Jesus is the Law of Moses? Did The Chosen get this right?

[Joseph G]

From saltybeliever.com

Jesus Is the Law of Moses? Did The Chosen Get This Right? — Salty Believer

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen ? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it.

www.saltybeliever.com

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it... "I am the Law of Moses," says Jesus.

It's dramatic, but is it biblically accurate? Is Jesus the Law of Moses?

Of all the "I am" statements in the Bible, does Jesus ever say, "I am the Law"? No. He says all the Law and Prophets speak of him. He obeyed the Law perfectly in our place to redeem us. He fulfilled the Law completely. He faced the wrath promised in the Law. But he did not ever claim he was the Law.

Given that Jesus said, "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven," we should think he wanted the Pharisees to follow the Law of Moses. If they weren't following it, they were disobedient. Jesus regularly called the Pharisees out for not following the Law of Moses. When asked about the Law, Jesus summarized it by saying it's loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves" (Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34). Any moment we don't do this is a moment we're in sin, not following the Law. So while not as dramatic, maybe Jesus should have replied, "Yup, that's what I have been wanting all along."

But this still leaves us with the question, is Jesus' line in The Chosen, "I am the Law of Moses," theologically correct?

Hebrews 10:1-4 teaches the Law is but a shadow of the good things to come, falling short of saving us from sin or perfecting worshipers. The Law cannot and does not save us, but instead exposes our sin and our need for a Savior (see Romans 7). Romans 8:4 tells us God did what the Law could not do. If Jesus is the Law, then how did Jesus 'as the Law' fail? What could he not do? He didn't fail, and these verses juxtapose the Law and Jesus.

Romans 8:2 says Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (talking about the Law of Moses.) If Jesus is the Law, like The Chosen trailer suggests, then this would be saying Jesus sets us free from Jesus. That is NOT what Romans 8:1-4 is teaching. Instead, we learn that Law condemns sin in the flesh, which demands our death. Yet, where we were sentenced under the Law because we fell short of the Law's requirement, God sent Jesus to live the Law perfectly and then be
condemned under the Law in our place. In taking the full punishment of the Law, Jesus fulfilled the Law. (See also Romans 5.) Biblically speaking, it just doesn't line up to say Jesus is the Law.

Now, the Bible does say Jesus is the Word, the revelation of the living God to his creation (John 1:1), but that is by no means the same as suggesting Jesus is the Law. Jesus is not the Law. There is a clear contrast between the Old and the New Covenants. There is a compelling difference between the Law that "came along to multiply the trespass" and the grace reigning "through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:20-21).

Maybe The Chosen line is Hollywood flair, designed to entertain by eliciting emotion. Perhaps it's intended to keep Jesus' character from looking weak (which would also be biblically problematic). Or maybe the line is a direct quote from the Book of Mormon that says, "Behold, I am the law, and the light" (3 Nephi 15:9a).

No matter the case, this theological confusion is no small thing.

This claim is not a matter of acceptable artistic license, like which side of the boat Peter walked off or how clean their clothing might have been. Confusing Jesus' relationship to the Law of Moses will also cause confusion about justification, substitutionary atonement, grace, salvation, and who the biblical Jesus claims he is. It's a big question. It's a serious theological matter and one worth getting right.

* Copyright image used under the fair use provision for criticism and critique.

 

[Soyeong]

From saltybeliever.com

Jesus Is the Law of Moses? Did The Chosen Get This Right? — Salty Believer

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen ? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it.

www.saltybeliever.com

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it... "I am the Law of Moses," says Jesus.

It's dramatic, but is it biblically accurate? Is Jesus the Law of Moses?

Of all the "I am" statements in the Bible, does Jesus ever say, "I am the Law"? No. He says all the Law and Prophets speak of him. He obeyed the Law perfectly in our place to redeem us. He fulfilled the Law completely. He faced the wrath promised in the Law. But he did not ever claim he was the Law.

Given that Jesus said, "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven," we should think he wanted the Pharisees to follow the Law of Moses. If they weren't following it, they were disobedient. Jesus regularly called the Pharisees out for not following the Law of Moses. When asked about the Law, Jesus summarized it by saying it's loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves" (Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34). Any moment we don't do this is a moment we're in sin, not following the Law. So while not as dramatic, maybe Jesus should have replied, "Yup, that's what I have been wanting all along."

But this still leaves us with the question, is Jesus' line in The Chosen, "I am the Law of Moses," theologically correct?

Hebrews 10:1-4 teaches the Law is but a shadow of the good things to come, falling short of saving us from sin or perfecting worshipers. The Law cannot and does not save us, but instead exposes our sin and our need for a Savior (see Romans 7). Romans 8:4 tells us God did what the Law could not do. If Jesus is the Law, then how did Jesus 'as the Law' fail? What could he not do? He didn't fail, and these verses juxtapose the Law and Jesus.

Romans 8:2 says Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (talking about the Law of Moses.) If Jesus is the Law, like The Chosen trailer suggests, then this would be saying Jesus sets us free from Jesus. That is NOT what Romans 8:1-4 is teaching. Instead, we learn that Law condemns sin in the flesh, which demands our death. Yet, where we were sentenced under the Law because we fell short of the Law's requirement, God sent Jesus to live the Law perfectly and then be
condemned under the Law in our place. In taking the full punishment of the Law, Jesus fulfilled the Law. (See also Romans 5.) Biblically speaking, it just doesn't line up to say Jesus is the Law.

Now, the Bible does say Jesus is the Word, the revelation of the living God to his creation (John 1:1), but that is by no means the same as suggesting Jesus is the Law. Jesus is not the Law. There is a clear contrast between the Old and the New Covenants. There is a compelling difference between the Law that "came along to multiply the trespass" and the grace reigning "through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:20-21).

Maybe The Chosen line is Hollywood flair, designed to entertain by eliciting emotion. Perhaps it's intended to keep Jesus' character from looking weak (which would also be biblically problematic). Or maybe the line is a direct quote from the Book of Mormon that says, "Behold, I am the law, and the light" (3 Nephi 15:9a).

No matter the case, this theological confusion is no small thing.

This claim is not a matter of acceptable artistic license, like which side of the boat Peter walked off or how clean their clothing might have been. Confusing Jesus' relationship to the Law of Moses will also cause confusion about justification, substitutionary atonement, grace, salvation, and who the biblical Jesus claims he is. It's a big question. It's a serious theological matter and one worth getting right.

* Copyright image used under the fair use provision for criticism and critique.

Jesus is God's word made flesh and the Mosaic Law is God's word (Deuteronomy 5:31-33), so it would be more accurate for him to say that he is embodiment of the Mosaic Law or that he embodied it by living in sinless obedience it. The Mosaic Law is God's way (Psalms 119:1-3), the truth (Psalms 119:142), and the life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47), and the way to see and know the Father (Exodus 33:13), and Jesus is the embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life, and the way to see and know the Father (John 14:6-7). This is also why everything in the Mosaic Law foreshadows or testifies about Jesus. In Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he knew knew them, so the goal of the Mosaic Law is to know God and Jesus, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which is also why he said that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying its commandments (Luke 10:25-28, Matthew 19:17).

In Romans 7:21-8:2, Paul said that he delighted in obeying the Law of God and served it with his mind, but contrasted that with the law of sin, which was working within him to cause him not to do the good that he wanted to do, which held him captive, and which he served with his flesh, and he also contrasted the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ with the Law of sin and death, so he equated the Law of God with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, after all the Spirit and Christ are God. The Bible refers to the Law of Moses as being the Law of God in verses like Nehemiah 8:1-8, Ezra 7:6-12, and Luke 2:22-23, after all the Law of Moses was given by God. In Romans 8:3-7, those who walk in the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of God. The Law of Moses as weakened by our flesh insofar as our flesh hinders us from embodying it, so Jesus frees us from the law of sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses.

The Law of God is not sinful, but is how we know what sin is (Romans 7:7), and when our sin is revealed, then that leads us to repent and causes sin to decrease, however, the law of sin stirs up sinful passions in order to bear fruit unto death (Romans 7:5), so it is sinful and causes sin to increase. Paul delighted in obeying the Law of God, so verses that refer a law that is sinful, that causes sin to increase, that hinders us from obeying the Law of God, or that refer to doing something that would be absurd for Paul to delight in doing should be interpreted as referring to the law of sin rather than to the Law of God, such as Romans 5:20, Romans 6:14, Romans 7:5, Galatians 2:19, Galatians 5:16-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:56.

In Jeremiah 31:33, the New Covenant involves God putting the Mosaic Law in our minds and writing it on our hearts, and in Ezekiel 36:26-27,m it involves God taking away our heart of stone, giving us hearts of flesh, and sending His Spirit to lead us to obey the Mosaic Law.

To fulfill the Mosaic Law means "to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be" (NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo). So Jesus did not fulfill the law on our behalf so that we don't have to, but rather he fulfilled the Mosaic Law so that we should have an example to follow, which we are told to follow (1 Peter 2:21-22).

In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith.

 

[Diamond7]

does Jesus ever say, "I am the Law"? No.

Jesus said: He was here to fulfill the law. John 1:1-3 tells us that He is the "word of God". The law of God is good. We follow the law for our own benefit and well being. If we want to be right with God then Jesus made the sacrifice for us. The law is our teacher and Jesus said we are to follow His example. He lived His life as an example for us to follow.



In Matthew 5:17-18 (NIV), Jesus says:

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

 

[eleos1954]

From saltybeliever.com

Jesus Is the Law of Moses? Did The Chosen Get This Right? — Salty Believer

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen ? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it.

www.saltybeliever.com

Have you seen the season-three trailer for The Chosen? At the pinnacle moment of the trailer, when the building-music drops, a Pharisee threatens, "Jesus, if you do not renounce your words, we will have no choice but to follow the Law of Moses." Pause. Lean in. Wait for it... "I am the Law of Moses," says Jesus.

It's dramatic, but is it biblically accurate? Is Jesus the Law of Moses?

Of all the "I am" statements in the Bible, does Jesus ever say, "I am the Law"? No. He says all the Law and Prophets speak of him. He obeyed the Law perfectly in our place to redeem us. He fulfilled the Law completely. He faced the wrath promised in the Law. But he did not ever claim he was the Law.

Given that Jesus said, "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven," we should think he wanted the Pharisees to follow the Law of Moses. If they weren't following it, they were disobedient. Jesus regularly called the Pharisees out for not following the Law of Moses. When asked about the Law, Jesus summarized it by saying it's loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves" (Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34). Any moment we don't do this is a moment we're in sin, not following the Law. So while not as dramatic, maybe Jesus should have replied, "Yup, that's what I have been wanting all along."

But this still leaves us with the question, is Jesus' line in The Chosen, "I am the Law of Moses," theologically correct?

Hebrews 10:1-4 teaches the Law is but a shadow of the good things to come, falling short of saving us from sin or perfecting worshipers. The Law cannot and does not save us, but instead exposes our sin and our need for a Savior (see Romans 7). Romans 8:4 tells us God did what the Law could not do. If Jesus is the Law, then how did Jesus 'as the Law' fail? What could he not do? He didn't fail, and these verses juxtapose the Law and Jesus.

Romans 8:2 says Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (talking about the Law of Moses.) If Jesus is the Law, like The Chosen trailer suggests, then this would be saying Jesus sets us free from Jesus. That is NOT what Romans 8:1-4 is teaching. Instead, we learn that Law condemns sin in the flesh, which demands our death. Yet, where we were sentenced under the Law because we fell short of the Law's requirement, God sent Jesus to live the Law perfectly and then be
condemned under the Law in our place. In taking the full punishment of the Law, Jesus fulfilled the Law. (See also Romans 5.) Biblically speaking, it just doesn't line up to say Jesus is the Law.

Now, the Bible does say Jesus is the Word, the revelation of the living God to his creation (John 1:1), but that is by no means the same as suggesting Jesus is the Law. Jesus is not the Law. There is a clear contrast between the Old and the New Covenants. There is a compelling difference between the Law that "came along to multiply the trespass" and the grace reigning "through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:20-21).

Maybe The Chosen line is Hollywood flair, designed to entertain by eliciting emotion. Perhaps it's intended to keep Jesus' character from looking weak (which would also be biblically problematic). Or maybe the line is a direct quote from the Book of Mormon that says, "Behold, I am the law, and the light" (3 Nephi 15:9a).

No matter the case, this theological confusion is no small thing.

This claim is not a matter of acceptable artistic license, like which side of the boat Peter walked off or how clean their clothing might have been. Confusing Jesus' relationship to the Law of Moses will also cause confusion about justification, substitutionary atonement, grace, salvation, and who the biblical Jesus claims he is. It's a big question. It's a serious theological matter and one worth getting right.

* Copyright image used under the fair use provision for criticism and critique.

Best to study the Word for oneself and not rely on movies ... they do not contain the complete truth about everything.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

It's dramatic, but is it biblically accurate?

There is quite a bit in the movie that is not "biblically accurate". That is because the Gospels are summaries without a great deal of context. The Chosen provides context that while in detail may not be accurate, like exact words and statements, does give a sense of background. Some of it is purely speculative, like Matthew being autistic, Thomas being the caterer at the wedding in Cana ...ok, poetic license. All that makes it more entertaining and engaging. brings the words to life.

"I am the Law of Moses,"

This claim is not a matter of acceptable artistic license, like which side of the boat Peter walked off or how clean their clothing might have been. Confusing Jesus' relationship to the Law of Moses will also cause confusion about justification, substitutionary atonement, grace, salvation, and who the biblical Jesus claims he is. It's a big question. It's a serious theological matter and one worth getting right.

I am not sure it is such a big issue given the figurative language Jesus used. in the actual Gospels.

• I am the bread of life. 6:35, 48, 51.
• I am the light of the world. 8:12; 9:5.
• I am the door of the sheep. 10:7, 9.
• I am the good shepherd. 10:11, 14.
• I am the resurrection and the life. 11:25.
• I am the way, the truth, and the life. 14:6.
• I am the true vine.

 

[ralliann]

Jesus is God's word made flesh and the Mosaic Law is God's word (Deuteronomy 5:31-33), so it would be more accurate for him to say that he is embodiment of the Mosaic Law or that he embodied it by living in sinless obedience it. The Mosaic Law is God's way (Psalms 119:1-3), the truth (Psalms 119:142), and the life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47), and the way to see and know the Father (Exodus 33:13), and Jesus is the embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life, and the way to see and know the Father (John 14:6-7). This is also why everything in the Mosaic Law foreshadows or testifies about Jesus. In Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he knew knew them, so the goal of the Mosaic Law is to know God and Jesus, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which is also why he said that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying its commandments (Luke 10:25-28, Matthew 19:17).

In Romans 7:21-8:2, Paul said that he delighted in obeying the Law of God and served it with his mind, but contrasted that with the law of sin, which was working within him to cause him not to do the good that he wanted to do, which held him captive, and which he served with his flesh, and he also contrasted the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ with the Law of sin and death, so he equated the Law of God with the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, after all the Spirit and Christ are God. The Bible refers to the Law of Moses as being the Law of God in verses like Nehemiah 8:1-8, Ezra 7:6-12, and Luke 2:22-23, after all the Law of Moses was given by God. In Romans 8:3-7, those who walk in the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of God. The Law of Moses as weakened by our flesh insofar as our flesh hinders us from embodying it, so Jesus frees us from the law of sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses.

The Law of God is not sinful, but is how we know what sin is (Romans 7:7), and when our sin is revealed, then that leads us to repent and causes sin to decrease, however, the law of sin stirs up sinful passions in order to bear fruit unto death (Romans 7:5), so it is sinful and causes sin to increase. Paul delighted in obeying the Law of God, so verses that refer a law that is sinful, that causes sin to increase, that hinders us from obeying the Law of God, or that refer to doing something that would be absurd for Paul to delight in doing should be interpreted as referring to the law of sin rather than to the Law of God, such as Romans 5:20, Romans 6:14, Romans 7:5, Galatians 2:19, Galatians 5:16-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:56.

In Jeremiah 31:33, the New Covenant involves God putting the Mosaic Law in our minds and writing it on our hearts, and in Ezekiel 36:26-27,m it involves God taking away our heart of stone, giving us hearts of flesh, and sending His Spirit to lead us to obey the Mosaic Law.

To fulfill the Mosaic Law means "to cause God's will (as made known in the law) to be obeyed as it should be" (NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo). So Jesus did not fulfill the law on our behalf so that we don't have to, but rather he fulfilled the Mosaic Law so that we should have an example to follow, which we are told to follow (1 Peter 2:21-22).

In Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law, and he chose the way of faith by setting it before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith.

Paul however, speaks of the law as all 5 books of the law.
Also speaks of a law of works vs a law of faith. Moses law, often only refers to law distinctly from Sinai. But it also means the others Paul brings up. So I would think is whole law.
Paul clearly is speaking of law, before Sinai law.
Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
So there is a concept of law, and Whole law, or all the torah, if which is found in the writings of Moses.

 

[Soyeong]

Paul however, speaks of the law as all 5 books of the law.
Also speaks of a law of works vs a law of faith. Moses law, often only refers to law distinctly from Sinai. But it also means the others Paul brings up. So I would think is whole law.
Paul clearly is speaking of law, before Sinai law.
Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
So there is a concept of law, and Whole law, or all the torah, if which is found in the writings of Moses.

It is maligning God's character to think that He gave His law in order to lead His children into bondage rather than in order to free us from bondage. If God gave the law to the Israelites in order to put them into bondage, then it would be for bondage that God sets us free, however, Galatians 5:1 says that it is for freedom that God sets us free. In Psalms 119:142, God's law is truth, and in John 8:31-36, it is the transgression of God's law that puts us into bondage while it is the truth that sets us free. Moreover, God's law came through the line of the freewoman, not the line of the bondwoman, so that should incidence how we understand that passage.

 

[ralliann]

It is maligning God's character to think that He gave His law in order to lead His children into bondage rather than in order to free us from bondage.

Their sin led them into bandage, not God.

If God gave the law to the Israelites in order to put them into bondage, then it would be for bondage that God sets us free, however, Galatians 5:1 says that it is for freedom that God sets us free.

We all have sinned. Not one is righteous. He freed all from sin in Christ Jesus

In Psalms 119:142, God's law is truth, and in John 8:31-36, it is the transgression of God's law that puts us into bondage while it is the truth that sets us free. Moreover, God's law came through the line of the freewoman, not the line of the bondwoman, so that should incidence how we understand that passage.

Law Can mean the whole 5 books of Moses. The law of faith, law of works.... Moses law, God can see the heart. He knew Who works of the law of Moses according to faith or and who were not.

 

[Soyeong]

Their sin led them into bandage, not God.

We all have sinned. Not one is righteous. He freed all from sin in Christ Jesus

Law Can mean the whole 5 books of Moses. The law of faith, law of works.... Moses law, God can see the heart. He knew Who works of the law of Moses according to faith or and who were not.

Sin is the transgression of God's law, so the fact that sin leads us into bondage means that relying on God's law frees us from bondage, though Galatians 4:21-5:1 commonly misinterpreted as saying that God's law leads us to bondage. The Bible never uses the phrase "works of the law of Moses", so you are combining two different concepts. In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, so works of the law are of works while he said in Romans 3:31 that our faith upholds God's law, so it is the law of faith.