Did Isa al-Masih (pbuh) abrogate the Tawrat?
In fact, Isa al-Masih (pbuh) had already stated in the Injeel, Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil.” The Tawrat (Law of Prophet Musa (pbuh), Book of Leviticus, chapter 11 had already detailed the clean and unclean foods, which was to be an important statute for the People of the Book. Therefore, based on this statement, it is clear that he did not come to change the Law or the Prophets. Moreover, when Isa al-Masih (pbuh) answered the Jews by saying, “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles man” (Injeel, Matthew 15:11), the discussion was not about food. Remember he was speaking to the Jews who did not eat unclean food and knew the laws of clean and unclean, therefore the issue was not about what can and can’t be eaten. The issue was this: Jews had criticized him because his companions were not washing their hands in the ritual ceremonial way before eating food. Isa al-Masih (pbuh) explained to the Pharisees that he knew the evil intent of their thoughts. He declared that it was more important to watch what comes out of their mouths than it was to do the ritual hand washing before meals. They needed to understand that their words could actually destroy other people’s reputation, a more important truth than knowing that some dirt on the hands might harm the body.
Did Isa al-Masih (pbuh) abrogate the Tawrat?
In fact, Isa al-Masih (pbuh) had already stated in the Injeel, Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil.” The Tawrat (Law of Prophet Musa (pbuh), Book of Leviticus, chapter 11 had already detailed the clean and unclean foods, which was to be an important statute for the People of the Book. Therefore, based on this statement, it is clear that he did not come to change the Law or the Prophets. Moreover, when Isa al-Masih (pbuh) answered the Jews by saying, “not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles man” (Injeel, Matthew 15:11), the discussion was not about food. Remember he was speaking to the Jews who did not eat unclean food and knew the laws of clean and unclean, therefore the issue was not about what can and can’t be eaten. The issue was this: Jews had criticized him because his companions were not washing their hands in the ritual ceremonial way before eating food. Isa al-Masih (pbuh) explained to the Pharisees that he knew the evil intent of their thoughts. He declared that it was more important to watch what comes out of their mouths than it was to do the ritual hand washing before meals. They needed to understand that their words could actually destroy other people’s reputation, a more important truth than knowing that some dirt on the hands might harm the body.