Matthew 5:17-19

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20

Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter

will pass from the law,

until all things have taken place.

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments

and teaches others to do so

will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments

will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, why do I struggle to heed and obey your law? Your law is something I should rejoice in because it leads me along the path that leads to life. And yet I am continually tempted to follow my own way and reject your way. Do not allow me to succumb to these temptations and bring me along the path that leads to you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Law from Adam to Moses: Throughout the Old Testament there were laws given to humanity and the people of Israel. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were given two basic laws, one positive and one negative. On the one hand, our first parents were given the positive command to “be fruitful and multiply,” to fill and subdue the earth, and to have dominion over every living thing. If they followed this positive command, this would bring them the blessing of divine life. On the other hand, Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The consequence of violating this second command was the curse of death. God gave our first parents these two laws so that they could share in the blessing of divine life and avoid the curse of eternal separation from God. Unfortunately, humanity chose to violate God’s law, and sin proliferated greatly to the time of Noah. After the flood, God reestablished the covenant of creation and commanded Noah and, through him, all humanity to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” This time, God prohibits killing other human beings, calling to mind the sin of Cain: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). After Noah, sin once again proliferates, but God responds to the prideful sin of the people of Babel by calling Abraham. Abraham responded in faith to God’s call but was not perfect. In fact, after Abraham sinned with Haggar, God commands Abraham to walk before him and be blameless (Genesis 17:1) and to keep his covenant (17:9). Sirach says that Abraham: “kept the law of the Most High, and was taken into covenant with him; he established the covenant in his flesh, and when he was tested he was found faithful” (Sirach 44:20). The descendants of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, will be established as God’s first-born son under the leadership of Moses at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 4:22). The law given at Mount Sinai begins with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-7), and continues with many laws about sacrifice, slaves, violence, restitution, religion, justice, the Sabbath, feasts, offerings, the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and liturgical garments. The people of Israel almost immediately break the First Commandment of the Sinai covenant and worship the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-35). After this sin, the laws are drastically multiplied, both as a yoke of discipline to prevent future idolatry and as a way to train Israel in authentic worship as they awaited the coming of the Messiah and the New Covenant.

2. From the Second Law of Moses to David and the Prophets: The Law of Deuteronomy was the “second law” given to the people of Israel through Moses. It was a hard law that sought to keep the people from defilement by distinguishing them culturally and ritually from the pagan nations. Moses’s words in the Book of Deuteronomy were given on the plains of Moab, after Israel’s forty-year exodus in the desert. This burdensome second law, given by Moses, contains some concessionary laws that Jesus will have to correct (Matthew 19:8; Mark 10:5). Centuries after Deuteronomy, the covenant with David (on Mount Zion) brings with it a new law for humankind (2 Sam 7:19). David fulfilled the conditions of Deuteronomy 12:10-14, and Wisdom finds a place of rest on Mount Zion (Sirach 24:8-12). “Through the Davidic covenant, God brings His law to the nations, not through an exclusive Israelite ritual law code, but through the universality of the Wisdom literature” (M. Barber, Singing in the Reign, p. 74). The Mosaic Law of Sinai was meant to make Israel a light to the nations; the Wisdom Literature of Zion, on the other hand, is the law of the Davidic covenant and has a universal scope. The prophets, such as Jeremiah and Ezekiel, foresee the day when God’s law will no longer be written on stone tablets, but inscribed in the human heart: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant [...]. I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33; see also Proverbs 3:1-3; Ezekiel 11:19; 2 Corinthians 3:3; Hebrews 8:10).

3. The New Law of Grace: Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant promised by Jeremiah and Ezekiel and states that he has not come to abolish the law – referring especially to the Law of Moses – but to fulfill it and bring it to completion. The New Law given by Christ is the grace of the Holy Spirit which is given to those who believe in Jesus Christ and works in us through charity. It is an interior law of freedom that produces the spontaneous action of friends instead of servants. The New Law fulfills and perfects the Ten Commandments – which were concerned mainly with external actions – and regulates our interior acts at the level of the heart. In the New Law, the Ten Commandments are internalized and the virtues are perfected in a deeper love for and union with God. What is more, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live according to the New Law and grow in holiness as children of God.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you gave us the New Law of grace and the great commandment to love. You gave us the supreme example of love by giving your life for us on the Cross. Pour your Spirit into my heart so that I may live the New Law to the full.

Living the Word of God: We are called to live according to the New Law of grace. This New Law was taught by Christ and established for us by Christ on the Cross. Through his passion and death, he merited for us the grace that enables us to fulfill the New Law, to respond to the action of the Holy Spirit, and to go beyond the demands of justice in our dealings with others. It is the Law of the children of God the Father that fills our minds with the Wisdom of the Word and directs us to act in accord with the Love of the Holy Spirit. How am I living the New Law of grace and charity? What can I do better?