Jesus says in Matt. 5:17 that He came not to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill. But after healing a leper in Mark 1:40-45, Jesus tells the leper to show himself to the priest and offer for his cleansing the things that Moses had commanded the Israelites (Mark 1:44). If Jesus fulfilled the law, why is He upholding it here?

– Lee, Taiwan

DR. GEORGY’S RESPONSE:

Jesus did not do away with the Law, but showed its true purpose and meaning. Above all, He did what the Law could not do; He is the Saviour through whom the righteous requirement of the Law was fulfilled (Rom. 8:3-4).

In instructing the leper to show himself to the priest, Jesus shows that His freedom over the Law is balanced by His commitment to the same Law (Lev. 14:2-32). When He says that He came to fulfill the Law, He was fulfilling the Old Testament by bringing to completion its partial revelation, bringing to pass its messianic prophecies, and in giving the true interpretation of the Law’s moral precepts.