Yeshua: The Law Fulfilled and Grace Revealed*

This is Christmas - the day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. Although the exact date of Jesus' birth is not known, and was perhaps chosen for secular reasons, the fact remains that Jesus was born, and born according to prophecy. Through Jesus, as we will see, the Law and the prophets were fulfilled, and God's living grace was revealed. Both the Law and the prophets, and God's Spirit of grace were evident from Christ's conception: "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Mt. 1:18-21). The penalty under the Law of Moses for a betrothed woman to become pregnant by another man would have been death by stoning. Joseph showed Mary grace by seeking to put her aside quietly and privately. God declared His grace in the situation by revealing to Joseph that the child is by the Holy Spirit, not another man. The birth of the child through Mary would also fulfill the prophecy given to Isaiah: "Therefore the LORD himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel ("God with us")." (Isa. 7:14, Mt. 1:22-23). Joseph rose up and took Mary for his wife, and did not know her untill after the baby was born. The child of a virgin was also prophesied from the beginning in Gen. 3:15, when God told the woman that she would bear a seed (only men were spoken of as producing "seed") that would crush the serpent's head. Jesus specifically stated that He did not come to destroy the Law: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Mt. 5:17-20). Jesus then went on to teach that the Spirit of the law defines the letter of the law. Commandments regarding killing and adultery, for example, also extend to the thoughts of the mind and intents of the heart, even if the physical breaking of the commandment is not committed. Jesus said that hatred or disparagement against a brother is considered the same by God as killing him, thereby breaking the commandment: "Thou shalt not kill.". In God's eyes, the Spirit of the law demands reconciliation with the brother (see v. 21-28). At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, He physically left one location, Nazareth ("the guarded one"), and moved to another - Capernaum ("covering of atonement, purging, forgiveness, cleansing, comfort, repentance"), which borders the Zebulon and Nephthalim territories (Mt. 4:12-13). Jesus began to preach: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Again, this fulfilled the prophet Isaiah: "The land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up (Greek - "raises himself") (Mt. 4:14-16). This fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy (see Isa. 9:1-2). In John 2:13-22, Jesus zealously cleansed the temple at the time of Passover, of moneychangers, and those who made merchandise out of the house and people of God. They asked Him to show them a sign that entitled Him to do such a thing. If they knew their scripture, they would have known that this zealousness for the house of God was a fulfillment of Psalm 69:9, a Psalm of David. Jesus answered them instead, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They rejected Christ's words as foolishness, but Christ was speaking of the temple of His body, raised from the dead. In an important lesson about grace and the Law, a woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus in the temple. Where was the man who was involved in this sin?! The accusers told Jesus that the Law demanded that the woman be stoned to death, and, testing Jesus, they wanted to know what He would say about it (Jn. 8:1-5). However, Jesus stooped down, ignoring them, and began to write on the ground. Then He raised Himself up and said, "He that is without (that) sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (v. 6-7). Then again Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground. With their consciences convicted, all of the woman's accusers left, and only she remained. When Jesus had lift up Himself, He saw that only the woman remained and asked, "Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?" She answered "no man". And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (v.8-11). It is written that Jesus next said: "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (v. 12). Grace does not excuse sin. We are not to view grace as a pass given to us so we may continue to sin. As we will see with the next example, grace flows through genuine repentance, and likewise, repentance flows from grace. As Jesus passed through Jericho, the chief tax collector named Zaccheus, who was rich, climbed a sycamore (fig) tree to get a look at Him. Zaccheus was short, and could not see over the crowd that had gathered (Lk. 19:1-4). Jesus looked up and said to him: "'Zaccheus, make haste and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house'. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully." Jesus addressed the tax collector by name. The people murmured because Jesus would be dining with a corrupt tax collector, a sinner. Jesus, of course, knew Zaccheus not by the flesh, but by the Spirit. The name Zaccheus means "pure, innocent, clean, bright, shining, fragrant, justified, translucent". Zaccheus' life was changed by his encounter with Jesus. He said: "...Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Jesus answered him: "This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (v. 5-10). This is grace - to seek and save the lost, changing hearts and lives. Later, as Jesus was about to enter into Jerusalem, He instructed His disciples to go into the next town where they would find a colt tied. They were to bring the colt back to Jesus, and if anyone questioned them, they were to say, "...the Lord hath need of him." (Lk. 19:30-31). Jesus would then make His triumphant entry into Jerusalem sitting on the colt, as the whole city welcomed Him with waving palm branches. Even this fulfilled prophecy from Zech. 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King commeth unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Their King came to them, not to subdue them with a heavenly army, but in beauty, grace, and humility. That very week, He would be crucified. He would provide the one-time offering for sin by way of His blood in order to perfect forever those being sanctified (Heb. 10:14). Jesus did this in order to fulfill a prophetic promise of God, of which the Holy Ghost is a witness: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (v. 15-17, see Jer. 31:33-34). There is no more offering for sin than this. Because of this one-time eternal offering, and the remission of sins, we have, therefore, "...boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh...Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (v. 18-23). The profession of our hope is the lining up of our words with the Words and promises of God (homologia meaning "to say the same as"), as Abraham did in faith, as he looked for the city whose maker and builder was God (See Heb. 11:10). Through this profession of hope by mouth and life, Abraham became the first Jew - not by letters written on a stone tablet, but the Word of the LORD's promises written in his heart, and witnessed within him by the work of grace of His Messiah to come, Jesus, and by the Spirit of Grace, the Holy Spirit. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 12/25/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook.