Doing the right thing.
Today we have a Gospel reading that is challenging. Last week, we heard the Lord say that we are to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. In today’s readings we learn how we are to be the salt and the light, as Jesus expands the understanding of the “Ten Commandments.
The point of Jesus’ lengthy discourse is clear; he is challenging us to a whole new covenant for interpreting the Ten Commandments, God’s law. Rather than looking at the minimal letter of the law, we should look at the spirit of the law, which calls us to a much fuller way of relating to God, and to one another. Jesus’ new covenant is built on our having right relationships that extend beyond the letter of the law. The kingdom of heaven belongs only to those who fulfill the law by choosing fullness of life, goodness and justice.
From Sirach we hear “Before man are life and death, good and evil, which ever he chooses shall be given to him…How supremely good is the wisdom of the Lord, He is mighty in power and all seeing.”
No law—whether divine or human – can cover all of the right choices that we are to make as we journey through life. Both today’s Gospel and the first reading from Sirach point to more that is needed: “Trust in God,” right choices that bring life to ourselves and others, relying on the wisdom and understanding of God, who knows us better than we know ourselves. Our own choices for good – for life – can only come when we open ourselves to God’s guidance and wisdom. It is through this that we receive the fullness of life.
Four times in the Gospel Jesus says these or similar words “You have heard it said . . . but I say to you. . . “ How easy it is for us to just do the minimal! Jesus invites us to rethink our relationship with others now on His terms.
Hundreds of choices face us each day; some are easy, some not so easy and others are downright hard! Rather than making choices of personal convenience or something of our liking, Jesus challenges us to make choices that lead to fullness of life.
All of us are subject to the Law. Jesus himself was subject to the law, both human and divine. As he grew up he obeyed Joseph and Mary. He obeyed the law of the land. And of course, he obeyed the law of God.
He found no fault with the law itself. His problem lay with the way it was interpreted and applied by the religious leaders of the day. For them it was the letter of the law that mattered. Once you fulfilled that, you were okay. But for Jesus, it was the spirit of the law that mattered. The important thing is not how many commandments we obey, but the spirit in which we obey and apply them.
The Pharisees looked only at the outward act. But God sees the heart. So Jesus said we have to look, not just at our acts, but also at our thoughts and desires, for they may lead to acts. We may never have killed anyone, but we may have entertained hostile thoughts about them and harbored hostile attitudes towards them. We may never have committed adultery, but we may have entertained lustful thoughts and desires.
Again, Jesus saw that the commandments were interpreted in a very negative way led to minimalism – doing the bare minimum. He interpreted them in a positive way. For example, the fifth commandment says, ‘thou shall not kill.’ But he said, ‘you must love your neighbor.’ The seventh commandment says ‘Thou shall not steal.’ But Jesus said ‘you must share your goods with your neighbor when he is in need.’
Jesus also saw that obedience was often rooted in fear. He wanted it rooted in love. When you truly love someone, you avoid doing anything to hurt that person. Where there is love, there really is no need of law.
But the most significant thing of all that Jesus did was this: He brought in a new and more exacting law – the law of love. Far from contradicting or abolishing the old law, the new law goes beyond it, and so brings it to perfection. He said that all of God’s laws could be reduced to two: love of God and love of neighbor. In truth, there is only one law – the law of love.
If we have the love of Christ in our hearts, we’ll do the right thing!