For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:20)

In our Gospel today, Matthew gives us an insight into the complicated relationship between Jesus and the Jewish establishment of his time—a relationship that would lead to rejection and death. As an evangelist, in particular, to the Jewish world, Matthew is keen to present Jesus as the fulfilment of their Law. Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the anointed one who would bring salvation and hope. Thus, the law and teaching of Christ, God made human, surpasses anything that has gone before.

The great Law of Moses, shown in the Ten Commandments helped the peripatetic Jewish family to grow and thrive. Any group needs rules and regulations in order to survive. Imagine a soccer match with no rules? Chaos would soon be the order of the day. Imagine if I did not follow the instructions of trained medics in a civil emergency, thinking that my Cub Scout first aid badge would save the day! On a far more serious level, look what happens when people do not accept the rules of democracy: the insurrection at the US Capitol in January 2021 led to death and vandalism because a minority would not accept the legal votes of the majority. Recent events in Brazil brought the need for a clear acceptance of the democratic rule of law. It does not matter how rich you might be, or how entitled you feel you are, clear and verified election results must stand. The fact that five people were killed in the Capitol riot shows the evil consequences of a failure to heed the rule of law. The late Pope Benedict XVI put it very well that, if we are not careful:

We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.

In this teaching, Mathew sees Jesus as the perfection of the law. We are invited to be righteous—this does not mean we are superior or better than another. As we discovered last week, as 'light to the world' we help others to discover the power of the light of God within them. In the Old Testament, the righteous ones were those who followed the covenant that God established with his people. They followed this agreement by keeping the law—this was what made them righteous.

Righteousness means they would be right with God, they would be right with their brothers and sisters, and they would be right with the whole world.

In presenting the Law, Jesus does not demand a blind obedience—there is a respect for humanity: He invites us to live these rules in the spirit of faith and respect. This is why our following of the Law must be greater than those Jewish leaders that Jesus names and shames. Following teaching of Jesus is not an exercise in memorising texts, it is an attitude of both the mind and heart—that is why St Paul calls for the Law of God to be written in our hearts (see Rom 2:15). By placing our faith in Jesus, we will want to honour and trust our God, while placing our trust in others, and also showing them the utmost honour too. Thus, for Jesus, the command 'you shall not kill' includes any act of violence or hatred against another. Respect for the gift of humanity lies at the heart of this new attitude for living. As we saw last week, Christian life is not a calling to be miserable, rather in our blessedness, we are invited to be happy. It is my prayer, for this week, that you will experience a level of joy, especially as you strive to make the lives of others happy. As we follow this positive Law of Jesus, I pray a blessing of peace for you and your loved ones with John O'Donohue:

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB

Photo by Kyle Johnson on Unsplash