Beyond Words

The Gospel today no doubt annoyed the Pharisees. They were busy being faithful to the rules, the Commandments, and the other 600+ rules in the Law. In the best light, they felt responsible for the people’s souls and salvation. The Israelites were slaves, and the Pharisees were entrusted with keeping their fragile community safe and intact. The Law was the way they saw to do that. It was the one concrete thing they had to hold their people together. They believed following the Law was all they had to do to make God happy and ensure His care for them.

It is always easy to make the Pharisees the “bad guys.” But, perhaps they were just doing the best they could. They were doing the only thing they knew how to do. The Law was the tangible thing they had to hold their people together. They believed the Law was all they had to make God happy and ensure His care for them. 

Into their midst comes this man Jesus. He is a mystery. People tell stories of his strange birth and questions about His mother. Jesus is carelessly breaking the rules and seemingly catering to the most base desires of the people. He is eating and drinking with sinners and prostitutes. Jesus is apparently flaunting His disdain for the Law of God. To all appearances, He is mocking the Law of Moses and the bedrock of the Israelites. So Jesus is questioned about the Law and what it means.  

Jesus responds in a way that calls the people up short. He asks them to see bigger. Jesus’ response is meant to show the Pharisee’s that the Law they follow is not wrong; it is simply not enough. Their Commandments are not to be ignored. Instead, they are to be embraced more profoundly.

Jesus tells them that not one word of the Law will be erased by Him. Jesus did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. He came so that they might understand in a new way the Commandments given as a promise from God to Moses and the Israelites in the desert. Jesus’ answer makes life more challenging, not easier. The Pharisees were concerned that Jesus was abandoning the Law; instead, He made their lives much harder. The Law is no longer straightforward, right or wrong. Jesus has added a whole new dimension. He calls the Pharisees, the Israelites, and us to not take the easy way and let our faith be simply a literal interpretation of the Law. He calls them and us to look deeper and figure out what the Law means and how we can reflect that meaning in our lives. Black and white, right and wrong, good and evil are all easier when objective, and we don’t have to think about what the Gospel calls us to.

Being open to seeing deeper is as hard for us today in our Church as it was for the Pharisees. The Church has rules, and if heaven is the goal, we had best stand upright and walk in straight lines. We need to follow the commandments, attend Church on Sunday, and not get involved in an unworkable marriage or be remarried. We must avoid questionable relationships, be stalwart and go to confession often. You get the idea.

What Jesus called the Pharisees to was a broader understanding and compassion. He called them to welcome all people and not to judge them. He is doing the same for us. Jesus called them to embrace the Law with their heart, not just their mind.

Can we allow ourselves and one another to see beyond the Law into the heart of God? Can we offer mercy instead of judgment? Will we allow ourselves and others to fail without fearing for our immortal souls? Will we let God be God and allow ourselves to be His beloved?

Jesus calls us to open our hearts to the Law and its deeper meaning. He calls us to look beyond 10 Commandants and see love, compassion, and mercy. Instead, Jesus calls us to look into the heart of the Law and see only God’s love, compassion, and understanding for us.

When we know the love of God, we will live the heart of the Law. We will be a loving and forgiving presence for others when they fail. And when we fall short of the Law, because we will, we will not fear judgment but run home to God and be healed in His loving arms.

In God’s Unending Love,

Gwen