Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Fr. Brent Bowen  |  02/12/2023  |  Weekly Reflection

Jesus gives us the interpretive key to this long passage in verse 17 when he says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus’ original hearers, an audience primarily made up of Jewish men and women, would have recognized that he is making a messianic claim: He is the one whom God promised to send. In His very person, Jesus is bringing to fulfillment the Kingdom of God. For example, in Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses says, “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.” Likewise we see Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecy made in Isaiah 11:1, “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,” King David’s father, “and from his roots a bud shall blossom.”

Jesus is trying to tell us how we are to interpret his coming: not to abolish everything that God had done up to that point in the history of salvation, but rather to fulfill it. In the Old Testament, God calls and chooses His people, he establishes a covenant with them, and only then does he give them the precepts of the law. Or, put another way, God first establishes a relationship with his people, and then he teaches them how to live in that relationship. The law teaches them how to conduct themselves before God and among one another.

In a similar manner, Jesus first calls his disciples to himself; he establishes a relationship with them. Then, here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins to teach them. At this point in Jewish history, many saw the law of Moses as an end in itself. Think for example, of the Pharisees, who prided themselves on observing every detail of the law. Jesus, on the other hand, teaches that while the observance of the law is good (because it was given by God), its observance is meant to always lead us back to love: both love of God and love of neighbor. In other words, by observing the law externally, we interiorize what it is trying to accomplish.

Once we understand this, we can read Jesus’ teachings with fresh eyes. When he says, “You have heard it was said” followed by “but I say to you . . .” we see Jesus pointing us to the ultimate end of the law. For example, he calls us not only to observe the commandment not to kill our brothers and sisters, but to do something deeper: to avoid unjust anger with our fellows. Likewise, we are not only to observe the commandment to not commit adultery, but to avoid the lustful gaze that leads us to see others as less than who they truly are: beloved daughters and sons of God.

Truly Jesus is calling his disciples to something greater than a mere cursory observance of rules. He is inviting us to reflect upon how our behavior impacts our relationships, both with God and with others. Jesus is calling us to do what St. Paul invites the early Christians to do throughout his letters: to “put on the mind of Christ,” allowing our relationship with Jesus to mold and shape our hearts and our wills and make us more like himself.

When we place Christ at the center of everything in our lives, we begin to realize that following his teachings, even the difficult ones, is not so much about observing rules. Instead, we begin to desire the same things that Christ does because he is our close friend, and we want what he wants. The motivation behind living the Christian life becomes not so much an obligation as a daily observance of living in a way that glorifies God in everything we do.