Victor Porton’s personal theological reading of Matthew 5:18; the views below are the author’s interpretation.
Full sermon text
A sermon on Matthew 5:18:
“For truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth pass away,
one iota or one tittle will, no, not pass away from the law, until all
things come to pass.”
Physicists hypothesize that if to concentrate a giant energy (like
the energy of a supernova star burst) in one point, then the so called
“false vacuum” (not entirely empty space, but filled with a certain
energy) on which our universe is based may turn into true vacuum (the
emptiest space) with a speed-of-light chain reaction burst of the entire
universe turning it to something other (and killing life in the
universe, by the way). Don’t worry about the Large Hadron Collider: The
energy needed to burst the universe is very much far higher than people
can. It also can happen by incident without concentrating the energy in
one point, but that’s really low-probability event. (Some physicists
conjecture that it’s one in 10 to the 868 power of the chance it reaches
us).
Apparently, Jesus talks about this burst, when saying “heaven and the
earth pass away.” He this way, probably implies that the probability of
passing away one iota is less than one in 10 to the 868 power, though it
could be yet of not exactly zero probability.
The word “parerchomai” for pass away, means by Greek grammar that the
universe may fall out into a state near the state it has now.
Also notice that the Gospels imply that words of Jesus are even more
durable than Torah: Torah is guaranteed by Jesus to be preserved only
while the heaven and the Earth exists, but His words extend after the
end of this world: (Mt. 24:35) “The sky and the earth will pass away,
but my words may, no, not pass away.” However, (Lk. 16:17) “But it is
easier for the heaven and the earth to pass away, than for one tittle of
the law to fall.”
(2Pe. 3:10-12) “10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, during which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the
elements, being intensely hot, will be disintegrated, and the earth and
the works in it will be destroyed by fire. 11 Therefore, all these
things being disintegrated, what kind ought you to be in holy actions
and pieties, 12 anticipating and hastening the coming of the day of God,
by which the heavens, being made fiery hot, will be disintegrated, and
the elements dissolve, being intensely hot?”
Jesus claims that after this event, His words will be indeed
preserved. How, would I ask a physicist and receive no answer. Peter
asked, how could we be preserved after this? His answer is that holiness
and purity can preserve alive (apparently, in a spiritual form) after
this catastrophe.
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