Matthew 5:17-20 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 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. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Romans 10:4 tells us that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. The Greek word translated as “end” is defined by Strong’s as “the conclusion of an act or state.” Jesus tells us in our verses today that He is the conclusion of the state of the law and the prophets. He did this, not by doing away with the law and the prophets, but by doing everything the law and the prophets required according to the teaching of the Spirit of God.
Jesus would do something that we can never do. The jot refers to the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and a tittle refers to the dot above the lowercase “i” and “j.” In other words, Jesus would not miss the smallest detail of law. The fulfilling of the righteous law of God would open the way for this kingdom of grace.
It might seem to us that Jesus was telling us in verse nineteen how to be called great in the kingdom. I think He was telling us that He alone would be called great. Which one of us honestly believes that he or she has kept every aspect of God’s holy law without ever missing anything? As we fail to keep the law to perfection, we either by word or deed teach men to do the same. Only Jesus has ever both done and taught the perfect law of God.
He furthers this thought by declaring that our righteousness would have to be greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees if we were going to enter the kingdom of heaven. The scribes were experts in reading, writing, and interpreting Scripture. The scribes were, in effect, lawyers, and the Pharisees were the strictest of all the Jews in keeping the law of Moses and the oral traditions of the Jews religion.
From the moment of His birth until His death on the cross, Jesus kept and satisfied the law of God and the prophecy concerning our Messiah. He alone would not overlook even the least concept of the will of God. Dear ones, if righteousness were dependent on the works of man, there would be no righteousness. Our ability to stand before God the Father was paid for by God the Son and revealed to us by God the Holy Spirit. Give Him all the glory!