SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

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. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

A good Sunday to all.

Like all pious Israelites, for Jesus the Torah was sacred; the law that God had given his people and being the word of God it could not be denied or contradicted. In an argument that Jesus had with the scribes and the Pharisees, at some point, reference was made to the Torah and it was agreed that the Torah cannot be annulled.

As we heard at the beginning of today’s gospel, why does Jesus feel the need to clarify his own position regarding the law that God gave to the people of Israel. He says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.”

The verb “abolish” that we find in our translation is not correct. Jesus never gave the idea that he wanted to abolish the Old Testament. Absolutely not. The verb used in Greek is “καταλῦω” = katalúo = and this verb does not mean ‘ to abolish’, it means ‘to demolish’, ‘to collapse’, ‘to give way’.

What did Jesus say or do to give the impression of bringing down the Torah? Just go back to a page in the Gospel of Matthew and we find the reason why he gave the idea ofdemolishing what were the expectations and hopes raised by the Torah and the Old Testament. Jesus had said: “Blessed are the poor” … and all the other beatitudes. And, surely, people will have wondered: “But what is he saying?” In the sacred books, isn’t it said, perhaps, that God blesses the righteous by filling them with goods?

All the Jewish sects: the Zealots, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes had their image of the messiah that they were waiting for, and they all agreed on one of the aspects that this Messiah should have: that he would succeed and that he would give success, wealth, well-being to all who followed him. At this point they all agreed. And this was also the idea that the disciples of Jesus had.

We remember that Peter, when Jesus tells him that it is necessary to donate life, and Peter says: NO. ‘They have to serve us.’ This was the conviction raised in all the people of Israel,including the disciples, raised by the writings of the Old Testament. Remember Psalm 72:“May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts” (Ps 72:8-10). A Davidic king who reigns over all. Also Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28 tells the people of Israel: “May the Lord put you first, not last; may you always be above others, never below” (Deut 28:13). Further down will be the rest of the people.

And Jesus wanted to turn all this around. It brought down all hopes. He proclaimed great not to the ruler but to the one who serves; not the one on top but the one on the bottom. The expectation of Jesus did not correspond to the hopes of the people. And that is why Jesus reaffirms: “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.”

Jesus mentions the least of these commandments. He does not despise them, but they are not the ultimate goal. To enter the kingdom of heaven, first of all, it is necessary to verify whether the first part of the revelation of the Lord has been internalized, that is the Old Testament. They are the “minimum” commandments compared to those he presents.

And, in fact, after having recognized the value, the intangibility of the law of the prophets, Jesus continues with an affirmation that prepares the six examples of the following text that are necessary to comply regarding the justice of the Old Testament. He does not deny it, but says it is necessary to move on: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Observe the Torah. Torah derives from the verb ‘iará’. “Iará” means to throw an arrow,therefore, indicate a direction. And the Torah has indicated the right direction. But at some point, the Torah has stopped. It is necessary to go further. It did not indicate the last horizon it is necessary to reach. It is necessary to make a leap forward. And, in fact, Jesus gives six examples based on what the Torah says. ‘The Torah has come this far … now I tell you where it is necessary to arrive, the last goal.’

And we will agree, when we examine these six examples, that beyond these horizons it is impossible to go any further. It is the most human thing that Jesus presents. Further it is impossible to walk.

Let us now listen to the first step forward that, starting from the Torah, Jesus asks us to make, to those who want to be his disciple or, better, who simply aspires to be a true person,A person fully realized.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors.” That passive: “was said” to your ancestors, is a ‘divine passive’. That is, “You have heard that God has said: you will not kill.” It’s one of the ten words regarding the intangibility of man’s life.

Remember what the book of Genesis says in chapter 9: “I will demand a reckoning for the life of his fellow man… for in the image of God has God made man” (Gen 9:5-6). That is, like what the kings did, God has built his own statue. What did the pharaohs do in Egypt or the kings of Mesopotamia? They built their statues and touching those statues meantattacking the sovereign. And God uses this comparison: ‘I made man in my image.’ He who touches this image touches God. And Jesus continues, but first a note.

Some translations say: “But I tell you.” This is not correct. That ‘but’ would seem to contradict what has been said by God. And in the original Greek text this ‘but’ does not exist. The Greek text says: ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν = that means what has been said … then I tell you.What has been said to the ancestors is very good, and must remain. ‘Now I tell you where it is necessary to go to respect the image of God that is man.’

Therefore, in all the examples Jesus will do—in the six examples—there is no such ‘but’.Some take these examples as an antithesis to the Old Testament. This antithesis does not exist. Jesus does not oppose the Old Testament, but gives continuity and shows where this word of God should go.

A reductive interpretation can be made from this precept, that is, not to take away any biological life. But, to God, human life does not mean a life that vegetates, that survives. We meet people who are healthy and then say: this is not life.’ It takes a lot to be a life worthy of a person. And the first example Jesus gives is homicide, although biological life is not touched—this was already said by the Old Testament—but now Jesus shows the ultimate goal.

In order not to touch the person’s life, he gives the first example: You cannot get angry;he who gets angry takes the brother’s life. Let’s try to understand: anger is the reaction of rejection in the face of injustice, in the face of evil done against us or against any other.Anger is an impulse that God has set and born of love for good. He who does not get angry in the face of evil, means that he doesn’t love.

In fact, in the Old Testament, there is much more talk about the ‘wrath of God’ than of the wrath of man. And if God did not get angry, he would be indifferent, would be impassive, unable to love. And, in fact, we remember that the Baptist spoke of the “imminent wrath of God.” How so that this passion of God is good… this anger of God? Because, unlike ours, it is not unleashed against the one who does evil but against evil. In us anger easily loses control, degenerates into aggression, in hatred of the one who commits evil, in hatred for a brother or sister. Anger must be unleashed against evil, not against the person who commits it.

This is what Jesus says: ‘although you do not take away biological life from the brother, but if you lose control of the anger and instead of blaming evil, you blame the evildoer, you commit a homicide. Ordinarily we do not make this distinction and identify evil with the person who commits it. And we try to remove the evil by removing the person from the middle. Not that we kill him… but if a disease takes him, we will not regret it much, because, then, the evil he committed there will be no more because the person does not exist.

This anger is homicide. The formula for homicide is always this: “I don’t want you to exist,” I don’t want you to live, “the world would be better off if you didn’t exist.” Why?Because he does evil. NO. Evil must be eliminated, not the person who commits it. What Paul says is beautiful in the letter to the Ephesians, in chapter 4: “Be angry but do not sin” (Eph 4:26). That is, control this compulsion that God has given and point out the evil that exists, but do not lose control and snatch against the person who commits evil. “May the sunset not surprise you in your anger.”

Second example of homicide: the one who calls his brother, ‘You fool.’ The Hebrew term is ‘raqá’ which means ‘empty head’. It is not a serious expression, but for Jesus it is about homicide. In other words, remove even a small joy of living from the brother. We must not do it.

Third example: “Whoever calls him renegade will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” These are examples that Jesus gives to tell us that a word that can take away, even if it is someone’s smile, it is already a small homicide. For example, rumors, gossip, curses, slander … are forms of homicide with the tongue.

And we know that we all commit these homicides. If they could be captured with X-raysto see what kind of cemeteries we have in our hearts, it would be a big mess. We will be ashamed of what we have committed. Because of our fragility, we inevitably take life away from the brother and sister.

How to behave? It is what Jesus now says: Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. We live with our brothers and sisters, we practice good, but we also do evil. This will inevitably happen. What to do? Jesus says it: It is necessary to reconcile with the brother or sister. And this reconciliation is so important to him that he has given absolute priority.

And to explain this Jesus uses a paradoxical comparison for the religious culture of his people. The rabbis had established that when one began to pray, he could not interrupt the prayer. And they added: ‘not even if a snake curls up on your leg.’ To reconcile with the brother or sister, Jesus says that one should interrupt, not only prayer, but even the sacrificethat is being offered in the temple.

Let us keep in mind what Jesus says: if you remember that your brother has something against you. Someone can say: ‘I received a very big offense’ and I have something against my brother, therefore, I cannot approach the Eucharistic banquet. NO. It’s not about that.Let’s pay attention to what Jesus says: ‘if you remember that your brother has something against you.’ If you received an offense from your brother, you cannot resent him. But what Jesus asks is that you, before offering the sacrifice on the altar, you should always ask yourself: ‘Is there anyone who has something against me?’.

This is the reason: the sacrifice is something to which we renounce, but in the Hebrew religiosity, the sacrifice = ‘corban’, it is derived from the verb ‘enakrib’ which means ‘to come’ coming closer to the Lord. The sacrifice is coming closer to God and the brothers. If you are away from your brother knowing that he has something against you because you did some wrong, if you are coming closer to God you are a hypocrite because you must first solve the reason why your brother is far from you. You cannot come closer to God when your brother has moved away from you. The Lord does not accept your sacrifice. It is hypocrisy.

And then the urgency: “Quickly seek an agreement, with your brother, while you are on the way with him.” This ‘way’ is nothing but the path of our life. Before the final meetingwith the Father in Heaven you must come to an agreement. You can’t reach the Father in Heaven If you have done something against your brother or sister.

Some years before the Gospel of Matthew was written, the Didache has been written. We are in the same context of the city of Antioch where it was also written Matthew’s Gospel. And before the Gospel of Matthew this catechism was written called the ‘Didache’. On the Lord’s Day of the Lord come together, break bread and hold Eucharist, after confessing your transgressions that your offering may be pure; But let none who has a quarrel with his fellow join in your meeting until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice be not defiled” (Didache 14:1-2).

Two centuries later, a bishop of the same region exhorted his brothers in these words:(the bishops were the ones who pronounced the judgments with community members when there was a problem); says this Didascalia of the apostles: “Pronounce your judgments on Monday so that, having time till Saturday, you may resolve the disagreement (between the members of your community) and for Sunday to reconcile those who are at odds with each other” (Didascalia 2, 59, 2).

Let’s listen now to the second example of the leap forward that Jesus expect of those who want to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Let’s listen:

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

“You have heard that it was said: You shall not commit adultery.” Jesus begins there, by what is written in the Torah. Why do these deviations happen? God has done all things well and wanted in the marital bond, the husband and wife be involved in a unique love relationship, unconditional, definitive, total love. Therefore, any sexual relationship with another person other than with one’s spouse, it is called adultery in the Torah.

It is not a provision given by God and if one does not obey commits sin and then God punishes. Nothing of this. The love of God worries that you be happy, that everything is humanizing and God puts us on guard because certain options, if one makes them, dehumanize you.

So, this is what is written in the Torah. And it’s OK. Jesus does not deny it. He does not say: “But I tell you….” Jesus says: this is fine. Now I tell you “everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” It is told of some rabbis that never in their life they looked at a woman. Jesus does not behave this way. Jesus is very serene, very simple, spontaneous, free in the relationship with women. Remember the incident when a sinner enters in the house of the Pharisee and Jesus allows her to hug, to kiss; the friendship he had with women, with Martha and Mary from Bethany, with Mary Magdalen.

For Jesus, the problem is not looking or not looking at a woman. It’s about knowing what you carry in your heart… where you want to go. Well, there are friendships, feelings, relationships that are already betrayals, even if they do not reach the physical act. The lover makes his heart impure. Marital fidelity is a law that is not foreign, it is written in the very nature of spousal love. The rest is death options, not options of life. Options that dehumanize you.

And Jesus indicates the unequivocal way where adultery begins: It starts in the heart. This sin is attacked at its root. If you wait for the desire to produce its fruit, it is too late. And that’s why Jesus makes reference to certain behaviors that then take you to actions that dehumanize you. “If your right eye leads you to sin” … concupiscence, getting involved in certain love relationships, in certain seductions. Facing a situation of sin, facing a sexual seduction, the question that everyone spontaneously asks is: Should I take the opportunity or let it pass? If I let it pass, maybe then I will regret it…

These are the questions people ask. Should I feed or should I cut certain relationships? Jesus is very clear: have the courage to cut sooner; don’t wait because you can lose control and end your life in Gehenna.

What does it mean to ‘end in gehenna’? Not in ‘hell.’ Gehenna was the garbage dump; it was in the southwestern part of the city of Jerusalem. It is not that God sends you to hell. You get into the garbage dump with your life if you don’t immediately cut certain behaviors.

Then, “And if your right hand leads you to sin, cut it and throw it away from you. You better lose a part of your body that end up whole in the gehenna.” We are in a field where,very easily, one risks losing control of instincts; and then come the big problems that affect not only those who did things wrong, but the family, the children and, sometimes, as the Scripture says, the consequences of sin affect the third and fourth generation. That is why Jesus insists.

In the face of certain situations, you have to have the courage to make the necessary cuts, even if they are painful, before the first wishes become adultery indeed.

Let’s hear now the third example of the jump what should do the one who, starting from the Torah, wants to reach the kingdom of God.

It was also said: Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. It is what God has said: “Whoever repudiates his wife should give her a divorce certificate.”

Divorce certificate in Hebrew is: ‘sefer keritut’. ‘Keritut’ comes from the verb ‘karat’ which means ‘cut’, ‘To go back,’ therefore, something very painful. It is the document of the rupture of a spousal relationship. During the reading of the evangelical text you may have observed a ‘ketubah’ and now you can see two behind my back. ‘Ketuvot’ (Hebrew: כְּתוָּבָּה; “something written”, is the marriage contract document.

This document is signed under the ‘hupá’ which is the baldachin that is always present in the marriage rite and ‘ketubah’ it is signed in front of two witnesses. It is exquisitely decorated with leaves, as you can see, with many colors. They are a true hymn to joy and life. Pigeons, grape bouquets, flowers are painted. And they are written in Hebrew, the sacred language. Chagall has also painted ‘ketuvots’. The ‘sefer keritut’, the marriage divorce document is a legal way, the preparation of a paper written all in black and in English, not in Hebrew.

Divorce in Hebrew is: ‘get’, composed of two letters: ‘gimmel’ and ‘tet’ as indicated in the background. These two letters, therefore ‘get’, are not found in biblical Hebrew. This word was adopted in times of the Talmud to indicate divorce. And the rabbis have noted that not only this word doesn’t appear in the bible but in all the words of the bible, these two letters: ‘gimmel’ followed by ‘tet’ never appear.

And they have also noted that no Hebrew word that ends with ‘gimmel’ is followed in the next word with ‘tet’. They concluded that God had not wanted this word to appear in the Torah. Let us remember what the prophet Malachi says in the name of God: “For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel” (Mal 2:16).

And the rabbis said: when a marriage is broken God cries too. This is what the Torah said: ‘If you want to divorce, give the woman ‘sefer keritut’, the document that testifies that you left her, that you wanted a divorce. It is not God who has allowed divorce; but he says, ‘if you divorce, to protect the woman, provide her with the separation document, because if you don’t give her that document and she remarries, you can accuse her of adultery. Therefore, since you want to divorce her, give her that document. It is not God who has allowed divorce in the Torah. ‘Now I tell you…” So far everything has been fine what the Torah says.

Jesus says: Whoever repudiates his wife induces her to adultery. Jesus’ words are very clear. He spoke very little about sexuality, which has later obsessed certain moral traditions… but his words are very clear. We must be attentive because today circulates a mentality that thinks that now the times are different, that we no longer live in the Middle Ages… that it is necessary to evolve, to be modern… where everything is fine, everything is lawful, each one freely decides to do what he or she pleases. This is the rule that regulates the behaviors: ‘do what you like’, ‘just do it.’

The question we must ask is different: “The current mentality, permissiveness, sexuality banalization is humanizing or dehumanizing, the dissipation of customs… All these can easily make one forget the words of the Master and make the strongest convictions falter and persuade that it is normal, humanizing, appreciable what instead is only a palliative, a retreat, an order dictated by the wisdom of this world, from which one will be defeated from these experiences. This is God’s project of love. An unconditional, definitive love. And you have to bet a lot to do it, also involves sacrifice, abnegation.

And we know that not everyone risks embodying these values in their lives. It is in sight of all what happens in our world. And Jesus has offered the criteria to discern what is rightand what is wrong, what humanizes and what dehumanizes. Therefore, no concessions can be made on the principles as we will not be loyal with people if we indicate and approve non-life options. They are not suggested by the Master. But Jesus does not give anyone the right to prosecute or condemn people.

Those who happen to make certain painful options, certain cuts, need to always be accompanied within the Christian community. The Christian community must always feel understanding and rapprochement. Any option of death can and must be disapproved, but you can never judge and condemn the person who commits it. The person must always be helped.

Let us now listen to the fourth leap of quality that the disciple of Christ must make from the Torah:

Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

In the Torah God has said: “Do not take a false oath.” Why? Because there were certain cases where it was necessary that an oath could be made. For example, if a person had been entrusted with an animal, an ass or an ox and then this animal was hurt or died or stolen, there were no witnesses, then, how could he who had received these animals in his care show that he had nothing to do with what had happened?

In this instance he swore before the Lord. And the owner had to accept the testified truth from the one who was in charge of the animal. During the exile in Babylon, the Israelites had assimilated among other bad customs, also to swear for any reason. To such an extent that no claim was made without adding an oath: ‘may the Lord fulminate me if what I am saying is not true.’

Then, to avoid pronouncing the name of God, they went to less compromising forms,thus, they swore by the sky, by the temple, by the earth, by their head, by their parents….”But I say to you, do not swear at all.”

For Jesus the oath does not make any sense. And this for two reasons. The first: if one swears it is the symptom of a society where distrust, censorship, disloyalty, reciprocal suspicion reigns; and his disciples belong to a world that is no longer guided by these interests where one is willing even to deceive the brother or sister. NO. This is the ancient world.

The disciple of Christ has entered a new world where there is unconditional love for the brother and sister. Therefore, you cannot deceive and swearing makes no sense. And, in this sense, Jesus is in tune with the healthiest spirituality of his people. Thus, Josephus Flavius says about the Essenes of Qumram: “Everything they say has more strength than an oath, but they refrain from swearing because they consider it worse than perjury.”

And Philo, a contemporary of Jesus, lived in Alexandria, said: “If the person learned to be honest in all his statements, his words would be worth as an oath.” Therefore, Jesus agrees with this way of thinking and says: “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” But there is another very important reason why swearing makes no sense to Jesus.

The oath presupposes a pagan idea of ​​God: may God intervene with thunder and lightning to destroy, to punish those who in mind invokes him for a lie. God is not avenger; therefore, it makes no sense to take oaths. We have taken into consideration these quality jumps that, starting from the Torah, reach the ultimate goal that Jesus proposes.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.