Wednesday 17 February 2016

New Covenant

The Law was indivisible. And literal. He said so. And He followed it - all of it, literally - or else it couldn't truly be said that He followed it at all. And He rebuked the Jewish leaders for dividing the Law by their tampering approach.

Prior to His death He also limited His ministry strictly to Jews. When He sent out the 12 and then the 70, His commission for them also excluded Gentiles.

But He also said:

That a dispensation was coming when true worshipers would no longer worship in Jerusalem as was required by the Law;

"A new commandment I give unto you";

"This cup is the new testament in my blood";

"It is finished";

and many similar statements which show a different ball-game to the Law.

Prior to His death He said He had many things still to tell His disciples, but they were not able to bear them yet. (It was only after His resurrection that they understood even why He had to die, for example.)

So after His resurrection He spoke to them concerning the Kingdom of God. That included giving them a new commission - a commission involving all nations, unlike prior to His death when the ministry was still strictly for Jews because the Old Covenant was technically still in force.

Teaching all nations "all things whatsoever I have commanded you" takes into consideration the ultimate purpose of everything Jesus said and did: because by that time the Apostles understood the bigger picture.

"All things whatsoever I have commanded you," didn't only look through a narrower window only to some things He indeed said and did prior to His death - it embraced His ultimate program - especially seeing it had been His stated intention even prior to His death to introduce something new and broader after His death.

Jesus' ultimate and bigger purpose was stated by Him on both sides of the cross.

And all of that was achieved without Him breaking a single point of the Law, while the Law was still literally applicable.

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