Not to abolish but to fulfill: Mary and the perfect fulfillment of the law

“I did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.” (Mt 5:17)This passage from Matthew 5:17-19 is one of the most debated texts from the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill. Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota or a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Jesus’ statement intentionally places itself in continuity with Israel’s tradition: He is not a “destroyer” of the Law, but its “fulfiller” (plêrôsai). This position has direct implications for Mariology: Mary, who lived her entire life as a faithful daughter of Israel under Mosaic Law, is the creature who most perfectly and wholly “fulfilled” the Law, not through legalistic observance, but through love for God who gave her.I. “Plênis (fulfill)”: Fulfillment as fullnessChrist’s Non Veni Solvere finds its clearest application in Mary.The Greek verb plêroô (to fulfill, to complete, to fill with fullness) has a richer meaning than the English word “fulfill” suggests. It is not merely “obey” or “execute,” but “bring to its fullest potential,” “realize the maximum potential of.” Jesus does not “fulfill” the Law in the sense of strictly obeying every jot and tittle, He fulfills it by revealing its deepest intent, liberating it from interpretations that had reduced it to a code of rules, and raising it to the level of perfect love that was always its original target. The Law against murder is “fulfilled” when the heart is freed from anger (Mt 5:21-22). The Law regarding oaths is “fulfilled” when human word becomes absolutely trustworthy (Mt 5:33-37).This theology of “fulfillment,” where the higher does not abolish the lower but raises it to its own fullness, is structurally analogous to the relationship between Mary’s humanity and divine grace. Mary was not sanctified by “abolishing” her humanity or her belonging to Israel; she was sanctified by “fulfilling” her humanity, raising it to the highest degree of availability to God. Her “fiat” (yes) was not the abolition of her free will, but its fullest expression: human will that, instead of closing in on itself, opens completely to divine desire and, in that opening, finds its fullness.The exegesis of Matthew 5:18, “Before heaven and earth pass away, not an iota or a dot will pass from the Law until all is accomplished”, has been debated among scholars: refers it to the smallest letter of the Mosaic Law still valid until the end of time? Or does it refer to the fulfillment of all the Law in Jesus, making literal observance obsolete in favor of love’s observance? Tradition has generally opted for a reading that integrates both: the “intent” of the Law is absolutely permanent (love God and your neighbor), but its “form” (ritual precepts and ceremonies) found its fulfillment in Christ and does not need to be observed literally by Christians.

The Significance of Matthew 5:17-19 in the Sermon on the Mount

The passage from Matthew 5:17-19, positioned after the Beatitudes and the imagery of salt and light, and before the six “antitheses” (Matthew 5:21-48: “You have heard it said… but I tell you”), serves as a pivotal “hinge” in understanding Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law. It signifies that his interpretation is not an abstract theoretical position, but the foundation for the subsequent antitheses, where Jesus radicalizes the Law’s precepts, elevating them to the level of heart and inner intention.

II. Mary, a Faithful Daughter of Israel Under the Law

Christ’s “Non Veni Solvere” (I did not come to abolish) finds its most clear application in Mary.Historical Mary lived her entire life within the framework of the Mosaic Law. The Gospel of Luke attests to this fact in several instances: Jesus’ circumcision on the eighth day (Luke 2:21: “according to the law”), his presentation at the Temple and purification forty days after his birth (Luke 2:22-24: “according to the law”), and annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem for Passover (Luke 2:41: “as is customary”). Mary did not abolish the Law, but lived it faithfully as a daughter of Israel.However, Mary’s fidelity to the Law was not legalism; it was love. Distinguishing between legalism (observing the Law out of fear or mere social conformity) and love (keeping the Law because it expresses God’s will to those who are loved) lies at the heart of biblical spirituality. The Prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekiel) prophesied a “new covenant” where the Law would be written on hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), an interior observance motivated by love, not fear. Mary embodied this prophetic ideal: her fidelity to the Law was from the heart, not just from the letter.

The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, defined dogmatically by Pope Pius IX in 1854, sheds light on Mary’s relationship with the Law. Mary was preserved from original sin, meaning her relationship with God was not distorted by the inclination to evil (concupscence) introduced by sin. In this sense, Mary “fulfilled” the Law without the inner conflict described by Paul in Romans 7:14-23 (“The good that I want to do, I do not do; the evil I do not want to do, that is what I go on doing”). For Mary, fulfilling the Law was the natural expression of a heart that loved God without reservation.This perfect fulfillment of the Law by Mary is not a source of pride or self-sufficiency but a gift from God—the grace that prepared her to be the Mother of the Messiah. The Church understands the Immaculate Conception not as a merit earned by Mary, but as a grace anticipated by Christ’s merits: Mary was saved by the same Christ she would bear, but “before” his historical coming, through the anticipatory effect of redemption. Here, the “perfection” of Mary’s obedience to the Law is not her own, but Christ’s who dwelt in her from the first moment of her existence.

III. The “Iotas” of Fidelity: Fidelity in Small Gestures

The reference to the “iota” (the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to the Hebrew yod, a small comma in the text) is an image of faithfulness in the details. Jesus values faithfulness “in the least,” which contrasts with human tendency to focus only on major principles while neglecting small details. Spiritual tradition (particularly Ignatian spirituality and Teresa of Lisieux’s “Little Way”) has developed this intuition: holiness primarily manifests itself in everyday, small gestures, not in heroic acts.Mary is the model of this faithfulness in the “iotas”: what the Gospels record about her life are not grand speeches or spectacular actions, but daily gestures of faithfulness, her availability to the angel (Luke 1:38), her haste to serve Elizabeth (Luke 1:39), her “guard” in the heart of words she did not fully understand (Luke 2:19.51), and her discreet intercession at Cana (John 2:3). These “iotas” of faithfulness are the real fabric of Marian holiness, more so than any extraordinary vision or privilege.The spirituality of “small acts done with great love,” which Teresa of Lisieux systematized as the “childhood spiritual path,” has roots in Matthew 5:18 and the model of Mary. Spiritual greatness is not measured by the spectacularness of actions but by the depth of love with which ordinary acts are performed. A “iota” of love is worth more, according to Gospel logic, than grand gestures done without love. Mary, who sewed, cooked, and lived the ordinary life in Nazareth with the fullness of love, is living confirmation of this logic.Mary, who did not “abolish” Israel’s Law but “fulfilled” it down to the last “iota” with the totality of her love, is the icon of faithfulness that is not measured by spectacle but by the depth of heart that loves God who gave us the Law of life.References: – Vatican II Council, Lumen Gentium n. 56 (1964). – Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. – U. Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus vol. I (1985). – J. Meier, Law and History in Matthew’s Gospel (1976).