I am a Jesus Pusher! We interpret “fulfill” in light of “the Prophets.” The Scriptures contain “the Law and the Prophets.” The idea of “fulfill” suggesting “to fill out” as in complementing or adding is inadmissible considering the “Prophets.” Jesus did not come to fill out or expound their predictions about the Messiah. Indeed, He did not add to the number of prophetic utterances. Jesus fulfilled all that the prophets proposed. The prophets spoke of verbal and predictive prophecies, and symbolic prophecies established symbols, feast days, and ceremonies. Hundreds of prophecies are in both categories, and Jesus fulfills everyone. Someone calculated the odds connected to one man fulfilling all three hundred and thirty-two verbal predictive prophecies. One chance out of eighty-four with one hundred zeros behind it is the odds! Many of them were detailed and not understood by the prophet. Jesus did not partially fulfill, nor did He complete most of them. Jesus finished and fulfilled all these prophecies.
Whenever the word “fulfill” is used about anything prophetical, it is in the sense of “to fulfill.” In other words, we never use it with prophecy in the sense of complementing or adding to the prophecy. We discovered this in the Book of Matthew. In the first four chapters of his book, Matthew uses this word in almost every paragraph. He establishes the validity of Jesus as the Messiah who fulfills the prophetic requirements of the Scriptures. The Greek word “pleroo,” translated fulfill, is used consistently in all these passages and our text (Matthew 5:17). It describes a container full of content. Matthew tells story after story involving Jesus. He plainly says these events fill up the container of the prophecies spoken by the prophets. Consider what the Trinity God has done through Jesus for you! I am a Jesus Pusher!