Smoodock's Blog

What did Jesus mean, when he said: “until heaven and earth passed away” (Matthew 5:18). Some folks, today, believe this refers to the “end of time” and the destruction of creation as we know it, sparking a creation of “new heavens and a new earth” which Peter mentioned in his second epistle (2Peter 3:12). However, this isn’t what Jesus referred to, nor is it what Peter meant. When we try to understand God’s word by applying our own understanding of good and evil to it, we will miss God’s meaning 100 % of the time. If we wish to know what Jesus means in Matthew 5:18, we must let the word of God interpret that meaning for us. We don’t get to say what is good and what is evil (Genesis 3:1-6), only God gets to say that (Genesis 2:17).

So, what was Jesus referring to, when he mentioned the passing of heaven and earth? He was speaking of the judgment of God. The heavens and earth pass after the judgment of God. Notice what Peter says in his second epistle. Referring the judgment of God in the Noahic Flood (2Peter 3:5-6) he spoke of old heavens and an old earth. Yet, when they “passed away” with the Flood, it wasn’t the end of time. Was it?

Notice that Peter then speaks of the heavens and earth that existed in the first century AD (2Peter 3:7). From the time of the end of the judgment in Noah’s day, those newer heavens and newer earth were reserved until the second judgment, which would pass away in the Day of the Lord with a great noise and they would be burned up (2Peter 3:10). Afterward, new heavens and a new earth would be established wherein dwelt righteousness (2Peter 3:13). Nevertheless, if the judgment of the Flood didn’t mean the end of time, would the judgment of God against the “heavens and earth” of the first century AD be the end of time? Why would it? Where is the context of such a thing as “the end of time?” Daniel tells us, once the Kingdom of God was set up, it would stand forever and never be destroyed (Daniel 2:44-45). If God never mentions “the end of time,” how can such a concept be true, simply because man believes it is true? God judged the Jewish nation in AD 70 in an all-encompassing judgment (cp. Matthew 23:34-36), after which God would deal with mankind, not through the nation of the Jews, but through the disciples of Jesus—the Kingdom of God, and this would last forever.

However, Jesus warned, that although the debt was paid to God, vis-à-vis Jesus’ death and resurrection paid what was required for men to be brought back into the Presence of God, this didn’t destroy the Jews’ obligation to obey the Law, which was the law of the land, vis-à-vis what protected the land from anarchy. In other words, satisfying man’s debt to God does not end in anarchy, as far as his obligation to man is concerned. No one is released from that obligation until the end of the nation. The phrase: “Till heaven and earth pass” is a phrase that means until the Temple, where heaven (God’s Presence) met the earth, is demolished, vis-à-vis in judgment (AD 70), the Jews were obligated to obey the Law of Moses.

Therefore, if any of Jesus’ disciples concluded that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, released believing Jews from the obligation of obeying the Law of Moses, they would be considered least important in the Kingdom of Heaven (Presence of God), because living in anarchy does not honor God. The Lord has sanctioned men of authority to govern mankind through law. On the other hand, if Jesus’ disciples taught obedience to the Law, even though man’s obligation to God had been fulfilled, they would be considered of greatest importance in the Presence of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:19).

Why was this important? It is because the religion of the scribes and Pharisees was all about technicalities: what obligated a man to obey, and what technically released him from his obligation to obey (cp. Matthew 23:16-22), making the Law of no effect upon the lives of some (Matthew 15:3; Mark 7:8-9, 13). Therefore, a disciple of Jesus’ must have more integrity than the Jewish authorities of that day, if he wished to enter the Presence of God (Kingdom of Heaven; Matthew 5:20).