6th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Spirit of the Law (Mt 5: 17-37)
Introduction
- Story – a teacher told to the children on a work day – ‘before coffee break, make 30 pits on the ground – after coffee break fill it with soil’. The intention of the teacher was to plant seeds in those pits/holes at the tea break. The children made the pits with a spade – went for the coffee break – re-filled it with mud/soil after the coffee break. But the teacher failed to plant the seeds since he was late to come back from the seeds shop. The children obeyed the instructions word by word but never knew the purpose of that.
- Jesus calls us to look into the spirit of the law.
Content
- Do we need laws? In the book “Animal Kingdom” George Orwell describes an Utopian world where there are no laws among the animals. There were perfect equality and freedom. At the end everything became chaotic and full of confusion. Their life became so miserable. We need laws and just structures for our development.
- There are two important elements for every law – spirit of the law and the letters of the law.
o Commentaries are written on the letters of the law, expanding its nuances.
- Today we have three Old Testament laws to reflect on and the vision of Jesus about that.
o Murder – Letters of the law is – You shall not kill anybody.
§ The spirit of the law is - love your brothers and sisters even if they are your enemies.
§ Do not harm in any kind, not in word or in deed.
§ Even getting angry (for the destruction of the other) is liable to judgment.
o Adultery – letters of the law is – do not commit any physical sexual acts.
§ Spirit of the law – respect your sisters
§ Therefore even lustful thoughts are against this respect because lustful thoughts come when other is seen as an object of pleasure.
o False Oath and misleading others.
§ Letters of the law is “do not false oath”
§ Spirit of the law is ‘never cheat others, by words or actions’
- The spirit of the law is pointing towards the root cause of the problem:
o Murder – anger
o Adultery – lust
o False oath – cheating
Conclusion
- Look to the spirit of the law and observe it
- Above all Jesus gives us two basic laws – love of God and love of neighbor. The spirit of all the law is these two basic principles.
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