All the scripture readings for February 12th (Deut 30:15-20), Psalm 119: 1-8, 1 Corinthians, Matt 5: 21-37) expand the same theme: love the Lord your God, walk in obedience to him, and keep his commands (Deut 30:15) They emphasize following the spirit of the commandments as well as the letter.  

Psalm 119:1-2 reads

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
    who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes
    and seek him with all their heart—

For his part, Paul approaches the theme negatively, critiquing the Corinthians for not living by the Spirit but trying to rationalize their behaviour as righteous, even when it is not.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ… You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? 

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The gospel, (which continues the Sermon on the Mount) exemplifies that Jesus came, not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. It expands the theme of living in the spirit of the law as well as by the letter. It explains how his followers are to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 5:20).  

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘You fool’ (a profound insult) is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and, there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together …or your adversary may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you to the officer and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus does not prohibit anger in what he said. Instead, he offers pastoral guidance on resolving it and restoring broken relationships.  

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“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Jesus' instruction goes beyond even leering, which is a semi-public form of lust. In his heart refers to secret lust that can be unknown and unseen by others. 

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus used hyperbole to make a point. He did not advise self-mutilation. He counselled  mortification of the sense of sight. He is saying, ‘If an image or a person tempts one to sinful desire, then look away.’

Actual murder and adultery begin with anger in the heart and looking at a person lustfully. Jesus counsels his hearers to nip the sin in its bud. 

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The gospel continues,

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Deuteronomy 24:1 says, Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house. The key phrase is something objectionable, which became subject to much discussion and interpretation. Jesus was addressing the perverse use of this law and particularly a something objectionable.

Later, in Matt 19:3-12, Jesus takes up the issue of divorce again, this time in response to questions.

Some Pharisees... asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘… the One … “made them male and female…A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? …What God has joined together, let no one separate.’ They said, ‘Why did Moses…give a certificate of dismissal and divorce?’ He said, ‘Because you were so hard-hearted Moses allowed divorce, but at the beginning it was not so. I say…whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’

His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching…Let anyone accept this who can.’

Jesus emphasized the commitment of marriage to become one flesh. As with his sayings about hate as equivalent to murder and lust as the equivalent of adultery, Jesus stressed the inner substance of the commitment, not just the form. He condemned trivializing the bond by casual divorce.  

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“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

In a sense, Jesus was saying ‘honour your word’. Yet, in our time when deceit is common, this saying seems almost quaint. Each of us is wary of credit card fraud and we are probably recipients of phishing emails daily. Recent news has featured people having their homes sold by purported renters. Internet networks promote conspiracy theories of breathtaking incredibility.  

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In each of these sayings Jesus expanded on the beatitude, Blessed are the pure of heart… This beatitude is about integrity in everything one does and about aligning our hearts with our outward behaviour and our stated intentions. It was part of the same sermon on the Mount. 

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  • As Jesus spoke, do you imagine that this was another ‘epiphany’ for people as they looked inward to review their own angers, lusts, and rationalizations of behavior? 
  • First century Judaism had different schools for interpreting the Torah. Some interpretations became esoteric. Jesus explained Torah with a view towards its implications for daily behaviour. Did this startle his listeners? Did they regard his teaching as simply another academic interpretation? Did they hear it as a guide for their own behavior? Did it attract people to him?
  • If you were among the people listening to Jesus, which statement would you want to interrogate him about, if you were able to get a few minutes alone with him? Would you question the interpretation or the behavioural implications?

Peace
Michael