Search And Know God

12-02-2017 SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

SCRIPTURAL READING:

1. Sir. 15:15-20

Ps. 119: 1-2.4-5.17-18.33-34 (R. 1b)

1. 1 Cor. 2: 6-10; Accl; Mt 11:25.

2. Matt. 5: 17-37

THEME: SEARCH AND KNOW GOD

The opening verse of Psalm 14:1 declares “fools say to themselves, there is no God.” They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right. Verse 6 says “evildoers frustrate the plans of the humble man, but the Lord is his protection.” It is an evil man or woman that will criticize what is good and right because he or she wants to remain in darkness. Such a man or woman has chosen the part of darkness. To ignore the reality and build arguments based on sentiments.

Jesus was accused of destroying or abolishing the law of God. He has always been accused of minimizing God’s law. Every generation has its proponents who feel that Jesus emphasized love and de-emphasized the law. Many have felt that the thrust of Jesus is love and forgiveness, and the afterthought is law and justice. As a result, many have felt less obligated to follow God’s law. They have felt freer to live a looser life and to do as they wished. The feeling has been that if they keep the law of God in the back of their minds, they have the Christian liberty to interpret behaviour as they see fit (within some reason).

We see in the gospel reading that Jesus pulls no delay to hit the nail on the head: DO not think that I have come to abolish the law…”, “anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments will be considered least in the kingdom of God.” “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The point Jesus made in the gospel reading is very clear; he said he was neither contradiciting nor standing against them. he was fulfilling them, completing them, bringing out what was implied. He was showing what the real meaning of the Old Testament scripture is, its full meaning-all that God intended the scripture to say. As God’s son, he is the revelation of the truth. He is to reveal the true and complete meaning of the scriptures.

The question now is, how did Jesus fulfill the law? Several points will help in answering this question;

1. Before Christ, the law described how God wanted man to live. The law was the ideal, the words that told man what he was to do. But Christ fulfilled and completed the law; that is, God gave man more than just mere words to describe how he wants man to live. He gave man the life, the person who perfectly pictures and demonstrates the law before the world’s very eyes. Jesus Christ is the picture, the living Example, the true pattern, the demonstration of life as it is to be lived.

Col. 1:15 says “he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

1. Before Christ, the law was only words and rules. It could only inject the idea of bahviour into the mind of a person. It had no spirit, no life, no power to enable a person to do the law. But Christ fulfilled and completed the law. He was spirit and life, so he was able to live the life described by the words ad rules. As such, he was able to inject both the idea and the power to behave into a person’s mind and life. it is now his life that sets the standard and the rule for the believer; it is his spirit and life that gives the believer power to obey.

Heb. 8:10; Heb. 10:15-16 says; “this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws on their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

1. Before Christ, the law stated only the rule and the principle of behaviour. It did not explain the rule nor the spirit behind the rule. Neither did the law give the full meaning of the rule. The law always had to have an interpreter. But Christ fulfilled and completed the law. He explained the rule and the spirit behind the rule, and gave the law its real and full meaning.

Gal. 3:23-24 “before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”

1. Before Christ, the law demanded perfect righteousness; it demanded a perfect life. but man failed at certain points. Man just could not obey the law perfectly; he fell short of perfect righteousness. But Christ fulfilled and completed the law. He kept the law in every detail. He secured the perfect righteousness demanded by the law. He fulfilled all the requirements all the types, and all the ceremonies of the law perfectly. As such, he became the perfect man, the ideal man, the representative man for all men. As the ideal man, he simply embraced all men; he embodied the righteousness that man must now have.

2 Cor. 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

1. Before Christ, the law demanded punishment for disobedience. If a man broke the law, he was punished. But Christ fulfilled and completed the law. In fact, he paid the maximum price, showing the ultimate love. He bore the punishment of the law for every man’s disobedience; he took the punishment of the law upon himself. As the ideal man, he not only embodies the righteousness that must cover all men, he also frees all men from the penalty of the law and he makes them sons of God.

The message is clear, if Jesus has come to complete and fulfill the law, no one then is permitted to break even the least of the law. It requires obedience. The fact is, no person is perfectly obedient all of the time. Every person fails sometime. But any person who continues to break a commandment, even if it is the least commandment, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Whereas the one who continually obeys the commandment will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. One cannot break a commandment and asks forgiveness, then go out and break another commandment and ask forgiveness over and over again. Such a person cannot expect God to think he is serious about the commandments of God. He/she will not be taken to be serious so also would God, such a man or woman will only deceive himself/ herself.

Three set of persons teach the law to others.

1. The keeper and the breaker of the law. A person teaches by what he does. Others see and observe and learn from what he does. If a person repeatedly breaks a law, no matter how small a law, he teaches that the law is not important-not worthy enough to be kept.
2. The instructor of the law. This refers to the teachers of the law and of religion. Each instructor either adheres to or rejects the law. Each instructor teaches his students the truth or else deceives his students into following human reasoning. The person who breaks and teaches the breaking of the law attempts to void the law, that is, to do away with it. The continued disobedience of the law is denying the commandment-treating it as though it is unimportant and unnecessary. It treats the commandment as though it not even existing and has no bearing upon a person’s life. Such behaviour is consciously or unconsciously teaching men to void the law.
3. Christ warned all who break and teach others to break the law, even if they break only the least commandment: they shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. 4 set of persons are warned: a.) the worldly or carnal: the person who continues to break the commandments of God. B.) the teacher or instructor: the person who teaches that the commandment of God is a farce (funny or ridiculous). The person says there is no such thing as God’s law, there are only the commandments of men. C.) the person who teaches and encourages others to sin and to disobey the commandments of God-even if the commandment is one of the least. This is one of the most grave of the sins of men. Luke 17:2 says “it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” D.) the mocker or persecutor: the person who rebels, mocks and curses God’s law and its strictness, mocks God and the followers of it.

There are 4 significant lessons

1. All the commandments 0of God are important, but some are less important than others. The man who breaks the least commandment and continues to break it teaching men to break it shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
2. Breaking a commandment of God and continuing to break it is serious, even if it is one of the least commandments. Such behaviour teaches men that the commandment is not important. The result: a person shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
3. When a commandment is broken, a person is to ask forgiveness and repent. He is not to continue breaking the commandment and asking forgiveness over and over. Continuous disobedience teaches that the commandments of God are not really all that important. It is that person who will be judged severely.
4. The obedient person can expect great reward. He shall b called great in heaven, he is loved in a special way by both God and Christ, he receives very special manifestations of Christ’s presence.

Someone may neglect the law for several reasons

1. He is deceived about the law’s importance. Someone has misled him about its importance.
2. He is too preoccupied with worldly affairs to place much importance in the law.
3. He is reacting against some strict teaching in his past; therefore, he now neglects the law.
4. He has not been taught the seriousness of keeping God’s law.

He fears the restrictions the law will place upon his life and behaviour. He does not want to live as the law says, so he neglects it