For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5:18-19 (ESV)]
While we now know what is meant by an iota and dot, jot and tittle, or yod and kots, we wonder what Jesus means by “the least of these commandments!” If the smallest letter is as important as the largest and the smallest flourish on the smallest letter in Scripture was not to be eliminated, how can there be a “lesser” commandment? The confusion again comes from reading an English translation of a Greek rendering of the original Hebrew. Jesus probably was using a popular Jewish idiom “mitsvot kalot” meaning “light” commandments, rather than “mitsvot ketanot,” meaning less important or small commandments. While this seems a bit like splitting hairs, it reflects Jewish thinking in Jesus’ day when a distinction was made between “light” and “weighty” commandments when comparing one to another.
The rabbis regarded Deut. 22:6-7, a law prohibiting taking a mother bird if you happen upon her in a nest with eggs or young in it, as the least or lightest commandment. They regarded the one about honoring one’s parents in Ex. 20:12 and Deut. 5:16 among the greatest or weightiest. If you look at those very two different commandments, one of which seems more important than the other, you’ll find they both promise a reward for obedience—a long life in which things will go well. These are the only two commandments promising a specific reward and, with both the light and weighty commandments promising the same reward, the rabbis taught that each was to be obeyed.
People were to be as conscientious about heeding a light or minor commandment as they were of obeying a weighty or major one. Reflecting this thought, the late 1st century Jewish teacher Simeon ben Azzai taught, “Be quick in performing a minor commandment as in the case of a major one, and flee from transgression; For one commandment leads to another.” Two completely unrelated commands that both offered the same reward illustrated the importance of the entire law and Jesus’ words reiterated that same concept!
With His words, Jesus was making it clear that the Pharisees and scribes didn’t have a monopoly on zealousness for Scripture. Although He often was accused of being against the law, Jesus’ disagreement with the religious leaders of His day wasn’t with the law; it was with their addition of hundreds of man-made petty rules that were elevated to the level of God’s word. In true rabbinic fashion, they even added extra rules to the “lightest” commandment, adding that it only applied to wild birds and didn’t apply if the mother bird was just hovering over the nest (unless her wing touched the nest)!
Jesus’ reference to these laws further emphasizes what He said about the yod and kots—that God’s law is changeless, eternal, and complete. His reference to these two specific laws shows God’s concern for both significant and seemingly insignificant acts and makes it clear there is no such thing as a “little sin.” It also points to God’s compassion and love. Since He cared enough for His creation to give a commandment protecting the welfare of a baby birds, consider how much more He cares for the welfare of His own children—the ones made in His image!
Let us remember that, when Jesus freed us from the burdensome commands of the Old Testament Law, He did not free us from God’s law.
What is a jot or a tittle? Found in the King James version, the words “jot” and “tittle” date from the 15th and 16th centuries. “Jot” comes from jota, an alternate spelling of the Greek iota (the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet) and, at the time, meant something very small. “Tittle” was a translation of keraia, a Greek word meaning “a little horn” that referred to an accent mark over a vowel. While those English words were good translations of the New Testament’s Greek, Jesus wasn’t speaking Greek when He gave the Sermon on the Mount. He was speaking Hebrew or Aramaic and the words He used weren’t iota and keraia. He would have used yod, which was the smallest Hebrew letter, and kots, meaning thorn, which was the little curve or flourish at the yod’s top distinguishing it from other letters. The tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, yod sounds like a “y” and looks a bit like an apostrophe.
There are 613 commandments in the Torah/Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). But, as seen in Jesus’ interaction with the lawyer who wanted “neighbor” defined, there was room for interpretation. For example, what exactly does it mean to “honor” one’s parents? When Deuteronomy 11:18-20 says to bind “these words” to one’s hands and forehead and place them on doorposts and gates, exactly what words and how was it to be done? Work on the Sabbath is prohibited in twelve places but is the command limited to the few types of work mentioned? For that matter, what defines work?
When a nomikós (Scripture lawyer, an expert in religious law) tested Jesus by asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, the Lord countered with his own question, “What does the law say?” When the man responds with the words of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, Jesus says he’s answered correctly. Wanting clarification, he then asks, “Who is my neighbor?” His query tells us the nomikós is more interested in the letter of the law than its spirit. Apparently, he wouldn’t want to waste any love on someone who wasn’t his neighbor or miss loving someone who was! Jesus answers the man’s question with one of his best-known stories—the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Every morning, I receive an email from a Christian site to which I subscribe. Having no interest in Temu, make-up, or a “game-changer” pen for seniors, I ignore the ads as nothing more than “click bait.” Today’s ad from a jewelry company, however, caught my eye with its words, “Just in: Angel Numbers.” Having missed all the articles about them in Allure, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Day, Instyle, and Vogue, I didn’t know what an “angel number” was, so I Googled it. Apparently, when you see repeated digits (such as 11:11 on your clock, $9.99 on a price tag, 30303 on a license plate, or a date like 2/22/22), the universe is sending you a message! Rather than a coincidence, these repetitive numbers are a “sign from your guardian angel” (or a dead loved one). Supposedly, the “language of angels,” such numbers are meant to point you in a certain direction or confirm the direction in which you’re going! Of course, a host of psychics, spiritual mediums, and numerologists are more than willing to tell you the meaning of your “angel numbers.” And, as I discovered from the ad, once you find your number, you can purchase it in jewelry!
Most of us probably spent Saturday preparing for Easter. We may have done last minute grocery shopping, prepped for Easter dinner, purchased an Easter lily, decorated eggs, assembled Easter baskets, snacked on jelly beans, or hidden plastic eggs around the yard. The previous day’s service on Good Friday had been a somber one but we knew the following day’s worship would be one of joy and celebration. While we may have sung “Were you There When They Crucified My Lord?” on Friday, we knew that we’d be singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on Sunday.
Devotions of the Heart 