Gospel Reading: Mt 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
I HAVE COME NOT TO ABOLISH BUT TO FULFILL
For Jewish Christians, the audience of Matthew, the observance of the Mosaic Law is necessary for salvation; it gives direction for a blessed life. But they see that Jesus does not observe the Sabbath law; he performs healing during the Sabbath.
The Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the law. Yet in the Gospel, Jesus claims that he has come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. In this new era, the law that Jesus fulfills is the will of the heavenly Father, not the Mosaic Law that has only a preparatory character.
It is the will of the heavenly Father that we live a blessed life; that is why Jesus heals the sick even on a Sabbath. Jesus has come to liberate us from a legalistic observance of the Mosaic Law. He invites the disciples, and us included, to obey, teach, and live the law of love.
“Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:10).
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