Do I Need Jesus To Talk to God?

A common argument among Christian apologists is that Jesus did not come to destroy the Law (the Torah), but to fulfill it. Their goal with this assertion is to answer a particular Jewish objection, which is that the Torah is eternal. The Christian response is to agree and to emphasize that Jesus didn't do away with the Torah, but that he fulfilled it:

Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)

Aside from the fact that instructions are followed and not fulfilled, this statement implies an idea that the Torah considers to be incorrect, namely that the Torah is impossible to keep. However, the Torah itself seems to preempt this erroneous conclusion thousands of years in advance by addressing this concern directly:

It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" Rather,[this] thing is very close to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it. (Devarim 30:12-14)

In direct contrast to Jesus' statement that he came "to fulfill" the Torah, God says above that "you," the Jews, "can fulfill it." Their concern seemed to be that receiving and fulfilling the Torah was too distant for them, and therefore impossible. If so, then an intermediary would have been required to do it for them. God assures and consoles them that "[this] thing is very close to you... so that you can fulfill it!"

In other words, the text is saying something that Christians would consider to be utterly radical: God is saying that no intermediary is required to forge a relationship with Him, which would turn Christianity completely on its head. Apparently I can fulfill it, and nobody needs to go up to the heavens or across the sea to get it for me. The Christian Scriptures unequivocally say “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6) which is the literal description of an intermediary. Ultimately, God says that the correct and expected way to relate to Him is with no intermediary, made possible by the fact that I have a direct connection to Him.

To this end Tehillim 145:18 says, "The Lord is near to all who call Him, to all who call Him with sincerity."