Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Dt 4:1,5-9; Mt 5:17-19
In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus reclaiming the relevance of God’s law.
When Jesus declares that he came not to abolish but to fulfill the law or the prophets, we might wonder what he meant when he disobeyed the Sabbath laws.
Our perspective needs a corrective.
Jesus always fulfilled God’s laws but questioned what was put in place as God’s laws to oppress His people.
In this sense, Jesus reclaimed the original intention of God behind giving the laws and was against duplicity in God’s name.
Hence, the question is not Jesus’ attitude toward the law but the law’s relevance to him.
As such, whenever Jesus challenged the Sabbath laws, he did not mean to abolish them but instead brought them to their basics.
The laws of God are for human flourishing. They are not and cannot be oppressive.
Jesus means that God’s laws are meant for our common good, which he came to fulfill!
Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar
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