Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Why is Jesus suddenly saying the Law must not be abolished? This is early in Matthew's Gospel, but how do we square it with his condemnation of the Pharisees and Scribes later?

We should remember that Matthew is a Jew writing for Jews, to explain how God has intervened in history to rescue His people. So by "The Law" he would have meant the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch), but he actually says "the law or the prophets" which means all of the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). He is not speaking of the "The Oral Law" which the Scribes had produced to ensure no-one accidentally broke the Law, and which was much used particularly by the Pharisees. We have seen how obeying the Law for them meant sticking to hundreds of petty rules, that often made no sense.

Later in the Gospel Jesus sums up the whole Law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22.34-40). When Jesus constantly breaks the Law by healing people on the Sabbath or touching a leper, he shows us that the Law of Love transcends decisions about whether healing is work, or if he has become ritually unclean.

We are to first, love God with everything within us. Then out of gratitude for what He has given us, especially through Jesus Christ, we are to express that love to others.

Lord God,
we admit that sometimes we find it hard
to be grateful to You when things go wrong,
and we cannot see where you are leading us.
Help us to see the bigger picture
and Your guiding hand even on the dark days.
We also admit thar we find it difficult to love others
when they live a different life to our own,
or express themselves in different ways,
or just get on our nerves.
You didn't say we could pick and choose people,
just that we should love them,
so help us to respond with loving care
to all who need our help this day.
Amen.