Matthew 5:17-20

I remember my first Biblical Hebrew lesson; the professor walked in and spoke for a few minutes in Hebrew explaining what we will be learning over the summer term. I, along with everyone else, dropped my jaw and wondered what I had gotten myself into. It wasn’t long before we got into the first lesson; the alefbet (Hebrew alphabet). We flew through the letters one a time, drawing and pronouncing it. When we got to the tenth letter we paused and the professor said, “This is ‘yod.’ It represents the ‘y’ sound. It is the simplest of all letters. As you read, you might miss it; but it is very important.”

He went on to explain that Jesus referenced this specific letter in his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus then said, “not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will ever disappear from the law.”

Jesus referenced the letter yod in these words; a letter which resembles a little speck created by a flick of the wrist, and whose equivalents are the dots over the letters i and j. But, like every letter or word in the Old Testament, is sacred and should be viewed and observed as such.

Prayer

Almighty God, help me to see the value you place on your Word. Then help me to live that Word in my life. Amen.