Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent, March 10, 2021

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.”

Jesus tells his disciples that he has not come to abolish the Law or the prophets but to fulfill them, that is, to complete them.  The Law of Moses told the Jews how God wanted them to live in a world before grace.  Thus, the Law was but a sign of the Law that was to come with Christ.  The Lord Jesus completed the Law by surpassing its literal requirements.  For example, he fulfilled the commandment against murder by stating, as the Lawgiver, that we are not to become enraged with one another, or to call one another names.  For us to do so is to murder a person in our hearts.  Likewise, the law regarding adultery was completed by injunctions against lust, and the law of the Sabbath was completed by the example of the Lord doing good works on it. By fulfilling or completing these tenets it would seem that he makes it more difficult for anyone to obey them, but through his Passion and Death he won grace for us, and it is by this grace that we can obey them.

“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.”  The general meaning of this verse is that the Law will remain in its fulfilled form until “all things” which he describes in chapters 24 and 25 of St. Matthew’s Gospel, take place.  The verse is about the firmness of the Law.  It will not change or break down or become irrelevant despite wars, famines, turmoil in the heavens, earthquakes or anything else.  It is a sign of God’s love for us and is a sure guide to eternal life.  “Not the smallest letter” is better translated from the Greek as, “Not an iota”, which is the smallest Greek letter: ι.  Our letter i is equivalent to it.  “Nor the smallest part of a letter”, that is, the Greek κεραία, which we can think of as an apostrophe, in terms of its size.  

“Will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.”  That is to say, the tiniest in the Kingdom of heaven, a way of saying not present in the Kingdom of heaven.   heaven, for not only has a person not obeyed the Law himself, but he has taught others to disobey it as well.  This was directed at the Pharisees who self-righteously were passing off their interpretation of the Law as authentic.  It is also directed at anyone who would attempt to justify his own sins by reinterpreting the Law of God and teaches this to others.

We are also called to “fulfill” the Law, not simply to carry out its letter, but to surpass its requirements by carrying out the commandments with love.