away in the same sense old things pass away when one becomes a new creature in Christ (2Cor. 5:17-18).

jot or one... A "jot" is the smallest letter and a "tittle" the smallest ornament placed upon certain Hebrew letters. Every jot and tittle of the whole law or contract at Sinai was fulfilled, ended, and abolished in Christ and "done away" by Him when He made the new contract (2Cor. 3:6-15; Acts 15:5-29; Gal. 3:19-25; 4:21-31; 5:1-5, 5:18; Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 7:11-28; 8:6-13; 9:1-22; 10:1-18; Rom. 10:4). “One jot or one tittle” refers to the most minute letter and marks of the Hebrew alphabet. He explained that even the smallest statement in the law must be fulfilled. A jot (yodh), is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It functions as a Y in English and looks similar to an apostrophe. A tittle is a small projection of the edge of certain Hebrew letters to distinguish them from one another.

Here Christ was affirming the utter inerrancy and absolute authority of the Old Testament as the Word of God, down to the smallest stroke or letter. Again this suggests that the New Testament should not be seen as supplanting and abrogating the Old Testament, but as fulfilling and explicating it.

For example, all the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law were fulfilled in Christ and are no longer to be observed by Christians (Col. 2:16-17). Yet not the smallest letter or stroke is thereby erased, the underlying truths of those Scriptures remain and in fact the mysteries behind them are now revealed in the brighter light of the gospel.

The law in the Old Testament, and in fact the Old Testament itself, is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. The Word of God never changes. God’s law (Old), is made more glorious in the (New).

The Old Testament constantly prophesied about Jesus coming to fulfill all prophecy. Jesus was the fulfillment. The law was not bad, just misunderstood. Jesus fulfilled the law and reconciled us to God the Father. Jesus was not, and is not, a destroyer; He is a builder.

Jesus’ fulfillment would extend to the smallest Hebrew letter, the “jot” (lit., yôd), and even to the smallest stroke of a Hebrew letter, the “tittle.” In English a jot would correspond to the dot above the letter “i” (and look like an apostrophe), and a tittle would be seen in the difference between a “P” and an “R”. The small angled line that completes the “R” is like a tittle. These things are important because letters make up words and even a slight change in a letter might change the meaning of a word. Jesus said He would fulfill the Law by obeying it perfectly and would fulfill the prophets’ predictions of the Messiah and His kingdom.