Wednesday of the
Third Week in Lent
(Deuteronomy 4:1.5-9; Matthew 5:17-19)
“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost
wrote at the beginning of a famous poem.
We might change “wall” to “law” and come up with a similar truth. Laws(like walls) can obstruct the good as
well as serve it. For example, privacy
laws can make clerical visits in hospitals problematic. It seems that the apostle Paul had little use
for law. He wrote the Letters to the Galatians and the Romans refuting the need
for Christians to be circumcised as the Jewish Law prescribes.
Still laws are necessary.
They guide us in the pursuit of the good. Without some laws, at least, we would likely
make repeated mistakes and hurt people in the process. We also need laws to protect us from the
unscrupulous who would not allow common respect for others inhibit their
desires. In the readings today both
Moses and Jesus extol the Law which God has given to the Israelites. Moses believes that there are no statutes and
decrees more just than those contained in Israel
The Ten Commandments have always served as a guide to morality
and still bind Christians. It is true,
however, that the ritualistic parts of the Law have lost their force because
with Jesus’ death and resurrection all things indeed have come to pass. Finally, we should not understand Paul as
rejecting the Law completely but as saying that alone the Law has proven ineffectual
at producing the righteousness of salvation.
For that, he says, we need the grace of Christ.
