"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. We are to follow the law until everything is accomplished. If we do not and tell others they don't have to we'll be least in the kingdom of heaven.
QUESTION: When is "everything accomplished" and what is "the Law and the Prophets"?
IMPACT: A couple days ago when reading Matthew 5:12 I commented that I didn't "have any desire for anything extra in heaven." Now I read about being the least in heaven and I don't exactly want that either.
The statement "least in the kingdom of heaven" gives me an image of going to family dinner and knowing they all love me and accept me because I am part of them but I also feeling clearly that they aren't happy with how I'm acting. So I'm there and they love me, but they don't necessarily like me.
That would be an awful feeling. I wouldn't want to experience it here and I certainly wouldn't want to feel that with my heavenly Father or my brother Christ Jesus.
It's a little hard for me to imagine anyone treated that way in heaven. My image of the triune God is one and all being so loving.
Tomorrow I'll change gears from what pops into my mind and back to doing a little research.
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