Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the last few Sundays, the first and second readings may have been from different parts of scripture, but the gospel reading has had a seamless progression. We have been reading from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mountain. We began with Jesus going up the mountain. While the crowd stayed at the foot of the mountain, some came up to Jesus. Those who went up to him were called disciples. To them, Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes. Last Sunday, Jesus said to these very disciples, “You are the salt of the earth,” and “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14). Today, we hear about how we become the people in the Beatitudes; how we can be the salt of the earth and light for the world. Jesus does this by laying out an ethic for his disciples. Commandments and how we understand them play a big part in this.
Commandments – More than Laws
For the people in the Old Testament, commandments were more than mere laws. They represented something far deeper. The commandments revealed God. For example, todays’ first reading says, “Immense is the wisdom of the Lord; He is mighty in power, and all-seeing” (Sir 15:18). The commandments were an insight into God’s wisdom, into God’s power, and into God’s vision for the world.
There is one more thing. The Commandments were also an invitation to Israel to live life from God’s perspective. Here is the opening verse of today’s readings: “If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live” (Sir 15:15).
For us too, the commandments are more than laws. Perhaps, this is why Jesus says to us in today’s gospel reading, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil” (Mt 5:17). Jesus did not endorse legalism. In other words, the commandments themselves do not save us. It is the God who gives us the commandments who saves us. Hence, Jesus taught us to go beyond the commandments. He taught his disciples to look at the vision that the commandments were providing. It was a vision into God’s wisdom, God’s life, God’s love and care for us. In reality, the commandments are a participation in God’s life.
Jesus IS the Law
Until Jesus came, there was God and there were the commandments. People and people were invited to study the commandments, love them, and discover God’s wisdom in them. With Jesus’ coming, there was a paradigm shift in two ways. First, Jesus is the personification of the commandments. Jesus is the giver of the commandments; Jesus is the fulfilment of the commandments; Jesus IS the commandments.
Second, Jesus brought all the commandments under two commandments – love of God and love of neighbor. Love becomes the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10). The cross is the perfect symbol of the love of God and love of neighbor. The cross is the perfect fulfillment of the Law.
The third paradigm shift is this – that we do not have to focus on the commandments themselves. All we have to do is imitate Christ. To follow the commandments is to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus is to fulfill all the commandments.
On Earth as it is in Heaven
Let us reflect on the practical implications of all this. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus raises four areas for consideration by his disciples – anger, adultery, divorce, and oaths. Each of these areas have to do with commandments. Jesus tells his disciples the Old Testament version and gives us a new way of fulfilling them.
Sadly, anger, adultery, divorce, and questionable integrity are real human experiences. In today’s gospel, when Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said of old ……” and “But I say to you…,” Jesus is helping is reimagine human living. Imagine a world without rage, violence, murder and infidelity. Imagine a world where everyone is patient, kind, gentle, generous, and good. Imagine a world where no one dies from war, violence, hate, and killings. Imagine a world where infidelity does not destroy human relationships. Imagine a world every person act with integrity, truth, and honesty.
But this does not mean that Jesus is merely showing an imaginative world. In reality, Jesus is saying that heaven-like-life is a possibility here and now. In the “Our Father,” which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Our world is not a perfect world, and our lives are not perfect lives. But in this imperfect world, Jesus invites us to lives of love, faithfulness, peace, and integrity. In this imperfect world we are to live out Beatitudes. In this imperfect world, we are invited to imitate Jesus. In this imperfect world, we are called to be disciples. In this imperfect world, we are called to the salt of the earth and light for the world. When we do so, we fulfill the commandments. When we do so, God’s heaven becomes a reality on earth.
- Fr. Satish Joseph