Stoking the fire : Jesus’ provocation of the Mosaic Law and its revelation of its true meaning

Abstract

Theology, at its core, is a discipline that wrestles with change: shifting cultural landscapes, evolving hermeneutical methods, and the perennial demand to interpret God's Word afresh. Nowhere is this task more vividly displayed than in the ministry of Jesus, who both unsettled and fulfìlled the religious tradition of Israel. His words about the Torah-at once reverent and confrontational - continue to provoke theological inquiry. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfìl" (Matt 5: 17) encapsulates a paradox at the heart of Christian reflection: the Law is neither discarded nor simply preserved, but transfìgured in the light of Christ. Jesus' apparent provocation of the Mosaic Law was in fact a revelatory act, one that exposes the Law's inner telos and confronts its misuses. By "stoking the fìre" of the Law rather than extinguishing it, Jesus discloses a theological horizon that remains urgent far our present moment: how divine revelation disrupts, clarifìes, and ultimately fulfìls human understanding of God's commands. [excerpt]