My Favorite Verses - Vol II (Mar 15 to Jul 16)

Matthew 5:17-18 --- Addendum
Jesus as a denouncer &/or a reformer of OT laws
(03/09/2015)
For the casual reader of the Bible, it is readily apparent that the theological
principles in the Old Testament differ from those relayed by Jesus in the New
Testament. The Old Testament portrays God as a supporter of war (see Exodus
15:3, Exodus 23:27 & Psalm 137:7-9), while Jesus tells us that ―Blessed are the
Peacemakers‖ (Matthew 5:9) and that we are to Love our enemies ―for He makes
his sun rise on both the evil and the good, and sends rain both to the righteous and
the unrighteous‖ (Matthew 5:44-47 – see also Luke 6:35-36).
In the Old Testament, God advocates the use of the death penalty (Exodus
21:12-20 & Exodus 24:16 et al), allows for the robbing (Exodus 12:35-36) and the
pillaging (Numbers 31:9-15) of those defeated in battle, and appears to have
effectuated a brutal pogrom during the original Passover (see Exodus 11:4-6) – and
yet Jesus states very clearly that ―God judges no one‖ (John 5:22 – see also John
8:15, as well as Jesus' Peace-full Passover statements in Matthew 26:26-28) and that we
are to forgive those who trespass against us (see Luke 17:3-4 & John 8:7 et al). In
addition, God seems to support the adulteries of Abraham (Genesis 20:1-18) &
Isaac (Genesis 26:6-11), as well as Moses' lies to the Pharaoh (see Exodus 5:1 &
Exodus 9:27) – and yet Jesus succinctly and simply champions both monogamy
(Matthew 19:6) & always speaking to others with flagrant honesty (see Matthew
5:37, along with his many denouncements of hypocrisy throughout the Gospels).
Such discrepancies have tempted many readers to assume that the two
Testaments simply contradict one another in a few important instances. Even Paul
succumbed to such hasty thinking (―Jesus is the end of the Law‖ ~ Romans 10:4) …
And yet an in-depth analysis of both the statements & the actions of Jesus in the
Gospels (hereafter, specifically
the Gospel of Matthew) shows a
significantly different reality:
namely, that Jesus' theology
consistently and purposefully
amplified the spiritual potency
of the traditional teachings of
Judaism found in the Old
Testament – and that it did so
in three ways; by limiting them,
by radically expanding them
&/or by fully discarding them.
Feel free to consider the many
examples of each on the pages
that follow …
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