20210609 ADMINISTERING THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW
09 June, 2021, Wednesday, 10th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
2 Corinthians 3:4-11 © |
The new covenant is a covenant of the Spirit
Before God, we are confident of this through Christ: not that we are qualified in ourselves to claim anything as our own work: all our qualifications come from God. He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded, then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! For if there was any splendour in administering condemnation, there must be very much greater splendour in administering justification. In fact, compared with this greater splendour, the thing that used to have such splendour now seems to have none; and if what was so temporary had any splendour, there must be much more in what is going to last for ever.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 98(99):5-9 © |
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Zion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
O Lord our God, you answered them.
For them you were a God who forgives;
yet you punished all their offences.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts,
and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 5:17-19 © |
I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘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. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’
ADMINISTERING THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 Cor 3:4-11; Ps 99:5-9; Mt 5:17-19]
In the gospel, Jesus said, “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.” This declaration of the intent of our Lord might seem contradictory to how He dealt with the Law, His redefinition of how the Sabbath Law was to be observed and His disregard for the Oral Traditions of the Scribes, the customary laws, the observance of rituals and hygienic laws to keep them clean and pure for worship. St Matthew, being a Jew himself, wanted to assure his readers, who were Jews and therefore particularly sticky about observance of both the Mosaic Law and the scribal laws and traditions, that Jesus was not against the Law but He wanted to bring the Law to perfection in the way it is observed.
What, then, was the shortcoming of the Law? When we speak of the Law, one could just be referring to the first five books of the Jewish scriptures, namely, the Pentateuch; or we could be referring to the entire Jewish scriptures, if the term, “the Law and prophets” is used. But for the Jews, the Law also included the interpretations and application of the basic laws as enunciated by Moses in the Pentateuch, especially the Decalogue. So the crux of the problem was how the fundamental principles of the Law as enshrined in the Decalogue was applied in specific situations and daily life. The Law decreed that killing was wrong. But what about self-defence, incurable sickness, wars, and our enemies, and for the Israelites, especially those who were against the God of Israel? Then again, what does it mean to keep the Sabbath holy? Is all work forbidden? What about necessary jobs to look after our sick, animals, and provide facilities for the community? So, the scribes took the basic law and interpreted and applied it to every conceivable situation for the people. This made the laws legalistic and burdensome as there were too many to observe.
This was what St Paul wrote to the Corinthians. “He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life.” In St Paul’s understanding, the Spirit is the fulfillment of the New Covenant that Jeremiah announced. “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jer 31:31,33) This was also prophesied by Ezekiel, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” (Ezk 36:26f)
This new covenant for St Paul is far more superior to the old covenant, not that the old covenant was not useful for the life of the community. Rather, it was useful then until Christ came to give them the new covenant which is a continuity of the old covenant but also supersedes it in many ways. St Paul wrote, “Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded, then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! For if there was any splendour in administering condemnation, there must be very much greater splendour in administering justification.” Paul was not belittling the Mosaic covenant but he was helping the Jews to understand that the old covenant was transitory and to prepare for the New Covenant.
Whilst Paul admitted that the Mosaic law was holy, good and righteous, since they came from God Himself, yet, the role of the law was temporary until Christ came. (Gal 3:24) The Mosaic Law gave the principles of how each one was to conduct himself so that the community would live in peace, harmony and security. But whilst good, the law did not give one the power to fulfill them. Just because we know what is right and wrong, does not mean that we can do it. (Rom 7:9-13) It is the sin in us, the weakness and evil in us that cause us to break the law. The old covenant was written on tablets. It had a legal purpose but it did not help in the relationship between God and man. Indeed, the old covenant brought death to the hope of overcoming one’s sins because one was incapable of doing so. The old covenant brought death since it was more concerned, like the Civil laws, with judging, condemning and punishing. Hence, the Law, instead of bringing us life and freedom, condemned us to death. This explains why Paul called the Law, a ministry of death. The penalty of breaking the Law is death.
But the new covenant that Jesus came to bring is not based on the Law. It is a relationship of love between God and man. Jesus did not come to condemn us but to reveal to us the love of His Father for us, and to bring us to share in His sonship. Even though we might be disobedient at times, we are forever loved by God and are His sons and daughters. God does not seek to change us by using the laws but to heal our hearts and minds by His love and mercy. What is even more, is that this love which God has loved us in Jesus dwells in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. (Rom 5:5) So we are able to fulfill the law of love because our nature has been transformed by the Spirit of Christ. Not only do we know what the laws are, but we have the capacity that comes from the love of God in us to obey the law. Truly, the motivation for love must come from the fact of God’s love in us. Without Him loving us, we cannot love truly. Our love for God and of our neighbours must not be given out of obligation but out of gratitude for the love that we have received from Him.
Consequently, when Jesus said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20) He was reminding the Jews that it is not enough simply to observe the letter of the law and feel contented and satisfied with ourselves. Rather, we are called to fulfill the Spirit of the Law. There is in the final analysis only one law, which is the law of love, of God and of our neighbor. (Mk 12:30f) As Paul said, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:8-10) St Augustine also said, “Love God and do what you will.” But this is easier said than done. When it comes to love, there are no limits to how much we can love. No one can love as much as God loves us. Unlike the fulfillment of laws, we can easily discharge ourselves once the laws are fulfilled, love has no parameters, no depth and height, width and breath. No one can say that he has loved enough because no matter how much we seek to love, we have our limits. Although we seek to love unconditionally and totally, it remains an open question whether we can completely love in that manner.
The realization that the new covenant requires us to live the Spirit of the Law is even more demanding and fulfilling than the mere observance of the laws, calls for a decision. Do we still want to cling to the old covenant, which brings frustration and death, or to the new covenant which brings fulfillment and life? Clinging to the old ways of finding happiness is to forfeit the greater happiness made available to us in Christ. We are not saying that the old is to be discarded as if there is a total discontinuity between the old and the new. Rather, the new covenant is founded on the old covenant but it brings it to fulfillment. There is a saying, “When the sun has risen, we put away our lamps.” The new covenant does not discard everything in the old covenant, but as the Lord said, perfects it. So too, we must remember that clinging to the old covenant is to cling to the second best. It is also said that “the second best is the worst enemy of the best.” This is why, we must turn to Jesus who gave us the Sermon on the Mount, a new way of looking at the laws, going beyond mere regulations to the heart of the law, which is summed up in one word, love. This basic principle must be applied to every area of life including worship and doctrines.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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