Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent, March 23, 2022

I’m doing better today than yesterday.  Still some confusion and spells of light headedness and shaking.  I am trying to stay off my feet as much as I can.  Thank you for your prayers!  Also, a reminder that Bible Study is up and running again.  We are examining the states of Christian life as we find them in the Bible: the married life, the priesthood and religious life, and the single life.

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.”

“I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  While the idea of “abolishing” something, such as the law and the prophets, is clear to us, less so is the meaning of “fulfilling” something.  It helps to know that the Greek word translated here as “ to fulfill” can also be translated as “to complete”.  It also helps to keep in mind that God had given the Law and the Prophets to the Israelites to govern them, but also as a sign that his Son would one day complete.  We can think of it this way: When we are watching a small child building some structure with his blocks, we might see this as a sign that he will grow up to be an engineer.  When the child does grow up and become an engineer, we can say that he has fulfilled or completed the sign we saw years before.  The Law and the Prophets in general showed the way for the New Covenant that the Lord Jesus would establish in his Blood. In doing this, the Lord sets out its terms, that is, his completion of the various laws found in the Law.  He does this, for instance, in his command for us to love our enemies as well as our friends and relatives.

The idea that the Lord was abolishing the Law and the Prophets came from the Pharisees.  In fact, he was abolishing or “overthrowing” (another meaning of the original Greek word) the false teaching of the Pharisees on the Law, and their false interpretation of the Prophets.  In their zeal for holiness, the Pharisees taught that the laws in Leviticus regarding the purification of the priests for offering sacrifice must apply to everyone.  While a regular part of the priest’s function, these laws were impractical for ordinary people.  The Pharisees made living the Law difficult for the people in other ways as well.  This is what the Lord overthrew.

“Not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.”  The word translated here as “have taken place” is difficult to translate.  It has the overall meaning of “come into being” or “is born” and is often translated simply as the verb to-be. What the Lord refers to is his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and also the coming of the New Heavens and the New Earth at the end of time (cf. Isaiah 66, 22).  It should be noted that the Lord means that “not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass” from the fulfilled or completed Law, the New Law of the New Covenant.  It is for this reason that we are not bound to sacrifice sheep and cattle: this sacrifice was a sign of the Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, which is continuously offered up at Holy Mass.

“Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”  We who are joined to the Lord Jesus through baptism and so with him are heirs to heaven, may attain the “greatest” place there through obeying and teaching his fulfilled Law to others.  We do this by our words and deeds, fostered by our prayers.  In the ranks of heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the most obedient of all and preeminent in her virtues, is accorded first place among the saints, and after her, those first teachers, the Apostles.  Third in order are the martyrs, who obeyed and taught the New Law through their sufferings and deaths, and still do so today through their example.  In fact, all the saints have obeyed and taught, and now exult and rejoice, basking in the love of God.  We too can have this is we join their company in obeying the teaching the Law of Jesus Christ.