The law had been observed by the Jews for hundreds of years, from the time of Moses. In fact, the Mosaic Law was still in effect at the time of Jesus' arrival. Some may not realize it because of the way the Bible is divided - Old & New Testaments. Since Jesus arrives and leaves in the New Testament, some may forget that it is partially governed by the Mosaic Law. The new covenant takes place after Jesus dies (Hebrews 9:16-17), just like any will someone leaves behind takes effect after they die.
Imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to come on the scene and bring about these changes. If you can't, think about if your government changed from what it had been like for hundreds of years. For us in the United States, can you imagine the uproar if our government went to something other than a Democratic government?
The old covenant was in place for a temporary time. It was not planned to be here forever. The old became obsolete (Hebrews 8:13) and a replacement was on its heels. I drive by a big snow pile on Franklin Avenue almost daily. Ever since we had our first big snow, a few other snows have been added to that pile (as the snow comes from what is scraped off of our main streets), and eventually that pile will be totally melted. It started out pretty big and the kids have enjoyed playing on it; I've become accustomed to seeing it. However, when the day comes that I don't see it anymore it will be a change.
The pile did some good for a while, but is not able to completely do everything. By that, I mean that it can't water the ground for the entire park by itself forever, something else must take its place. It can't provide entertainment and fun for the people forever, something else must take its place. Seems kind of like the Old Law.
The Old Law was able to provide a temporary relief of sin and a temporary relationship with God. But it wasn't forever. The Old Law was a pointer and a convicter. It pointed and convicted the guilty to say, "Who was the sinner? It was YOU!", accompanied with a finger pointed your way. It did not give you a permanent way out because once you sinned again, you received that same finger pointed in your direction.
It is an awesome thing to see that Jesus brought more than just a new Law, but a way of escaping the penalty of Law. A few months ago I wrote about grace and how we've been justified. So we may get that finger pointed our way, with a "conviction notice", that same voice says, "That's OK, you may have erred, but it is 'just as if I'd' never sinned".
The crime may have been the same, but the punishment is different for the believer. For the unbeliever, the punishment is still conviction without forgiveness.
Change is difficult for some, but some change is vital. God didn't have to create this change. He could have set up the Law as a suicide law for all mankind. In other words, once you broke it, you were spiritually dead forever. Thus, you were basically committing spiritual suicide by being under a law with no real forgiveness.
That big snow pile will melt and something better will come to replace what it is providing. Somewhat like the change that took effect from the Old Law to the New Law. The old law wasn't providing what it needed to and the New Law could, with a special thanks to Jesus.
So the next time you drive by that big pile, remember it is just temporary, just like the Old Law, and better things are to come, just like what happened with the New Law!
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