In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave six antitheses, six statements which seem to contradict teachings from the Old Law. Four of these appear in today’s gospel. But introducing these antitheses Jesus makes clear that he is not contradicting them but rather taking them to a higher level. "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them."
In them, Jesus reveals the higher level of morality which the gospel enjoins on us. Whereas the Old Law focused more on social morality – at least as it came to be understood – the New Law requires from us the inner conversion which is the essential foundation of life in society. The Old Law told us not to kill or commit adultery; it regulated marriage and, as part of this, permitted divorce; it forbade false oaths; it laid down basic notions of justice and made clear boundaries between neighbours and enemies.
Fullness of the Law
But Jesus teaches (in a way which hints at his divinity: only God can modify a law which God first revealed) that we must live out the interior attitudes which are the foundations of these precepts. To avoid killing we must resist the inner anger which leads to violence and seek the early reconciliation which stops problems escalating. To avoid adultery, we should seek the purity of heart which leads us to respect the dignity of others, in particular women. This might require radical actions to resist sin and its occasions – hence the metaphors of plucking out our eye or cutting off our hand.
Jesus then gives a new view of marriage in which women cannot simply be discarded. Marriage is indissoluble and to divorce one’s spouse and marry another is adultery. Next, he insists on a profound attitude of truthfulness; we should say simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ without making unnecessary oaths. The next two antitheses (not in today’s gospel) call on us to abandon all desire for revenge, preferring to suffer a wrong than to inflict one, and no longer make a distinction between enemy and neighbour. We should even love those who are hostile towards us.
The Old Law must be lived but in a deeper, more interior way, with a "righteousness exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees", aiming at inner conversion, not outer propriety. The law must not be relaxed, but in its essential requirements, not its contingent applications. We no longer practise circumcision or animal sacrifices but we must dedicate ourselves to God body and soul.
Meekness and purity of heart, absolute fidelity in marriage, a deep truthfulness, rejecting any desire for vengeance, and dissolving the distinction between neighbour and enemy … These are the foundations of peaceful social life, arising from peace in our souls.
Homily on the readings of Sunday VI in Ordinary Time (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
