Matthew 5:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Jesus did not have an attitude of disrespect toward the Law, but rather, He honored it. He knew the law was divine because He was divine Himself. So, He tells the people, in language that was clear and unambiguous, that He did not come to destroy the law or the prophets. We must be sure to understand this correctly. The word “destroy” means “to ruin, render useless, or to put out of existence.” It carries the idea of complete annihilation. Jesus did not come to do that. However, He did come to abolish the Old Law. To abolish means to take something out of the way and cause it to cease. According to Paul, that is exactly what Jesus did.

Ephesians 2:14-15 (ESV)
¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

How and when did Jesus do this? Paul said He broke down the dividing wall of hostility (the Law) in his flesh. So, He did this by first living a sinless life (1 Peter 2:22), and then by dying on the cross, condemning sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). What about Matthew 5:18? Jesus said that the Law would not pass until all was accomplished. That is true, and all was accomplished when He died on the cross. He certainly fulfilled the prophets. Someone did the math and said that Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Not only did Jesus fulfill the prophets, He also fulfilled the Law by paying the price for transgressions (Galatians 3:10-13). Jesus made it possible for God to justify those who sinned under the Old Law (Romans 3:25, 26; Hebrews 9:15; 10:1-4). No wonder Paul said that Jesus was the end of the Law (Romans 10:4).

There are those who teach that we are still under the Law of Moses today. They try hard to justify things that they do by the Old Testament scriptures, attempting to combine the Old Law with the New covenant of Christ. Such an attempt is really not new; there were people trying to do that in the first century too (Galatians 1:6-9; 2 Corinthians 2:17). The truth is, Jesus took the Law out of the way, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). We are now under the Law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21), and it is a law that is far superior than the previous one because the benefits of the blood of Christ are found in it. The Old Law only had the blood of animals (Hebrews 10:1-4), but today we have the blood of the Son of God that can secure for us eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).

No, Jesus did not destroy the Law or the prophets, but He did abolish and fulfill them , ushering in a better covenant with a far greater hope (Hebrews 7:22; 8:6).

As you wind down for the night, think on these things.