6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A
I SAY TO YOU…
The gospels were written for a
purpose. The gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (whether they were
the real authors or names used by some others writing under their influence),
put to writing the prevailing accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection,
in order to convey a message to the believing community. It was for this reason
too, that the so-called apocryphal gospel or gnostic gospels, written much
later, were judged by Christians as unreliable in proclaiming the faith – they
failed in transmitting the true message of Christ.
Matthew whose gospel we read
every Sunday this year, had a clear goal as a writer. He wanted to present
Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles, as the new lawgiver, higher than Moses, and
with authority coming from on high. Jesus is the Lawgiver of the New Covenant.
Today’s gospel (Mt 5) shows us
how Jesus, without revoking the law given to their ancestors, interprets in a
new way, the Law. In the process, he refines it, amplifies it, and deepens it,
according to his own wisdom and authority. “It was said to your ancestors” –
that’s the old law. “But I say to
you” – this is the new law of Christ.
The law was given to Moses on the
mountain by God. This is in fact, not the law of Moses, but truly the law of
God, and Moses was only the instrument to promulgate it. Moses therefore never
spoke as Jesus did, nor did anyone in Israel before say “I say to you…,” for to
do so would be to claim an authority beyond your power, to claim divine
mandate. But how confidently and effortlessly Jesus does just that. Because he
is God’s Son, one with his Father, Jesus can give the law a new face. And where
once, the law was understood as imposing, rigid, or harsh, Jesus wants us to
see the loving, caring, and sincere side of God’s holy will.
This week let us take time to
listen to Jesus as he invites us to appreciate his law. Let us also ask him to
give us the grace to follow the love of love by putting it in practice in the
situations we find ourselves in.
