That’s weird because earlier in the same chapter it contradicts exactly what you said that he’s not changing any of the old testament laws except for I think animal sacrifices he talks about specifically elsewhere:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
The reason the Christian bible includes the old testament afaik is because when the new testament gospels were being written 70+ years after Jesus died they wanted to convert Jewish people so they wrote how Jesus fulfills prophecies made in the Hebrew bible.
I’ve always heard it explained that the “fulfillment of the law” doesn’t abolish them, it fulfills the obligation and renders it moot, paving the way for the new covenant with Jesus as the penultimate sacrifice.
Even if you could accept that interpretation of fulfillment that would mean the “heaven and the earth disappear” already happened, which I’m pretty sure isn’t the case.
That’s weird because earlier in the same chapter it contradicts exactly what you said that he’s not changing any of the old testament laws except for I think animal sacrifices he talks about specifically elsewhere:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
The reason the Christian bible includes the old testament afaik is because when the new testament gospels were being written 70+ years after Jesus died they wanted to convert Jewish people so they wrote how Jesus fulfills prophecies made in the Hebrew bible.
I’ve always heard it explained that the “fulfillment of the law” doesn’t abolish them, it fulfills the obligation and renders it moot, paving the way for the new covenant with Jesus as the penultimate sacrifice.
Even if you could accept that interpretation of fulfillment that would mean the “heaven and the earth disappear” already happened, which I’m pretty sure isn’t the case.