Jesus’ Teaching on God’s Law

Perhaps the most widespread controversies about the teachings of Jesus concern His attitude toward the laws of God recorded in the Old Testament. The approach of most churches and denominations regarding Jesus is that He brought a new teaching differing considerably from the instructions of the Old Testament. The common view is that the teachings of Christ in the New Testament annulled and replaced the teachings of the Old Testament. But do they? The idea that Jesus departed from the Old Testament is also a common assumption within Judaism. Rabbis explains why Jews as a whole do not follow Jesus and reject any possibility that He could be the Messiah. “Jews believe in the Torah of Moses,” he explains, “… and that belief requires faithful Jews to enter a dissent at the teachings of Jesus, on the grounds that those teachings at important points contradict the Torah”. Here is a serious mistake both Christianity and Judaism make about the teachings of Jesus. Both hold the erroneous view that Jesus departed from the teachings of the Old Testament, especially with regard to law. As we will see, the record shows that while Jesus disagreed with the religious leaders, He didn’t disagree with Old Testament Scriptures.