Most Christians say Jesus “fulfilled the Law and the Prophets” in His first coming.

Is this true?

What they usually mean is this:

Jesus was sinless, became the atoning sacrifice, and we are now saved by grace rather than through the Law of Moses.

I agree with this. Absolutely. But…

…that only explains how He fulfilled one aspect of the Law. Interestingly, I have almost never heard anyone explain how He fulfilled the “Prophets”.

Jesus didn’t say He came to fulfill only the sacrificial system. He said:

“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.

— Matthew 5:17-18

Let’s be clear. 

Jesus fulfilling the part of the Law/Torah that required faith in the sacrifices of Torah to forgive sins is complete.

But it is typically overlooked that the prophets are speaking literally of future events that have yet to be fulfilled—events that stem from the Torah and Writings.

So, it’s far more biblical to say, as Peter did, 

“But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

— Acts 3:18-21

Yes, Jesus fulfilled atonement for sins so that all men can repent and receive eternal life, but we await the remainder of this fulfillment—“the restoration of all things,” which is the complete fulfillment of every stroke and letter of the Law/Torah and the Prophets. 

Peter emphatically declares: “This is what God spoke about by the mouth of His prophets from ancient time!”

We must therefore allow Jesus to do what He said. He does not expect us to say He fulfilled everything from the Law and Prophet’s in His first coming because He died on the Cross. If He did expect this, Peter’s sermon would’ve been radically different. 

He expects us to do as Peter did: honor His sacrifice on the Cross and encourage men to repent, and then pray that He will come again and fulfill everything else the Father said in the Law and Prophets. 

The good news is that He will not stop until every stroke and letter is fulfilled. -Stephen Holmes