The Permanence of the Law

With the statement that “the Law and the Prophets were until John [the Baptist]” (Luke 16:16), Jesus suggests that the Law and Prophets, at least in some way, are no longer in force since John’s coming. Yet immediately after implying that the law had somehow passed away, our Lord in today’s passage says that “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void” (v. 17). The Greek word translated as “dot” refers to the tiny stroke of the pen that distinguishes two Hebrew letters that would otherwise look identical. In other words, it is easier for the whole universe to disappear than for the tiniest, seemingly most insignificant portion of the law to pass away.

We can reconcile the law’s ending at the coming of John with its enduring validity by considering the broader biblical teaching on the law. As we read the New Testament, we find that the law in the sense of the entire Mosaic code with all the regulations given to old covenant Israel in order to govern Israel’s life in the promised land no longer regulates the church. The Mosaic system was given as a guardian to guide the people of Israel until the coming of the Messiah (Gal. 3:15–29), and with the coming of its goal, Jesus Christ, the Mosaic law as what defines the people of God passes away (Rom. 10:4).

That the Mosaic law as a system comes to an end does not mean, however, that it becomes entirely obsolete. We see this, for example, in the proceedings of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), which does not bind gentile Christians to ceremonial requirements in the Mosaic code such as circumcision but does expect them to abide by moral elements of the Mosaic law, such as its prohibitions of sexual immorality. The moral core of the Mosaic law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, abides forever. Other portions of the code are no longer binding on us, however, even though they have value in other ways, such as helping us understand history or prefiguring the work of the Messiah. Matthew Henry comments that in the new covenant, “the moral law is confirmed and ratified, and not one tittle of that fails; the duties enjoined by it are duties still; the sins forbidden by it are sins still. Nay, the precepts of it are explained and enforced by the gospel, and made to appear more spiritual. The ceremonial law is perfected in the gospel colors; not one tittle of that fails, for it is found printed off in the gospel, where, though the force of it is as a law taken off, yet the figure of it as a type shines very brightly.”