For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5:18-19 (KJV)]
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.
21st century Gentiles might miss the deep impact of Jesus’ words but his 1st century Jewish listeners didn’t. When emphasizing the importance of even the most miniscule thing in life, a poplar Hebrew expression of Jesus’ day was, ”not a yod or a thorn (kots) of a yod.” As the first letter in God’s name (YHVH/Yahweh) and Israel (Yisrael), the yod had special significance to the people of Judah. Suspended in mid-air (like an apostrophe), the rabbis considered it to be the first dot with which a scribe started any other letter and its last dot when he finished. Being the smallest of the letters, the yod was considered the humblest. The oral tradition held that, because of its humility, the yod’s kots was added so to point to God.
According to Jewish tradition, when Solomon tried to remove the yod from the Torah, God told him a thousand Solomons would come and go before a single yod would be taken from Scripture. The rabbis held that should anyone take the yod from Scripture, their guilt would be so great that the world would be destroyed. There are about 66,420 yods in the Hebrew Bible but its little flourish was considered so important that, if even one kots was missing from a yod in a Torah scroll, the entire scroll was considered invalid and destroyed. The yod and kots meant a great deal more to Jesus’ listeners than do a jot and tittle or iota and dot mean to us.
By speaking of the significance of every yod and kots in the Law, it’s clear that Jesus had no doubt as to the divine inspiration of Scripture—down to what seem insignificant details like a kots on a yod. Nothing written in Scripture is unimportant because every letter came from God. Although the Pharisees frequently accused Jesus of disregarding the law, He said that not one letter of the law was insignificant. Not even the smallest flourish on the smallest letter would disappear until the Law was fulfilled!
Although usually translated as “verily” or “truly,” Jesus began His sentence with amén, a term of intense affirmation. While an amén at the end of a sentence confirmed the preceding words and invoked their fulfillment, an amén at the beginning of a sentence meant, “Pay attention! Something of utmost importance follows.” His amén affirmed both the truth of His words and His authority to say them.
Jesus’ words remain as valid today as they were 2,000 years ago. When we’re tempted to pick and choose only the verses we like in Scripture, let’s remember the importance of every jot and tittle in God’s word! Divinely inspired—not even the smallest letter in the smallest word is without significance.
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. [Luke 16:17 (KJV)]
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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.
“Happy Easter,” said the Pastor as she welcomed us to worship. She was neither a week late nor four weeks early for Greek Orthodox Easter. While it’s no longer Easter Sunday and all the jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, and hard-boiled eggs have been eaten, it is Eastertide (“tide” just being an old-fashioned word for “season” or “time”). The Christian or liturgical calendar designates Eastertide as the fifty days from Easter/Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost (when we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church).
During Lent, I journeyed toward Jesus’ death and resurrection with a Lenten devotional. For each of the season’s forty days, there was a Scripture reading from John, a short devotional, an inspiring quote, interesting facts about Lent’s history, and a unique fast for the day. Each day’s reading also provided journaling space for the reader. For the fortieth day’s journal entry, readers were asked to write a brief letter of thanks to Jesus for all He endured to lead them into eternal life.
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!
Devotions of the Heart 