Salvation in the Way that Jesus Saves

Today's first reading, Dt 4: 1, 5-9, and the Gospel, Mt 5: 17-19,  speak about the law.  Jesus tells his disciples that he has come, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  He challenges the Pharisees for being legalistic, as legalism can kill the spirit. Love and compassion are above legalistic adherence to a law for the law's sake. An example would be a family member encouraging another family member recovering from pneumonia, for instance,  to stay home on a Sunday morning and take care of him/herself, not risking one's recovery by attending a liturgy on a Sunday morning.   A legalistic person might tell the family member that she/he  is well enough to attend Mass and must do so, obeying the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath.

Laws are made for our well-being and safety, not human beings made for the preservation and adherence to laws. The laws are there to protect us, to make us whole, to strengthen us spiritually and morally. Jesus knows the importance of laws and says to his disciples:  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."

Every time I obey the commandments, I am glorifying, honoring, praising God and God is strengthening and healing me. By my obedience, I am growing in grace and holiness, in endurance and wisdom, in intelligence and hope. In Dt 4: 1, 5-9, the author of this book encourages us to "observe [the commandments] carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statues and say, 'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.' For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?" 

May you and I have the wisdom and the intelligence to follow God closely, fulfilling the law as Jesus did, bringing it to fulfillment by our love, our compassion, our mercy, our forgiveness of ourselves and others.  It is through our obedience that we will grow in our knowledge of the Lord, our God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and truly grow in bringing the law to fulfillment for the good of others and our own good.

Revealing our Wisdom and our Intelligence

In today’s first reading, Dt. 4: 5-9, Moses is instructing the people to observe God’s commandments, His statues and decrees “that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your…[ancestors], is giving you….Observe them carefully, for thus you will give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He has come to fulfill the law, not to destroy it.  Jesus, who carries out the spirit of the Law, challenges us to more than the externals of the law.  Jesus teaches that fulfilling the law means loving one’s neighbor as oneself, responding to  persons “left to die” by the side of our “roads” even when that means breaking a letter of the law in some way;  or choosing to be authentic when others  fear disapproval of their “friends”.   It means giving two tunics and turning the cheek when charity invites us to give of the more, not just what the letter of the law requires. It means withholding “throwing the first stone” when others are caught in serious sin, though the law has certainly been violated.  If we keep the commandments, Jesus promises,  we will have life and have it to the full. That is why He has come to this earth. That is why he will gave His life for our ransom. He wants to enter the Promised Land, to take full possession of ourselves, to know wisdom and to be intelligent in how we live our lives.

Do people, we might ask ourselves,  perceive us as “wise and intelligent” or do we simply blend in with the majority of folks who are swept away by the demands of the world, of secularism, materialism, consumerism, hedonism and all the other false gods of this world.  Are we persons who simply take the easy way out by following the crowd wherever it goes? “Everyone is doing it!” “What’s the big deal—no one else observes the commandments.” “Aren’t those outdated,” we might ask when reminded to refrain from sexual intercourse outside of marriage, when challenged to be honest in our dealings with others, when reminded to keep holy the Lord’s day and so on.

How wise and intelligent are we?