“I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church

Memphis, TN, USA

February 13, 2011

In Matthew 5:7, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

In Romans 3:28 & 31, St. Paul says, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” “Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”

There is a story of two Buddhist monks who were travelling along a muddy road in torrential rain. They came upon a beautiful girl who was unable to cross to the other side of the road due to the mud. The first monk lifted her in his arms and carried her over. The girl expressed her gratitude for the help rendered to her. The two monks continued on their way. As they continued in the journey, neither of them spoke until they neared their destination. Then the second monk who watched as his brother monk lifted the girl to the other side of the road spoke out, “We monks don’t go near women. And why did you lift that girl over the mud? See, I don’t like the way you carried her!” The monk who lifted the girl said to him, “I left the girl back there in the road, but you are still carrying her.”

Dearest beloved, this story exemplifies what Jesus is teaching us in today’s Gospel. We cannot base our morality on law alone. It is on the direction of our heart that we will ultimately be judged. If our heart is in the right place, deeply rooted in God, we will not even think of calling our brother or sister a fool, let alone killing him or her. If our hearts are pure, we will not allow ourselves to be trapped in day-dreaming, dreaming lustfully about a woman or a man we met on our way. A pure heart does not engage in “a mental undressing of the other,” that means using the mind to strip a woman or a man naked and then going into a fantasy of romance. A heart that is pure will not indulge in that let alone commit adultery. No wonder Jesus says in Matthew 5: 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The obedience of the law should and must go beyond the mere external observance of the law.

Jesus says he had not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. By this Jesus means he came to bring out the real meaning of the Law. Jesus came to give the law a meaning. He came to explain the full meaning of the law and to also teach us how the law should be obeyed. When we take a look at the Ten Commandments which are the foundation of all law, we can see that their whole meaning can be summed up in one word- respect or reverence. Reverence for God, reverence for God’s name, reverence for God’s day, respect for parents, respect for life, respect for property, respect for personality, respect for the truth, respect for another person’s good name, respect for oneself so that wrong desires may never master us. These are the fundamental principles behind the Ten Commandments- reverence for God, respect for others and for ourselves. (Idea from William Barclay’s “The Gospel of Matthew”, Vol. 1, Revised Edition)

Jesus says he has not come to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill them. The old law states “You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.” But Jesus goes even further by saying “Whoever is angry with his brother (or sister) will be liable to judgment.” We should not be so angry with our brother, or sister or spouse to the point of cursing them out. James 3: 9 says, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who have been made in the image of God.” We should not be so angry with someone to the point of decimating the person’s character. It is not only the bullet or the dagger that kills, the tongue also can kill. Proverbs 18: 21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” With the tongue, we can destroy a family, a church and even set a community ablaze. With the tongue, a long time friendship can be scattered. The tongue is the tool of saying the truth and also the tool of spreading lies and gossips. The killers are not only those who kill with guns and bullets, the gossips and busybodies are part of it. In Romans 1:29, St. Paul lists gossips as one of serious sins. Then Proverbs 20:19 says, “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man or woman who talks too much.” Proverbs 11: 12-13 says, “A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but trustworthy person keeps a secret.” The Bible also tells us in Proverb 16: 18 that “A perverse person stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.”

So the teaching about murder includes murder of one’s character, reputation and integrity. To such people, the Lord says, “You will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” As human beings, people, events, situations etc can upset us. But Ephesians 4:26 says, “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” Out of uncontrolled anger, you may destroy yourself or others. Out of uncontrolled anger, murderous words could be uttered. Certain words can also kill. The gun could destroy the human body, but there is another murder that breaks both the body and the spirit. It is the murder of the tongue sometimes engineered by uncontrolled anger. James 3: 5 says, “The tongue is the smallest part of part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest it set on fire by a small spark” The murder of the tongue can recreate someone in the eyes of others. The murder of the tongue can give a different identity to someone; it can even give a new name and title to someone. The person walks about thinking that all is well, not knowing that someone else has already destroyed his or her reputation, thereby giving him another image before others.

The Lord says he has not come to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill them. The old Law says, “You shall not commit adultery.” But Jesus explained the law deeper by saying, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Adultery is a gross violation of the solemn promise made between a man and his wife before God and before God’s people. It is a violation of trust. Ultimately, it is a sin against God the Institutioner of marriage; it is a sin against Jesus the Redeemer of marriage; it is a sin against the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier of marriage and whose Temples we are; it is a sin against humanity too and human beings’ sense of decency. Adultery breaks the matrimonial bond. It wreaks the spiritual foundation of marriage. It makes nonsense the sanctity of marriage. When a man and his wife indulge in sexual relationship, it is not sex but a love-making. Adultery rejects that. Adultery is a lie.

Adultery is an illicit romance between a person who is married and a person other than the person’s spouse. It is the sin of infidelity. And do you know that adultery is not only a violation of marital fidelity between a man and woman? Adultery can also occur in our relationship with God. 2 Timothy 2:13 has already told us that God will remain faithful to us even if we are unfaithful. Unfaithfulness to God is adultery. We are in a relationship of love with Jesus Christ. Hosea 2:19 says, “I will betroth you to myself forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.” In 2 Corinthians 11:2, St. Paul says, “For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I have betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

Dearest beloved, we are also in a relationship of love with Jesus Christ our Redeemer. So any unfaithfulness to him is a form of adultery. Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom and we are the bride. We are in a spiritual union of marriage with Jesus Christ. This marriage with the Lord occurred during our baptism. At baptism we promised to be faithful to him; at confirmation, we promised to rather die than betray him. We promised to die in defense of him. And each time we receive the Eucharist, we demonstrate we are still faithful to him. Therefore any unfaithfulness to him is adultery. Fornication is adultery; unlawful divorce is adultery; false oat is adultery; telling lies is adultery; deception is adultery; incest adultery; homosexual behavior is adultery; stealing is adultery; murder is adultery, the murder of the tongue is also adultery. Every sin is adultery since every sin is unfaithfulness to God. Adultery in human marriage breaks the promise of fidelity made at marriage. In the same vein, sin breaks the promise to be faithful made at baptism.

Jesus has come not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to deepen their meaning. He came to explain the meaning of the law. The Lord came to show us that in actual life the law means being pure in heart, having reverence for God and respect for all human persons. This reverence and respect do not merely consist in obeying a litany of rules and regulations, but in possessing a pure heart. Reverence to God and respect to people consist not in burnt offering, but in mercy, not legalism but in love, not in a long prohibitions, but in molding ones life on the beautiful commandment to love. The new rule is no longer “Thou shall not…” but “Thou shall.” The emphasis is on doing good with a pure heart. In the long run good will conquer evil. Keeping the letters of the law is not enough; being pure in heart is what really counts. Remember, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”