From the very beginning of creation God has made his will known to mankind. He started by writing what we call “Natural Law” onto the heart of every man. Under this natural law man was given the basic sense, or an inner voice, that tells us what’s right from wrong.
God then made that “Natural Law” a little more solid, if you will, when he wrote in stone and gave Moses the ten commandments. Now people had a guide which made it easier for them to achieve perfection by regulating their actions in accordance with God’s will. If we’re sincere in our reasoning, we can’t fail to see that we will achieve happiness by observing the ten commandments which will eventually lead us to heaven. They teach us what to do and what not to do according to God’s will and not man’s. The Jewish people had the Old Testament, of which the first five books, called the “Torah”, were known as “the Law”
Through the centuries, God’s people made all kinds of additions to the law and made various interpretations of the law. By Jesus’ time there were many false teachings and false leaders. In Jesus’ time the scribes and the Pharisees were the authoritative Jewish leaders. The scribes had the duty of interpreting and explaining the law; and in Jesus’ time, they were noted for their sophism; that is, their interpretations were often intended to deceive people, to mislead or trap people, while creating loopholes for themselves. The Pharisees on the other hand, tried to impress the people with their sanctity which was based on their strict observance of the law. They also added other practices which had no value under the law. They were, in essence, hypocrites. Their virtue and their observance of the law were all external and meant to be seen by others who would then admire and praise them.
Over the last several weeks we’ve been hearing Gospel readings from St. Matthew that come from Jesus’ Sermon on the mount. Jesus greatly expands our understanding of God’s plan for mankind and plan for our salvation. He reinterprets the law, giving it more detail, explaining God’s original intention of the law. Three weeks ago, we heard Jesus preach to his disciples the Beatitudes; a blueprint for how his followers are to live their lives. Last week we heard Jesus Tells us he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill the Law. In last week’s Gospel Jesus went on to expound on Jewish Law. He took three evil acts – murder, adultery, and perjury and defined them in a more detailed way to explain more deeply God’s original intention of those Laws and then gave us examples how to live out those laws. There was nothing wrong with God’s law from the beginning, but merely fulfilling the ancient law was no longer enough. Jesus explains that our external actions must be a reflection of what’s really in our hearts. To avoid being a hypocrite like the scribes and Pharisees our whole attitude in life must reflect the law.
In last week’s portion of the Sermon on the Mount we heard Jesus list several Jewish laws with the phrase, “You have heard it said that……”. And then he continued with his interpretation of how we are to observe that law by saying, “But I say to you……” Today’s Gospel continues this pattern with two more Jewish laws. The first, which is called, the law of talion, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”. And the second, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy”. Although hating one’s enemies was not actually a law found in the Old Testament, it was a common inference.
The law of talion regards proportionate recompense. It’s an ancient principle shared by most all civilized people through history. And it’s a principle on which we supposedly base our own legal system, in that if someone harms you, any restitution must be proportionate to the harm that was done.
When Jesus says, “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.” He’s not addressing those who have the responsibility to keep order in society, such as law enforcement officers or judges. Their job is to vindicate the rights of the injured. Without someone to keep order in society, there would only be chaos. Jesus is addressing the injured person himself. He’s telling us we must not seek revenge just for the purpose of revenge in itself. But he’s also not expressing it as a hard and fast rule that we have to allow others to walk all over us either. Remember when Jesus was arrested and put on trial. When someone struck him on the cheek, he didn’t turn the other cheek, nor did he retaliate. He responded, “Why did you strike me?” We are entitled to stand up for ourselves, but Jesus wants us to let love guide us rather than vengeance. If in society we exact retribution every time we are injured or offended, by using the law of talion, most everyone would be blind and toothless. If we all had to get even for every hurt in life, we would all end up hating one another. Jesus tells us the best way to get even is to forgive as we have been forgiven. Not only did Jesus forgive those who crucified him, he made excuses for them, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Jesus continues on in today’s Gospel to say, “You have heard it said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” To Jesus’ disciples at the time, his words would have immediately brought to mind their Roman oppressors, which would have been a very disturbing thought to them. But Jesus is teaching us that by dividing the world into good and bad people, we do a disservice to all of humanity. While there are surely people who are very good, and there are people who are very evil, most of us fall somewhere in between. What Jesus wants is for us to adopt a divine perspective and to see other people as they really are, made in the image and likeness of God. He wants us to pray for everyone and to love them as God loves them. This means we should look for the good in others, and treat all people with dignity, and treat even our enemies as brothers. It reminds us of the words we pray every time we pray the Lords’ Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Another reason Jesus asks us to love our enemy is that God loves all men. He does not limit his love to only those who are good. So, neither is it up to us to decide who deserves our love and who doesn’t.
These may seem like some very radical teachings by Christ, but it’s not impossible to love our enemies, or even turn the other cheek. Jesus wouldn’t ask the impossible of us. Some people have forgiven the most extraordinary crimes because they were graced by God to do so.
However, we can’t condemn ourselves either when we get those feelings of anger, revenge, envy, lust, greed, pride, or whatever. We’re all human, we’re weak, and we all experience these feelings. The important thing is what we do with these feelings. Do we act on them, do we dwell on them, hold onto them, let them take over our thinking, or do we look to Christ for strength and support? Do we choose to go in the direction he would want us to?
St. Paul in our second reading tells us that we are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in us. The original nature of our sin was washed away in baptism and makes us worthy to be what God calls us to be. We have been given the tools to express God’s love with our actions and the strength of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to do so in the face of insurmountable obstacles.
Today’s Gospel ends just as our first reading began. Jesus tells us, “Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect”; a direct reference to the opening line in our first reading from Leviticus when the Lord told Moses, “Be Holy, for I, the Lord your God, am Holy.” The lesson of the Gospel readings we’ve been hearing over the past several weeks is that Jesus wants each person to develop their own moral senses. He wants each person to come to a true understanding of what God wants. In our Gospel readings, Jesus is trying to show us that holiness goes beyond external behavior, and beyond mere observance of his laws. Holiness must be deep inside of us. That which makes us holy is love. Love for God and love for each other.