Sunday Meditation: But I Say To You

The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year A, Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount.  Today is a very long passage, but I will break it down to understand why it’s one complete teaching.  On the surface it appears to be a random set of sayings, but it holds together quite well.  Let’s decompose it.

It breaks down into two sections which I’ll call A and B.  A will have three sub elements and B will have four.  Here is the structure of the passage.

 

A.    The Law

1.     Fulfillment (v. 17-18)

2.     Not Relaxing (v. 19)

3.     Exceeding Righteousness (v. 20)

 

B.    You Have Heard It Said…But I Say To You

1.     Anger (v. 21-26)

2.     Adultery (v. 27-30)

3.     Divorce (v. 31-32)

4.     Swearing Oaths (v. 33-37)

In part A, Jesus is teaching us that in Him “the law” comes to fulfillment, not by relaxing the law, but by exceeding “righteousness.”  In Part B, He gives us four examples in the parallel structure of the law (“You have heard it said”) and its fulfillment (“but I say to you).  The four examples are interesting.  Those are not, I think, the ethical requirements that would come to mind to a first century Jew.

 

 

 

Here is today’s Gospel reading.

 

 

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.

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses

that of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you,

whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment;

and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,'

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin;

and whoever says, 'You fool,'

will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

 

"You have heard that it was said,

You shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you,

everyone who looks at a woman with lust

has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin,

tear it out and throw it away.

It is better for you to lose one of your members

than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

And if your right hand causes you to sin,

cut it off and throw it away.

It is better for you to lose one of your members

than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

 

"It was also said,

Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.

But I say to you,

whoever divorces his wife -  unless the marriage is unlawful -

causes her to commit adultery,

and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 

"Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

Do not take a false oath,

but make good to the Lord all that you vow.

But I say to you, do not swear at all;

not by heaven, for it is God's throne;

nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;

nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Do not swear by your head,

for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'

Anything more is from the evil one."

~Mt: 5:17-37

 

Dr. Brant Pitre, who we haven’t had in a while, offers an explanation of fulfillment and the exceeding of righteousness.

 

 

Dr. Pitre:

“What Jesus is revealing here … are aspects of the Old Testament that are not perfect.  In other words, they're not what God ultimately wants for his people… Jesus wants to perfect that law of righteousness and bring the disciples up to the top of the mountain where he's going to give them the new law of the gospel that's not going break the old law but it's going to transform.  It's going to transfigure. It's going to transcend it and bring them up to the the Kingdom of Heaven.  That's what he means when he says that their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees.”

 

For the pastoral homily, I liked Fr. Joseph Mary of the Capuchin Franciscans.

 

 

Fr. Joseph:

“Sometimes when I'm traveling across the country in my car, I have to go through very small towns. And it's not unusual for me to find myself sitting at a stoplight on some country road at midnight without another car in sight for miles. The law says I should wait for the light to turn green before going. I never do that. I run the red light every time.”

 

What?  Is he serious? He runs the red light every time?  LOL, no way.  I hope that was just to just to bring out the theme of the homily.

What justifies us?  “For Christians, it's not the works of the law that justify, but works of faith, namely, to believe in Jesus Christ and to accept the gift of redemption.”

 

 

 

Sunday Meditation: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

 

 

I love this song, “Prayer for Guidance” by John Michael Talbot.

 

 

Most High and glorious God

Bring light to the darkness of my heart

Give me right faith, certain hope

And perfect charity

 

Lord, give me insight and wisdom

So I might always discern

Your holy and true will