Matthew 5:17-19

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 New Torah: The Gospel today is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has just delivered the Beatitudes, the blessings of the New Covenant. In a profound way, Jesus transformed the curses of the Old Covenant, such as persecution and suffering, into the path to blessing in the New Covenant. Moses promised suffering if the Israelites were unfaithful; Jesus promised suffering, tribulation, and persecution if his disciples were faithful. Jesus told his disciples that he was not abolishing the Old Law and the Prophets of the Old Covenant; rather, he was fulfilling them. Jesus gave a New Law, a new Torah, that was rooted in the Old Law of Moses, but far surpassed the Old Law and was meant not just for a single nation, but for the entire world. All human beings are called to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven inaugurated on earth by Jesus.

2. The New Creation: Jesus speaks about the Law of Moses not passing until “heaven and earth pass away.” But we are no longer bound to many of the laws. So, what happened? One way to understand the timing of this event is to consider what happened at Jesus’ crucifixion. In Matthew 28:11, the soldiers who guarded Jesus’ tomb told the chief priests, “all that had been accomplished.” And Jesus said that nothing from the law will pass away until “all is accomplished.” So, with Jesus’ death and resurrection, the old creation, the old covenant, is accomplished and brought to fulfillment, and a new creation begins. Jesus’ death and resurrection mark the beginning of the new heavens and the new earth. The Law of Moses was binding during Jesus’ lifetime. With Jesus’ death, however, sin is atoned for, and the old covenant is brought to fulfillment in the new.

3. The New Temple: A second way to interpret Jesus’ phrase, “until heaven and earth pass away,” is to understand that the Temple in Jerusalem was a microcosm of the universe. This meant that when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, parts of the Law of Moses “passed away.” Many of the regulations about animal sacrifice, ceremonial rites, social restrictions, and dietary laws have all “passed away” with the destruction of the Temple. When we read the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the forty-year period between the death of Jesus in A.D. 30 and the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a special time in which the Old Law was passing away and the New Law was being implemented. Jewish Christians continued to follow much of the Law of Moses as long as the Temple stood. But Gentile Christians, after the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. 49, were not burdened with many of the ceremonial rites and dietary restrictions of the Law of Moses. The moral laws remained and were intensified in the New Covenant. But much of the ministry and teaching of Peter and Paul in these 40 years was dedicated to understanding the passing away of the Law of Moses and its fulfillment in Christ Jesus. 

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, respond to the action of the Holy Spirit, and 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?