Wednesday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time, June 14, 2023

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.”

The Pharisees regularly accused the Lord of breaking the Sabbath and the rules on purification, though he rigorously obeyed them and only ignored their baseless interpretations of the Law.  In these words, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets”, he indicates that he has actually been accused of going further than violating the Law itself, and that he meant to sweep away Judaism altogether.  This, again, would have come from the Pharisees.  The Lord defends himself from this false charge and declares: “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  That is, to “fill up” what was lacking in the original Law.  The original Law was such that it could be obeyed without the help of grace, while a fulfilled Law, bringing about sanctity, could be obeyed with the help of the grace the Lord brought to the earth and bestows on his people.  And so, the law against murder becomes the law against rage and unrighteous anger against one’s neighbor; and the law against adultery becomes the law against impure thoughts.  There are those today who want to think that the Lord loosened the excessive moral code of the Pharisees.  In fact, the Lord “tightens” the moral code and insists: “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.”  That is, the Law, as he renews it, remains intact until the end of the world.  “Until all things have taken place.”  The Lord may mean here that after his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, the laws regarding the worship of God in the Temple  will “pass”, as signified by the tearing of the veil in the sanctuary (cf. Matthew 27, 51).  The true worship of God is now the Holy Mass, which the Lord established at the Last Supper.  Or, the Lord may mean that the moral code would last until the end of the world with the great judgment and the condemnation of the wicked, when it’s purpose will have been accomplished.

“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.”  The Lord here is speaking of the Pharisees.  For instance, the Lord condemned their commandment regarding qorban because it conflicted with the commandment regarding the honoring of father and mother (cf. Matthew 15, 3-6).  “Will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven”: a manner of speaking to say that they will not be included in the Kingdom of heaven.  “But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”  The Apostles will take their place on the seats of Moses vacated by the usurping Pharisees and teach not according to their interpretations but according to the word Jesus gave them (cf. Matthew 23, 2).  

The Lord Jesus is the great Lawgiver who provides his faithful with not only the guides by which to attain heaven but also the grace necessary to abide by these guides and so to enter a Kingdom where we will know the fullness of love.