I am a Jesus Pusher! “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). Jesus is the completion of the Scriptures, and it is a reality as the heart of the statement in our verse (Matthew 5:17). He begins His statement with a focus on “thinking.” However, the meaning is not a casual thought or a passing consideration but is a translation of the Greek word “nomizo.” This Greek term comes from the Greek word “nomos,” meaning “law.” In fact, “Law” in our verse translates the Greek word “nomos.” “Law” in our verse. Therefore, “do not think” means “to suppose, assume, to regard or acknowledge as custom, to have and hold as customary or as a law.”
In other words, Jesus is concerned as to how we view Him as the Messiah, which was a valid concern. The difficulty He repeatedly faced with His disciples flowed from their misunderstanding of what He came to achieve. They saw Him as a military Messiah; He was “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). They saw Him as a temporal Messiah ruling an earthly Kingdom (Acts 1:16). This viewpoint was the basis for their rebuke regarding His predictions about His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:22), not a momentary thought but was the customary perspective of their lives. They took the Scriptures and adjusted them to develop their view. Jesus did not come to demolish the Scriptures. However, in filling out the Scriptures, they would gain a new perspective and approach to the Kingdom of Heaven. He wants to do the same for us. Will we listen to Him through the Scriptures? I am a Jesus Pusher!