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| “Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law” by Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt, 1659 |
Reading 1: 2 Corinthians 3:4-11
Brothers and sisters:
Such confidence we have
through Christ toward God.
Not that of ourselves we are
qualified to take credit
for anything as coming from
us;
rather, our qualification
comes from God,
who has indeed qualified us
as ministers of a new covenant,
not of letter but of spirit;
for the letter brings death,
but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry of death,
carved in letters on stone, was so glorious
that the children of Israel
because of its glory that was
going to fade,
how much more will the
ministry of the Spirit be glorious?
For if the ministry of
condemnation was glorious,
the ministry of righteousness
will abound much more in glory.
Indeed, what was endowed with
glory
has come to have no glory in
this respect
because of the glory that
surpasses it.
For if what was going to fade
was glorious,
how much more will what
endures be glorious.
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Commentary on 2 Cor
3:4-11
In this passage
from St. Paul
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 99:5, 6, 7, 8, 9
R. (see 9c) Holy is the Lord our God.
Extol the LORD, our God,
and worship at his footstool;
holy is he!
R. Holy is the Lord our
God.
Moses and Aaron were among
his priests,
and Samuel, among those who
called upon his name;
they called upon the LORD,
and he answered them.
R. Holy is the Lord our
God.
From the pillar of cloud he
spoke to them;
they heard his decrees and
the law he gave them.
R. Holy is the Lord our
God.
O LORD, our God, you answered
them;
a forgiving God you were to
them,
though requiting their
misdeeds.
R. Holy is the Lord our
God.
Extol the LORD, our God,
and worship at his holy
mountain;
for holy is the LORD, our
God.
R. Holy is the Lord our
God.
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Commentary on Ps 99:5,
6, 7, 8, 9
This psalm of
praise and thanksgiving holds up the traditions of Moses and Aaron. The praise and respect given to the Law of
Moses extolled here stands between Paul’s assertion that the New Covenant
superseded the covenant of Moses and Jesus assurance that the Law of Moses
stands firm.
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Gospel: 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."
Commentary on Mt 5:17-19
Those who
believed that Jesus came to destroy the Jewish faith and laws are refuted in
this passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel. The Lord tells them that he did not
come to destroy the law even though he disagreed with the way some of those
laws were being implemented. Rather he came to fulfill it, essentially give the
law a reinterpretation through his own revelation.
In this early
encounter between Jesus’ mission and the Law of Moses we are told that Jesus
came to “fulfill” the law; to bring it to perfection as the messiah. He
supports the rabbinical teaching of the time which separates the 613 individual
precepts of the law found in the Pentateuch into “great and small” based upon
their seriousness when he refers to breaking the least of the commandments. It
is important to understand the Hebrew view of the Law: "The Law was
thought to be the summary of all wisdom-human and divine, the revelation of God
himself, a complete and a secure guide of conduct and endowed with a
sacramental assurance of good relations with God."[4]
The passage is
concluded in almost Mosaic style by saying that those who follow the law will
be great in heaven. This draws a distinction from those who would break the law
being least in heaven in the previous sentence.
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Reflection:
A careful examination of St. Paul St. Paul
The Jews who did not accept
Jesus are attaching the faith community in Corinth Corinth St. Paul
Jesus brings a fundamental
change to how “faithfully following the Law” must be seen. Before
he came, the Pharisees especially had looked at the Books of the Law, the
Torah, and focused on scrupulously following all 613 of the individual
rules. In doing this, they thought that
they were doing all that was asked by God and therefore were assured salvation
(although in today’s terms we are not sure what that meant since many of them
did not believe in the resurrection).
Jesus never told these
scrupulous followers of the Law that what they were doing was wrong (“…not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will
pass from the law”), rather his focus
was on what those actions produced. The
Lord’s whole mission pointed not to himself but to the Father. If following the Law did not accomplish the
Father’s will, then what was being done violated the spirit of the Law. Jesus made this criticism numerous times in
his chastisement of the religious leaders frequently calling them hypocrites.
When St. Paul
For us this contrast between
letter and spirit of the Law has a clear purpose and meaning. We are called to follow the law of the Church
with the spirit of Jesus. Our spiritual
eye must see where we are lead to God’s greater glory and, within the framework
of the Law, seek to accomplish those tasks which lead to the Father’s will and
glory. It is a difficult path we walk
but the Lord provides the Teaching Magisterium of the Church to help us form
our conscience and direct our steps. We,
for our part, must be diligent in understanding those teachings and applying
them in our lives.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law” by Harmenszoon van Rijn
Rembrandt, 1659
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 43:34, pp. 70
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