Jesus' Relationship to the Mosaic Law

By: Deanna Huff, PhD Cand | July 5, 2022

Recently the Supreme Court of the United States released its hearing conclusions. Many people were discussing the expected outcomes and effects that followed. It is no surprise that law is often a table discussion in every household on many different levels, spanning from ethical laws to constitutional laws. Law is the foundation of every discipline, and it affects everyone. Even in ancient times, people were concerned about the laws and how they should be maintained. Several times in the Gospels, the Jewish people challenged Jesus over his use of the Mosaic laws. Jesus presented corrective statements to his hearers, such as “you have heard it said, but I say to you” (Matt. 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43). Was Jesus changing the Mosaic Law? What was his relationship to the Mosaic Law? Was he under the Mosaic Law? Did Jesus transcend the Mosaic Law (since Jesus is God)? Jesus not only followed the Law, but he also fulfilled the Mosaic Law. He revealed the Mosaic Law was meant to be more than a legalistic external behavior, but it was meant to change the internal behavior of man, resulting in an external worship of God.

What was his Relationship to the Mosaic Law?

Jesus’ relationship with the Mosaic Law is significant because he was Jewish, and all Jews followed the Laws of Moses. The Mosaic Law was written in the first five books of the Bible often called the Torah (or Pentateuch). It was given to Moses to instruct the Jewish people how to function judicially (civil), ceremonially (worship) and ethically (moral). God provided the 10 Commandments to Moses in the Torah, as well as the 613 detailed laws to be implemented in their Jewish nation. “Jews throughout Israel’s history understood themselves to be chosen by Yahweh, having experienced redemption from Egypt (Exod. 14) followed by reception of the Torah to guide them in proper allegiance to Yahweh (Exod. 19– 24). Obedience to the Torah was not a means of earning their redemption; it was the means of expressing loyalty to the God who had redeemed them.”[1] The prophets reinforced the Mosaic teachings throughout their writings. Therefore, when Jesus stated that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets (Matt. 5:17-18), he encompassed all the Hebrew Scriptures because they were grounded in the Mosaic Laws. All the laws were meant to point the Jewish people to “love God and love their neighbor” (Matt. 22:36-40).

Was Jesus under the Mosaic Law?

Jesus was to abide by the Mosaic Laws but over the centuries the Jewish teachers attached traditions to the laws which focused on the external behaviors of the people (oral traditions found in the Talmud). Jesus was often challenging his opponents over the laws and exposing the lack of internal change. For example, Jesus stated, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:27-28). Jesus’ corrections of the mistaken understandings involved the presentation of the true meaning of the Torah, not its cancellation as might at first seem to be the case.[2] The teachings of Jesus were elevating the Mosaic Law to its proper place in teaching people to love God and love their neighbor from the internal to external expression of faith in God. Jesus was expressing justice, mercy, and righteousness as he gave correctives to the traditions held by many of the leading Jews.

Did Jesus Transcend the Mosaic Law (since Jesus is God)?

The only person who could fulfill the Mosaic Law perfectly was Jesus the God-Man. He was fully God and fully man. Therefore, he was in time humanly and abiding by the Laws in time. Rather than transcending the Mosaic Law, he was fulfilling them within humankind. Humanity needed a Savior that could fulfill the whole Law and be the perfect sacrifice. The Scribes and Pharisees were examples of external righteousness, but they failed the internal righteousness. Jesus states, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt. 5:20). Jesus was the perfect righteousness internally and externally. Therefore, the Law is good and points to our need for a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “Therefore, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:24).

Conclusion

Jesus was a Jew and his relationship to the Mosaic Law would have been to follow it. He was to abide in it, but he jettisoned the traditions of man and fulfilled the Mosaic Law completely. He spotlighted the Law and the Prophets pointing people to love God and love their neighbor. As you encounter people and continue the conversations about the importance of the laws, take the opportunity to share the significance of good laws and maybe you will be able to use it as a bridge to reveal humanity’s need for a Savior. The Savior fulfilled the whole law in order that those who call on his name will be saved.

About the Author

Deanna Huff is a wife and mother. She has been teaching and training for the last twenty years equipping people to know their Christian faith and share it with others. She has led many seminars for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Ladies Retreat, and the State Evangelism Conference. She taught high school students for ten years at Christian Heritage Academy, in Bible, Universal History, Apologetics and Philosophy. Deanna is a Ph.D. candidate in Apologetics and Theology at Liberty University. She holds a Master of Theology in Apologetics and Worldview from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oklahoma.

She is an active member of Capitol Hill Baptist Church where she participates with her pastor in a worldview podcast called The Analysis. She also participates with her daughter in a podcast called but why should i care. She and her husband teach an adult Sunday school class discipling others in the faith.

Notes

[1] Brown, Jeannine K. Matthew (Teach the Text Commentary Series), Baker Books, 2015.

[2] Hagner, Donald A., and David Allen Hubbard. Matthew 1-13, Volume 33A, edited by Bruce M. Metzger, and Glenn W. Barker, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, 2015.