Matthew 5:18 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 5:18 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. The iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (equivalent to the Hebrew yod, the smallest letter); the dot is a small distinguishing mark on Hebrew letters. Not even the smallest element of the law will pass until all is accomplished. The until heaven and earth pass away and the until all is accomplished are both eschatological — Jesus is affirming the permanent validity of the law as a whole while indicating that its fulfillment is tied to the completion of the whole divine plan. Luke 16:17 makes the same point: it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fall.

Church Fathers on Matthew 5:18

Having now exhorted His hearers to undergo all things for righteousness' sake, and also not to hide what they should receive, but to learn more for others' sake, that they may teach others, He now goes on to tell them what they should teach, as though He had been asked, 'What is this which you would not have hid, and for which you would have all things endured? Are you about to speak any thing beyond what is written in the Law and the Prophets;' hence it is He says, 'Think…
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · ord.

And that for two reasons. First, that by these words He might admonish His disciples, that as He fulfilled the Law, so they should strive to fulfil it. Secondly, because the Jews would falsely accuse them as subverting the Law, therefore he answers the calumny beforehand, but in such a manner as that He should not be thought to come simply to preach the Law as the Prophets had done.
Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

He here asserts two things; He denies that He was come to subvert the Law, and affirms that He was come to fulfil it.
Remigius · 9th century

Read all 32 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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