LAW
Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the LAW or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.
Laws and their keeping or breaking have been very prominent in our news over the past few years. As I write the Post Office Inquiry is taking place. To be wrongly accused ranks amongst one of the most egregious things that can happen to a person. The very ground is pulled from under you. The very law that was meant to protect you has condemned you.
Understanding law in its Biblical usage requires us to take a step back from some our usual frames of reference. Everything that we say about law in its Biblical usage is about love and relationship. Biblical law was a gift to the Israelites and its keeping a safeguard and a support. In an extended meditation on law in Psalm 118 many helpful images are used. The Psalmist asks to be guided in the way of God’s commands because there is ‘my delight.’ The law is more precious than earthly treasures: ‘The law from your mouth means more to me than silver and gold.’ The keeping of the Law is also sweeter than honey: ‘Your promise is sweeter to my taste than honey in the mouth.’
The hearers of Matthew’s Gospel brought this whole thought world to the words of Jesus. For Matthew, Jesus is in full continuity with the Old Testament tradition. Matthew portrays Jesus as the new Moses. In his being and in his teaching Jesus embodies the centrality of love in the keeping of the Law. As always, Jesus is challenging his hearers to move beneath the surface of a law and to keep it with the rigour of love.
Keeping and teaching the Law is ranked very highly by Jesus. He says that those who do it will be ‘considered great in the Kingdom of heaven.’ This is not an invitation to the elite, but to every person who truly seeks God.
How do you hear Jesus’ words? What might it mean for you to ‘keep and teach the Law’ this Lent?
(Matthew 5:17-19, Wednesday, Third Week of Lent)