Abolish or Fulfil?

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Deut 4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ approach to the law and the prophets – the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, which we call the Old Testament. 

Jesus claims emphatically that he has come ‘not to abolish but to fulfill’ them. 

However, Jesus’ claim could be contested for the apparent contradictions in his ministry. 

1. Jesus heals the sick on the Sabbath. This is why the religious leaders of his time – the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees – are after him to find fault with or accuse him.

2. Jesus’ authoritative statements in the Sermon on the Mount follow the formula, ‘You have heard that it was said…but I say to you.’ Is Jesus not changing the scriptural teachings here? 

3. It is not only that Jesus ‘broke’ the Sabbath laws himself but also cautioned his audience regarding the ‘leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees’ (Mt 16:5) so that they might stay away from religious hypocrisy. 

If Jesus did all the above, how could he claim that he came not to abolish but fulfil the law and the prophets? How then can we understand Jesus’ ministry that contradicted his claims?

We must note that Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets in ways that surpassed human expectations and understanding. He fulfilled them by freeing people from legalistic oppression, by helping people discover the real meaning of God-given laws, and by prioritizing human dignity above the rigidity of human-made laws.

For Jesus, the Sabbath was God’s gift that intended the restoration of life and dignity. It also underlined communion with God. When the so-called Sabbath laws put people away from such original intentions, Jesus violated them. In essence, Jesus did not break the Sabbath law but revealed its heart to people.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not contradict the Scriptural teachings. Nor did he teach his audience to disobey them. Rather, he gave correctives for understanding God’s commandments. Thus, Jesus shifted the focus from external actions to internal motives, emphasizing that true righteousness comes from the heart. 

When Jesus cautioned his disciples regarding the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, he invited his audience to discern between God’s commandments and human interpretations of them. Jesus wanted his audience to learn that interpretations cannot be the Law itself. Thus, Jesus freed God’s commandments from human distortions.

Catholic moral theology teaches the principle of Epikeia. It means interpreting a law according to the intention of the lawgiver when application would contradict that intention. In other words, Epikeia is about paying attention to the spirit of the law, not merely the letter of it. Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath because he prioritized God-intended mercy and human wellness over the literal application of the Sabbath laws. 

It is in these ways that Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets. Equipped with these explanations, we may discover that Jesus was only obeying them in a profound sense.

Let us pray that we may fulfil God’s commandments by living according to their spirit. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar