THE WORD
1 Kgs 18,20-39 / 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.”
IN OTHER WORDS
A Filipino, who lived in Germany for many years, told me about his recent vacation in the Philippines: “It is not fair to compare, but we can learn many things from the Germans. For example, following traffic rules. A German driver stops and waits before the red light, even if there are no other cars crossing the intersection. A Filipino will most likely look around and cross the street, when he sees there are no cars around. If nobody is watching, he can do what he pleases. It is a small symptom of how big the challenge of governance our country faces. If nobody can follow a simple rule, how can you expect them to follow the bigger and complicated ones?”
Jesus is not abolishing the law, but fulfilling it (Mt 5:17). For him, small laws are as important as the big ones (Mt 5:19). He doesn’t consider himself above the law. Although Jesus is not talking about civil but religious laws, his attitude towards laws is unmistakable: respect legitimate laws, which serve as valid and reliable guides for human actions. Man-made laws are not necessarily
God’s laws, but obedience to both of them reflects our respect towards authorities. It is like how we honor our parents, whom we see, reflects how we honor God, whom we do not see. It is tempting to abolish a rule, which doesn’t t our wishes and challenges our sinful conduct. We delude ourselves thinking the rules don’t apply to us. It is a question of faithfulness in small and big things. Let us be careful not to relativize and trivialize God’s laws, be it small or big. We might miss its tested wisdom and worth.
- Fr. Simon Boiser, SVD | Hamburg, Germany
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
