Page:My Religion.djvu/72

 but he says, briefly, “the law.” Moreover, according to Luke, Jesus made use of the same phraseology, and the context renders the meaning inevitable. According to Luke, Jesus said to the Pharisees, who assumed the justice of their written law:—

“''Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.''” (Luke xvi. 15-17.)

In the words, “The law and the prophets were until John,” Jesus abrogated the written law; in the words, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail,” Jesus confirmed the law eternal. In the first passage cited he said, “the law and the prophets,” that is, the written law; in the second he said “the law” simply, therefore the law eternal. It is clear, then, that the eternal law is opposed to the written law, exactly as in the context of Matthew where the eternal law is defined by the phrase, “the law or the prophets.”