Reflection: Matthew 5:17-19

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent – Matthew: 5:17-19

The Gospel today is only 3 verses long. However, it is a very powerful passage. Jesus begins by telling his disciples that his purpose is not to abolish the law or to criticize what the prophets proclaimed and taught. Jesus’ intent is to fulfill the law. Jesus also emphasizes that keeping the commandments is essential.

However, in the eyes of the Pharisees, Jesus frequently disobeyed Jewish law. They often criticized him for not following the law – at least as they believed it should be obeyed. And they did have grounds for their criticism of Jesus. He did not follow the law as the Pharisees thought it should be followed. The Pharisees lived by the letter of the law!

Jesus however, lived by a different law: the law of love! Jesus followed most of the Jewish laws and customs. However, when it came to people in need of love and compassion, Jesus lived by the law of God! Yes, all the commandments are important and necessary. For Jesus, the first two commandments are the foundation for the other eight commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. Love should come before all else!

We also can become legalistic as the Pharisees were. We may observe another person doing something that we may judge as not correct. Yet, who are we to judge? We don’t know why the person is doing what he/she is doing. And bottom line, it is not our place to judge. God is the one to judge! We don’t like or appreciate when another judges us. Yet at times, we fall into judging, perhaps before we even know it.

The grace is: we can pull ourselves back from our judgment — if we desire to. If we practice doing this often enough, we may find that we don’t jump to judgment as automatically as we once did!

Today I invite you to be aware of your thoughts and especially your judgments. Pay close attention to your interactions with the people you may not like very much or someone who simply gets on your nerves. We may be more likely to find fault with them, than with someone we like or love!

We will never be perfect in keeping the commandments. After all, we are human and not God! However, each day, each hour, we can strive to love others more fully and without judgment! This is all God asks of