Bittersweet Kisses: Fulfilling the Jots and Tittles

     “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”   

Jesus gave assurance that He had not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but He came to fulfill them in Matthew 5:17.  GOD’s Word is always true and HIS Word has been written down accurately. What GOD says, will surely come to pass.  Then Jesus, in Matthew 5:18 makes a statement, that unless you are familiar with reading Hebrew, you may not understand.  Matthew 5:18 reads: “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.”

    What is a jot and tittle?  Jots and tittles have to do with letters and how they are written.  They are small, distinguishing accent marks placed on the Hebrew letters that tell us to pay special attention to the word/words being used.  The jot is said to be derived from the “Yod,” which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  A tittle is a small stroke, detail, or mark added to a letter.  Whenever these small marks are added to a word, they suggest a deeper meaning than what appears on the surface.  Let me show you an example of jots that reveal a prophetic, deeper meaning.

    Genesis 33:4: “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.”  

Look at the phrase, “and kissed him” in Hebrew below:

As you can see, there are marks on the top of every Hebrew letter in the phrase that is under the English translation.  Those are jots.  Some Jewish commentators say the jots above the words are really Esau’s teeth, because he really wants to bite the neck of Jacob, instead of kissing him.  Their reunion is bittersweet because Esau believed his younger brother, Jacob had stolen his birthright and blessing that came from Isaac, their father.  Instead of killing Jacob, Esau accepts Jacob’s gifts and submission and allows Jacob to dwell peacefully in the land.  This prophetic, bittersweet kiss echoes throughout the Old Testament / Tanakh and into the New Testament.  Eventually, we will see this prophetic “jotted kiss” fulfilled in an interaction between Judas and Jesus.

    In Genesis 45, Joseph, who became the governor over the land of Egypt, reveals himself to his brothers after years of separation.  Joseph’s older brothers had conspired against him and had cast him into a pit and sold him into slavery to get rid of him.  He even ended up in prison for over two years, after being falsely accused by his master’s wife of acting inappropriately.  Instead of using his title and power to enact justice and retaliate against his conspiring brothers, in verse 15: “he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them.”  Joseph gives another bittersweet kiss in Genesis 50:1 after the death of his father, Jacob/Israel: “And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.”

    Another bittersweet kiss occurs between David and Jonathan.  David and Jonathan had an unusual, deep friendship revealed in 1 Samuel 18:1: “…the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”  Their friendship became strained when King Saul, Jonathan’s father, sought to kill David out of jealousy.  King Saul was jealous of David as the LORD’s Spirit was upon David, thus he was successful in battle, and well-liked by many.  King Saul was angry about Jonathan’s friendship and defense of David, and even threw a javelin at Jonathan in his anger (1 Sam 20:33).  Despite his father’s fierce anger with him, Jonathan still chose to warn David that Saul wanted to kill him.  1 Samuel 20:41 shows the reaction of David finding out this news from Jonathan: “(David) fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another.”  How bittersweet the kisses were, that they shared in that moment.

    Moving to the New Testament, Jesus tells us the parable of the “Lost (Prodigal) Son” in Luke 15:11-32.  In this parable, a man’s younger son asks him for his inheritance.  For a short time, the son recklessly squanders his portion of inheritance and lives a life of indulgence.  However, a mighty famine comes to the land and the son is left destitute.  Desperate, humbled, and feeling unworthy, he returns to his father to beg for forgiveness and to ask to become his father’s servant.  Overwhelmed with joy of his son’s return, we see in Luke 15:20, “…his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”  Despite the bittersweet situation, the father rejoices, calls for a feast, and in verse 32, explains to his angry, jealous, elder son, why he is celebrating. “(W)e should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”

    Finally, in this last example, we will see how Jesus fulfills the “jotted kiss.”  In Matthew 26:45-50, Jesus, after praying three times(vs. 39-44), tells his disciples that the hour is at hand that the Son of man will be betrayed and taken from them.  While Jesus was yet speaking to the disciples, Judas, one of the disciples, arrives with men from the priests and elders with swords.  As a sign/token to confirm which man they should seize, Judas told them in verse 48, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.”  Judas, using a sign of affection, betrayed Jesus and said, “Hail, master; and kissed him.”  This betrayal is also witnessed in Mark 14:44-45 and Luke 22:47-48. In Luke 22:48, we see Jesus say to Judas, “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?”  This reminds me of a saying in Proverbs 27:6 that says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

    We have now seen the jots upon “and kissed him” from Genesis 33:4 between Esau and Jacob, fulfilled between Judas and Jesus.  In fact, we have seen two key men, Joseph and David, who are commonly seen as prefiguring, foreshadowing the Messiah, Jesus, experiencing the fulfillment of the  “jotted kiss.”  Coincidence?  Hardly.  As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: “All scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of GOD may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  It is truly amazing to see how looking at the Hebrew, and not just the translated text of the Bible, can give you deeper insight into GOD’s true Word.  “It is the glory of GOD to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)