We have a very complicated and possibly confused relationship to the law, or laws in general. Some we regard as essential and believe in strict punishment for lawbreakers. Some, maybe to do with our driving behavior or tax liabilities, we regard as rather more optional or flexible. Some cause great debate or conflict as to whether they are just or not, particularly when they impact what we see as “our rights”.
The Jews of Jesus’ time were just as confused and conflicted as we are. And they had just as sophisticated a machinery as we do for the creation and interpretation of laws, together with severe punishments for those seen as transgressors. We often see Jesus drawn into arguments about the law and how people should behave.
In many cases Jesus takes the opportunity to step back from looking at situations in terms of laws, of right and wrong, of threats and punishments. He looks for the individual human element in the situation, the relationship between people, and between people and a loving father. He treats these encounters as “teachable moments”, as the phrase goes.
Against this background, today’s gospel story may come as a bit of a shock (Matthew 5:17-37). Here we have Jesus wading right into the heart of the battle about laws and how they should be applied. And he seems to be siding with those who argue for applying the letter of the law with the greatest strictness: “not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, … whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments will be called least in the kingdom of heaven”.
Doesn’t this seem rather out of character? For someone who simply told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. Who told Peter after he’d denied even knowing him, that he would lead his church.
As usual we need to be careful to look at what Jesus is saying in its totality. He sets the scene as though he’s going to come down with the sticklers and the nitpickers, forcing compliance with the tiniest details. But then he goes on to say: “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”. Well those scribes and Pharisees are precisely the sticklers and the nitpickers, the self-righteousness who set themselves up in judgment. So he isn’t on that side of the argument. But he isn’t on the other side either – the law doesn’t really matter that much – we know that from his opening statement.
He goes on to explain what he really thinks about the law of God and how it works. It’s not a set of rules and regulations to be argued over and avoided wherever you can find a way around it. He wants people to understand what lies behind it, what motivates it, as a force calling us to be our better selves. Our sense of right and wrong comes not from studying a series of legal codes, but from understanding the love of God which lives inside us.
It’s not enough just to avoid killing because it’s forbidden, we must understand what leads to conflict, even minor conflicts, and find ways to avoid it. It not enough to avoid making false promises, we just need to say yes or no and mean it.
Jesus is always looking to get to the heart of the matter, to get to our hearts, because that is where right and wrong become real and active. Laws are only an expression of what we aspire to, even the law of God. Only if we live in accordance with what motivates God’s law are we truly in relationship with him. Otherwise we are just going through the motions. Jesus wants more than that of us and for us.