Matthew 5:17-19

[Beet]

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, 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. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

What laws are being referred to here? Certainly not Mosaic law, which was handed down only to the Jews?

[anvi]

Jesus is reported to say in verse 20 that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees and the "teachers of the law," they will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.  His series of admonitions that follow this begin by quoting the Mosaic law (you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not forsake your oath, act.) and then saying that his listeners are not even to entertain the intention that might tempt them to break these laws in the first place.  By stifling the intention to break the law, one will fulfill the law.  He was talking about the Mosaic law in this passage, and that quite overtly.

[Beet]

Jesus is reported to say in verse 20 that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the pharisees and the "teachers of the law," they will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.  His series of admonitions that follow this begin by quoting the Mosaic law (you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not forsake your oath, act.) and then saying that his listeners are not even to entertain the intention that might tempt them to break these laws in the first place.  By stifling the intention to break the law, one will fulfill the law.  He was talking about the Mosaic law in this passage, and that quite overtly.

Then why don't Christian churches require circumcision?

[anvi]

Historical reasons.  As Christianity became more and more of a non-Jewish movement, obligations of the Torah were not expected of new members.  This is documented partly in Acts and Paul's letters and further by the first several centuries of Christian history.  That doesn't mean that Jesus in the passage cited in Matthew was not talking about obligations of Mosaic Law, again, as a historical matter.  Of course, if one assumes that Jesus is speaking in Biblical passages to the next twenty-one centuries of Christians and not to the audience portrayed in specific passages, then maybe the answer is different, but that leads to other kinds of difficulties too.

[Beet]

Historical reasons.  As Christianity became more and more of a non-Jewish movement, obligations of the Torah were not expected of new members.  This is documented partly in Acts and Paul's letters and further by the first several centuries of Christian history.

I knew that, but it still does not answer the question. In Paul vs. Jesus, Jesus wins, no? The smallest letter of Mosaic law includes sacrificing lambs at the temple and whatnot. My belief was always that Mosaic law was obviously handed down the Jews. The Amorites were never required to obey it. But still, that leaves the awkward position that Jesus meant that Jews must obey Mosaic law, but Christians don't.

[anvi]

I've always had the impression that Jesus, as a historical matter, didn't have many non-Jewish followers during his lifetime.  And the moniker "Christian." as we learn from Acts, didn't come into being until after Jesus' resurrection. 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Basically Jewish law (as many systems of religious law) can be divided into two categories: ethical and ritual.  The NT is rife with examples of where when the two were in apparent or actual conflict, Jesus consistently points out the primacy of the ethical law. He treats the ritual law as having been established so as to help man meet the requirements of the ethical law.

Consider Matthew 5:31-32
₃₁ “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ ₃₂ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

This is a direct contradiction of the Mosaic ritual law of divorce, yet consider what the ritual law did here. It recognized the reality that not all men would be able to stay faithful to their wives, and thus established a mechanism that when that did happen, at least the additional sin of failing to care financially for the woman you had promised to make a part of you would not be incurred.  Thus the Mosaic divorce law can be seen as case of God guiding man in the direction of committing a lesser sin when one's actions would lead to commission of some sort of sin.

[Beet]

Fascinating, Ernest. It still seems strange when placed alongside Matthew 5:17-19.