Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.
He had to declare his purpose plainly: not to destroy the Old Testament's authority, which some might charge he meant to do by teaching against the Pharisees, but to complete and accomplish it. The sacrifices were shadows of His coming; the prophecies foretold His death. All were fulfilled when He offered Himself.
AI summary
Those Jews who loved the Old Testament feared Christ came to destroy it; the libertines hoped He came to free them from it. Both were wrong. Christ keeps the Law and Prophets on the throne as the rule of faith and practice. He cancels nothing that was forbidden by nature or the moral law, and forbids nothing that was permitted by either.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:17-20
He brought no new way of righteousness, but fulfilled what the law's figures shadowed forth, delivering men through grace from its curse. He taught the law's true use and engraved obedience in the heart. The prophecies are accomplished.
AI summary