Did Jesus break the law?

Feb 27, 2022

8 min read

Updated: Aug 31

I am shocked at how often I had read the following scriptures but they did not ‘register.'

We would have to agree that we must be obedient to Jesus and follow His example, so let’s see what he said about God’s commandments.

In John 12:50, Jesus states, “I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

What Jesus said is what the Father told Him to say. Would the Father tell Jesus to say anything that was against His own words?

Jesus said "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." John 14:21

Are Jesus' commands the same as the Fathers? He states clearly in John 14: 24 that they are. "Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” John 14:23,24

How can He be an obedient Son if He does anything that is contrary to His Father’s commands? Aren’t Jesus and His Father One? How then can Jesus teach anything different from His Father’s own words?

Love and obedience

In Jesus' words we can see that love for God equals obedience to His commands. We tend to think of love as some gushy feeling, but this is not what Jesus says is love for God.

In John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commands."

Jesus clearly says, "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21

Picture of Moses holding the stone tablets

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." John 15:9,10

Mark 12:28 -31

One of the teachers of the law... asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Notice that Jesus did not say He came to put an end to the law or that the teacher of the law should just believe in Him! He pointed to the fact that the commandments were important and the most important was to love God and love others. He did not say all the rest were not important or not to keep the others. Also, in John 14:21, he stated that to love God was to keep His commandments.

Essentially Jesus is telling the man to love God by keeping the commandments, and as he keeps the commandments he will love others.

Also, in Matthew 7:12 Jesus says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

The justification that Jesus gives for doing to others as we want done to us is that it is written in the Law and the Prophets! We should love others because the Law and Prophets teach us to! Therefore, the Law and the Prophets are very much still in effect and relevant today.

Part of God's Family

By obeying God's commandments, including the command to listen to His Son, we show that we are part of God's family.

In Luke 8:21b Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

Luke 11:27, 28

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Did Jesus Abolish the Law?

Luke 16:17 “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.”

It's amazing that although we can see that heaven and earth have not disappeared, some Christians continue to say that Christ put an end to the law and that we now now longer have to obey it.

In Matthew 5:17 -20 Jesus very clearly asserts:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Note:

Jesus clearly states here that He did NOT come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. In fact, they would not disappear until heaven and earth disappear. Not even the least stroke of pen would disappear until everything has been accomplished. And to be clear, EVERYTHING has NOT yet been accomplished!

Jesus goes on to state that those who obey and teach others to obey the commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven! Those who set aside even the least commands and teach others so will be least in the kingdom of heaven!

Then, Jesus continues to state some examples of how HIS expectations are even HIGHER than the expectations of the Old Testament written law!

For example, in the verses that follow His statement above, he says:

You have heard it said… “you shall not murder.”

But I say, “anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matt 5:22)

You have heard it said…” you shall not commit adultery.”

But I say, “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5:22)

You have heard it said, “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.”

But I say, “that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

He is clearly saying that He requires a level of obedience that can only be obtained by having a new heart and a new mind, given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Making Up Our Own Way

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, not because they were teaching or obeying the Law, but because they were NOT obeying it. They were hypocrites, teaching it but not doing what the Law commands.

Mark 7:8

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” This was Jesus’ accusation of the Pharisees – not obeying God’s commands!

And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.

Can we see any examples where the Christian church has done this? Has the 'church' nullified the commandments of God to suit itself?

Matthew 23: 1-3

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Here Jesus is telling people to DO what the teachers of the law and the Pharisees teach when they sit in “Moses’ seat.” So when they are teaching from the law, people are to DO what they say. But unlike the Pharisees, they must actually OBEY.

We see in Matthew 13: 52, Jesus "said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

This reiterates the validity of the law according to Jesus.

In John 10:35, Jesus also says that “Scripture cannot be set aside,” therefore indicating that Scripture cannot be nullified or removed.

Making Disciples... Teaching Them To Do What?

In Matt 28:19 Jesus states that he wants his disciples to, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Part of the disciples ‘Great Commission’ was to teach the new coverts to obey!

Are We Lawless?

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The words ‘you evildoers’, in most other translations are “you workers of lawlessness.”

What does it mean to be lawless? It means to live without obedience to God’s law. The New Living Translation says “Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.”

In Matthew 13:41 & 42, Jesus reveals what will happen at the end of the age:

The Son of Man will send out His angels,and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.…

Eternal Life

In Matthew 19:17b Jesus states, “If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

In Luke 10, Jesus encounters a teacher of the law.

“On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” (v. 25 -28)

Note here that Jesus did not correct the law expert, telling him that the law will not save him, but points to the fact that he actually needs to be obedient to the commandments.

Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” John 8:51

In John 12:50 Jesus states, “I know that his command leads to eternal life."

We want to be those who enter into LIFE and so we aim to keep God's commandments. Not in our own strength, but by Faith in the one who rescued us from sin and death, and gave us His Spirit so that we would have the power to overcome the world.