In the Old Testament (OT), the Hebrew term which is usually translated “law” in our Bibles is toráh (Strongs h8451). It occurs 220 times. Torah is instructive teaching with a wide range of meaning. The BC Jewish translators of the OT into Greek (now become the Septúagint/LXX) translated torah as nómos (g3551), which means ‘law’. Nomos occurs 240 times in the LXX, and 200 times in the New Testament (NT) where it usually refers to a body of law or the first five books (Péntateuch) of the OT.
God’s OT written word includes: laws, the Lord’s Testimony (edúth h5715) Decalogue on Mt Sinai, commandments (mitzváh h4687), judgments/legal decisions (mishpát h4941), ceremonial statutes or ordinances & civil decrees (choq h2706 & chuqqáh h2708). Ne.9:13 the Lord God “Came down on Mt Sinai and spoke to them from heaven; and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments”. In De.4:8, “this whole law” includes all the above. However, by NT times most of God’s precepts were generally called commandments (entoláy g1785, Greek).
According to Jewish rabbinic tradition, there are 613 laws or commandments in the Pentateuch. Of these, 248 are positive ‘do’s’ and 365 are negative ‘don’ts’. Rámbam (1138-1204 AD) listed 613. That number is disputed. Wikipedia: 613 Commandments “Some rabbis declared…that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. A number of authorities denied that it was normative.”
Theologians have divided God’s laws into three broad categories: moral, civil or judicial, ceremonial. There’s some overlap. Did Jesus disobey any of the Lord’s written injunctions, His requirements?
God’s foundational moral code was the Testimony of Ex.20 & De.5, the ‘10 Commandments’ so-called. Actually, the expression ‘10 Commandments/10 Mitzvót’ (h4687) never occurs in the Hebrew Masoretic text! The Decalogue was the ‘10 Words’ (dabár h1697) or ’10 Sayings’. ref De.4:13.
From the Decalogue the Lord gave to Israel…Jesus affirmed in Mt.19:18-19 that you shouldn’t commit murder or adultery, you shouldn’t steal or bear false witness; and honor your father & mother.
Jesus honored His heavenly Father. Jn.8:29 “I do always those things which please Him.” Lk.2:49-51 Jesus said He must be about His heavenly Father’s house/affairs/business. Yet Jesus continued to be in subjection to Mary & Joseph, His earthly parents. Jn.19:26-27 while hanging on the cross, Jesus entrusted the care of Mary to His cousin the apostle John.
Jesus didn’t commit murder or adultery. Jesus didn’t steal. Lk.19:30-35 Jesus needed a colt. Without objecting, the colt’s owners let two of Jesus’ disciples take the colt. It wasn’t a criminal act.
Jesus didn’t lie. Jn.7:8-10 although Jesus delayed leaving for the Feast right then with them, He did go to it. Gill Exposition Jn.7:10 “The Ethiopic version reads, ‘He went up that day’; which is very likely, Jn.7:14 though He didn’t go to the temple to teach till the middle of the feast.” He is the truth, Jn.14:6.
Neither did Jesus wrongly covet/desire. Ex.20:17 “You shall not covet.” Jn.6:15 Jesus even withdrew from the multitude who wanted to make Him a temporal King Messiah then.
It doesn’t appear that Jesus disobeyed any of God’s Testimony, the 10 Words, the 10 Commandments!
Some may think that Jesus neglected to perform all the applicable ceremonial or sacrificial aspects of God’s written word given to Moses/Israel. Most Christians aren’t knowledgeable about details of ancient Israel’s ritualistic practices, though we do see references & glimpses of them in the NT.
Jesus Christ wasn’t remiss in ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law. Christ Himself, as the Word of God (Jn.1:1, 14) and Rock of Israel (De.32:18 & 1Co.10:4), had sanctioned it for Israel! (see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.) There’s no scriptural evidence which indicates that Jesus sinned or violated this aspect of His written Law or torah.
What is sin? Scriptural ‘definitions’ of sin: Ro.14:23 “Whatever is not of faith is sin [hamartía g266].” Ja.4:17 “The person who knows the right thing to do, and does it not, to him it is sin.” 1Jn.5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin.” And 1Jn.3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the Law [or lawlessness].” That’s four NT descriptions of sin. Also Pr.24:9 “The thought of foolishness is sin [chattáh h2403].”
Did Jesus the Christ commit any sins? The Jewish NT writers said Jesus didn’t sin in any manner! The apostle Peter wrote in 1Pe.2:22, “Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”. John wrote in 1Jn.3:5, “In Him is no sin”. He.4:15 “Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” That’s the assertion coming down to us from three Jewish Christian writers! Jesus didn’t transgress the Lord’s written Law/torah.
And well Jesus should have obeyed written torah. Mary/Miriám, the young woman who bore Him, was a Jewess from the Israelite tribe of Judah. He.7:14 “It is evident that our Lord [Jesus] sprang from Judah.” In Jn.4:22, Jesus Himself indicated He was a Jew. “We worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.” God’s written laws were for Israelites, including the Jewish Mary and Jesus.
Jesus/Yeshúa must obey the laws for male non-Levites, that is. Laws which applied only to females, or to the service of Levites and priests, didn’t apply to Jesus. Jesus wasn’t a priest from the tribe of Levi.
Let’s examine the gospel narratives in some detail, and in so doing compare Jesus’ words & actions with other laws of God which were given to Moses/Israel. The following is from the scriptural record:
Beginning with the family of the infant Jesus before His human birth, His Uncle Zacharias and Aunt Elizabeth were blameless (Lk.1:5-6). Mary was favored by God, and she believed the amazing words of the angel Gabriel spoken to her about her Son (Lk.1:30-38)! Her husband Joseph, Jesus’ Jewish legal father, was a just man (Mt.1:18-19). These relatives weren’t habitual breakers of written torah.
After Jesus was born, Joseph & Mary had Him physically circumcised on the 8th day (Lk.2:21). This was in obedience to the command given to Moses in Le.12:3 for Israelite male newborns. “On the 8th day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”
Lk.2:22 after the male birth, Mary was away from the temple during her required days of purification, in obedience to Le.12:4. Then appearing at the temple, in Lk.2:23-24 they offered a required sacrifice to obey Le.12:8. “She shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Jesus the firstborn son was presented to the Lord (Lk.2:22) in accordance with Ex.13:2. “Sanctify to Me every firstborn among the sons of Israel.” Written torah was closely adhered to by them.
Then during Jesus’ childhood, Lk.2:41-42 “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover”. This in obedience to De.16:5-6. “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns; but at the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.” Later as an adult, Jesus’ disciples made preparation in Mk.14:12 to eat the sacrificial Passover with Him as commanded. “When the Passover was being sacrificed.” In Jerusalem, not in Galilee. Another ceremonial observance was reflected in Jn.7:2, 10-14 where Jesus was attending the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkót at Jerusalem. In obedience to De.16:16, “All your males shall appear” at the one singular place of the Lord’s choice.
Some Bible readers regard God’s dietary laws as a mixture of moral and ceremonial directives. It’s not loving one’s neighbor to feed them unclean parasitic or carcinogenic creatures. (see the topic “Unclean versus Clean Food”.) Jesus said in His parable of Mt.13:47-48 that they gathered-in the good fish but cast away the bad fish. Pulpit Commentary Mt.13:48 “This included the legally unclean.” Obeying the Lord’s guidelines of Le.11:9-10 which defined clean & unclean, “All [sea creatures] that have fins and scales you may eat”.
In Mt.17:24-27, Jesus paid the poll/temple tax for Peter (and Himself). Ex.30:13-14 had required this tax. And in Mt.23:23, Jesus told Jewish Pharisees they should pay tithes stipulated by written torah, even on their garden crops…tithes holy to God (Le.27:30).
What about sacrifices? Some OT sacrifices were voluntary options, others were commanded. In Mk.7:11-13, Jesus reprimanded scribes & Pharisees for their having chosen to do voluntary sacrifice (korbán, Hebrew, e.g. Le.1:2) to God, instead of responsibly honoring their aging parents (Ex.20:12). Individual burnt offerings were voluntary (Le.1). Many grain offerings were voluntary (Le.2). Many peace offerings were voluntary (Le.3). Three types of peace offerings are identified in Le.7:11-ff; thank, votive, freewill. (also see “Passover and Peace Offerings”.)
As to whether or not Jesus brought such individual offerings…is a non-issue. Because…those offerings were voluntary, not commanded. (That is, unless some incidental matter such as a Nazarite vow was involved, of which there’s no NT account of Jesus ever taking such a vow.)
The individual sacrifices of Le.4-6 for sin & guilt weren’t voluntary or optional in the sense other types were. These were offered by the offending Israelite for atonement and forgiveness, e.g. Le.6:1-7! (see “Day of Atonement”.) Although sin & guilt offerings were expiatory for forgiveness, they too were a personal non-issue for the person who hadn’t sinned. And the NT writers said Jesus never sinned.
In Nu.15:37-39, the Lord commanded Israelite men to wear fringe or tassels (g2899 LXX) on their garment hem. (ref De.22:12, Zec.8:23.) This was to help them remember His commandments/mitzvot. Mt.23:5 scribes & Pharisees pridefully lengthened their tassels (g2899), perhaps to show their supposed ‘rank’. In Mt.9:20-22, a woman diseased with an issue of blood touched the tassels (g2899) on Jesus’ garment. Jesus didn’t disobey this ceremonial tassels requirement. And He healed the woman. (cf. Lk.8:44, Mt.14:36, Mk.6:56.)
If Jesus had close physical contact with someone He healed from an issue of blood, then perhaps He became ritually unclean…until He washed at evening (Le.15:25-27). But such ritual uncleanness wasn’t sin. Becoming ritually unclean could even be mandatory! A man must properly attend to his father’s dead body, for example. Even priests did so (Le.21:1-3). A corpse is unclean (Nu.19:11). Attending to a close relative’s corpse reflects compassion and honor for the deceased…which isn’t sin.
In Mk.1:40-44, Jesus healed a leper and told the healed leper to “Go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded”. This was to obey that which God had instructed Moses in Le.13:1-2, 17. “If the infection has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean”.
Leprosy was infectious and lepers were to be quarantined (ref Le.13:44-46, 5:3). The priest was a type of ‘health inspector’. However, I know of no written torah which clearly forbad touching a leper. Again, it wasn’t always a violation to touch an unclean person. Doing so could just make you unclean until you went through the proper ceremonial procedure and the required time elapsed.
In the OT, only two individuals are named who were healed of leprosy…Miriam the Israelitess (Nu.12:10-15) and the gentile Naamán, general of the opposing Syrian army (2Ki.5:1-14). But not one Israelite man! (Moses’ brief ordeal was a sign, Ex.4:5-7.) Bible historians say 1st century Jews therefore came to believe that only the Messiah could heal an Israelite man from leprosy. Jesus did so!
Also 1st century Jews believed only the Messiah could heal a man blind from birth. In Jn.9:1-7 there was a man blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples thought the man was born blind because he’d sinned in a prior life, or else his parents had sinned. But Jesus said this blindness was so the works of God would be displayed in him. Perhaps the man had blind faith…the Son of God healed him! Praise God!
But it is understood that Jesus didn’t observe all the Jews’ oral law traditions. And in Mk.7:7-9, Jesus castigated scribes & Pharisees for favoring the traditions of men above the written commands of God!
Returning to the account of the man born blind…out of love and compassion, Jesus gave him sight, applying clay & spittle. But after questioning the man who now could see, Pharisees said in Jn.9:13-16, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, because He doesn’t keep the Sabbath”. Because Jesus had “made” clay on the sabbath (v.6, 14), those Pharisees viewed His act as a breach of rabbinic sabbath laws. T. Hieros Sabbat 14.4 “It is forbidden to put fasting spittle even on the eyelid on a sabbath day.”
Historians say the Jews had 39 categories of burdensome man-made sabbath laws (with even further detail)! But those were merely the commandments of men. Jesus’ action didn’t violate the written law of God. And even the famous 1st century rabbinic schools of Hillél and Shammái differed over points of traditional observance. (Ti.1:14 Paul too warned about Jewish “commandments of men”.)
Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus asked those who would accuse Him in Mk.3:1-5, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.” They failed to give Jesus a good answer. Matthew Henry Commentary Jn.9:16 “On the sabbath…works of necessity and mercy are allowed.”
Jesus customarily went to synagogue on the sabbath day. Le.23:3 “On the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.” Jesus obeyed God’s Decalogue sabbath command. And of Jesus’ commitment in Lk.4:16, “As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read”. Jesus regularly attended synagogue on the 7th day sabbath.
It’s not that all traditional observances are wrong. Most every culture has some good traditions. In Jn.10:22-23 e.g., Jesus is seen in Jerusalem at the temple during the man-made festival of Hánukkah. This “Feast of Dedication” or ‘Festival of Lights’ was ordained by the Jews in the 160s BC to commemorate the re-dedication of the temple. Hanukkah is a tradition which doesn’t contradict God’s written word. So Jesus the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12) was at the ‘Festival of Lights’.
To conclude…I find nothing in the Bible that clearly indicates Jesus ever sinned by violating God’s written word or torah/Law. And Jesus Himself said in Jn.15:10, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love”.
Previously I quoted Jewish NT writers who said Jesus never sinned. Also Paul wrote in 2Co.5:21 that God…“Made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us”. Jesus knew no sin. So Christ became that which He did not know…sin! He became a sin offering. Jesus became sin and the offering for sin…both. For our sake. In the OT type, the substitute animal sacrifice was regarded as sin-bearing.
OT sacrifices have ended (He.10:5). They, and ceremonial rituals of the Mosaic law, are unnecessary for Christians! Without a physical temple, it’s no longer possible to perform most rituals correctly.
The Bible indicates Jesus didn’t break any of God’s written laws! Jesus affirmed them. Jesus didn’t disobey God’s written torah or Father God. The fact that Jesus never sinned is crucial to our salvation! If Jesus had transgressed God’s law and sinned, we’d have no Savior. But we have a legitimate Savior! The sinless Christ died for the sins of the Israelites, and for the sins of all mankind. Thanks be to God for His Son!
Bible Topic Exposition 