What did Jesus mean when he said that he came to fulfill the law?

“Fulfill” is Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance word G4137 and is translated fill, be full, complete, end, accomplish. As it states in Matthew 5:18, not a jot or tittle of the Law could pass until all be fulfilled. What is the Law and how would Jesus be able to fulfill it? There seem to be two parts to God’s Law Covenant made with Israel – the moral regulations (10 Commandments, etc.) and the ceremonial features.

Our Lord, being born “under the Law” (Galatians 4:4) was required to keep the Law perfectly, which he did. When he came to Jordan at the age of 30, and for the next 3 ½ years, he went beyond the strict keeping of the Law, but became the “Lamb of God” shown in the first feature of the Law, the Passover. He was the “Lamb that was slain…” (Exodus 12:5, 21; John 1:29; Revelation 5:6, 12; 13:8). The Apostle Paul confirms that Jesus fulfilled the law by his death on the cross in Colossians 2:14, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”  The miracle of the temple veil ripping showed that the law was at an end.

God’s laws are perfect, and even though Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Law Covenant, the laws and principles are holy and true, and will last forever. Jesus taught in Matthew 5 that there is more than just keeping the 10 Commandments, and went on to establish the all-encompassing commandment in Matthew 22:34-40: “…Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” This is also brought out in Romans 13:10, that “Love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Soon, God will establish a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-33, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers …this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” As Moses led his people out of the bondage in Egypt, so the work of the Mediator of the New Covenant, Jesus and his bride, will be to lead all the people of the earth out of the bondage of sin and death. Then mankind will be able to keep both the letter and the spirit of this new covenant.