Jots
and Tittles?
Unknown
Jesus
respected every word of the law of God. He did not teach that man ought to
simply heed the spirit of the law or get the gist of it, but said that man
lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). Every
word!
In another place he impresses this same principle when
he said that not one jot or tittle of the law would pass away until it was
fulfilled (Matt. 5:18; Lk. 16:17). A jot was the smallest letter and a
tittle the smallest stroke or marking in writing. The equivalent for us
would be the dot of an “i” and the cross of a “t”. Today, whenever
someone says, “make sure every ‘i’ is dotted and ‘t’ crossed, we
understand them to be saying that meticulous care needs to be taken in
doing something.
The Bible claims that even the very words that
comprise Scripture were chosen by the Holy Spirit (God) so that not only a
study of the message is important, but a study of the very words of the
message, too. Read I Cor. 2:13. In other words, I believe in not only the
WORD of God, but the WORDS of God. I do not then approach it as a love
letter from God which God never intended me to pour over in close
examination, but give careful heed to every jot and tittle. And so I hope
do you.
