Mt 5:17-19 (Fulfill His Will)
Two farmers began to fight over the ownership of a cow. One began to pull from the head and the other from the tail. While they were doing this, a third came and began to milk the cow. He happened to be a lawyer.
Jesus in today’s gospel says: “I have come not to abolish but to fulfill the law”. For the Jews, the Law is the complete and precise expression of God’s will. The Law that our Lord refers to is the Law that Moses received from Mt. Sinai which governs and guides the moral, religious, and secular life of Israelites. Jesus came to fulfill them in both letter and spirit. For Jesus, fulfilling the Law in both letter and spirit is surpassing the righteousness of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. He brings the law to an interior level as He teaches us by His own life how to live the law of love.
However, the religious leaders then were focused on only the strict implementation of the letter of the law; they even created supplementary instructions that became laws in order to protect the core laws. Apart from the Ten Commandments, they had 365 negative commands and 248 positive for a total of 613 commands. To be a good Jew, one must obey these Laws or else face excommunication and even death. What Jesus often condemns is, this scribal law because it places burdens on people which God has not intended.
In the modern world, Steel is rustless, Cookery has become fireless, Tennis courts are grassless, Oranges are seedless, and the proper diet is fatless. Our times are such that there are many advancements made because of great technology. Our prayers seem to be devotionless, Charity heartless, Preaching depthless and religiosity, faithless. We are provided with God’s law because as His children we need guidance. God’s word and His laws cannot just be ignored; they are very significant in our efforts towards self-transformation and societal harmony. It is the living of the law of love in our daily lives that we become great in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not only fulfilling the law that makes us holy. It is the fulfillment of the will of God. In other words, the law of God as a gift given to us to help us fulfill His will.
