Fulfill the Law

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how to draw close to God.

Trust in God

The struggle of Elijah with the worship of Baal come to a climax through the action of the Lord in the passage from the First Book of Kings.

* [18:1–45] The story of the conflict with the prophets of Baal (vv. 21–40) is embedded in the story of the drought and its ending (vv. 1–20, 41–45). The connection between the two stories is found in Canaanite theology, in whose pantheon Baal, “the Cloud Rider,” the god of rain and storm, was recognized as the one who brings fertility. Worship of many gods was virtually universal in the ancient world; the Israelite requirement of exclusive worship of the Lord (Ex 20:3) was unique. The people of Israel had apparently become comfortable worshiping both Baal and the Lord, perhaps assigning mutually exclusive spheres of influence to each. By claiming authority over the rain (17:1; 18:1), the Lord was challenging Baal’s power in Baal’s own domain. The entire drought story in chaps. 17–18 implies what becomes explicit in 18:21–40: this is a struggle between the Lord and Baal for the loyalties of the people of Israel.

In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus affirms that He intends to fulfill the Law.

* [5:17–20] This statement of Jesus’ position concerning the Mosaic law is composed of traditional material from Matthew’s sermon documentation (see note on Mt 5:1–7:29), other Q material (cf. Mt 18; Lk 16:17), and the evangelist’s own editorial touches. To fulfill the law appears at first to mean a literal enforcement of the law in the least detail: until heaven and earth pass away nothing of the law will pass (Mt 5:18). Yet the “passing away” of heaven and earth is not necessarily the end of the world understood, as in much apocalyptic literature, as the dissolution of the existing universe. The “turning of the ages” comes with the apocalyptic event of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and those to whom this gospel is addressed are living in the new and final age, prophesied by Isaiah as the time of “new heavens and a new earth” (Is 65:17; 66:22). Meanwhile, during Jesus’ ministry when the kingdom is already breaking in, his mission remains within the framework of the law, though with significant anticipation of the age to come, as the following antitheses (Mt 5:21–48) show.

Francois P. Viljoen Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa cites Karl Barth on the Law and antitheses in Matthew’s Gospel.

Other scholars explain the apparent contradiction between Matthew 5:17-19 and Matthew 5:21-48 by arguing that Jesus does not refer to the written Mosaic Law as such in the antitheses, but merely to the oral traditions of the scribes and Pharisees. Barth (1963:93) remarks: 'It is plain that the antitheses are not directed primarily against the Old Testament itself, but against the interpretation of it in the Rabbinate.'

Kimberly Grassmeyer reflection on the texts today has helped her to make more sense of the dichotomy and to better understand how she was parented by her own loving father and how she elected to parent her sons.

open my heart a bit to the “Old Testament God-The-Father” that I’ve long held at arm’s length; to imagine that God-The-Father was a necessary antecedent to God-The-Son, whose love may have been less visible, welcome or appreciated had it come first; to marvel at the realization – long understood in parenting – that it is the two together that help to form the healthiest offspring.

Don Schwager reflects on learning reverence and respect by observing the Laws of the Torah.

Jesus taught reverence for God’s law - reverence for God himself, reverence for the Lord's Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for life, for property, for another person's good name, respect for oneself and for one's neighbor lest wrong or hurtful desires master and enslave us. Reverence and respect for God's commandments teach us the way of love - love of God and love of neighbor. What is impossible to humans is possible to God who gives generously of his gifts and the Holy Spirit to those who put their faith in him.

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Kings 18:20-39 emphasizes that Elijah gives us three clues to draw close to God: Remember. Speak simply. Trust God.

Trust God. Elijah believed God would answer his prayer on Mount Carmel, and God responded dramatically. Sometimes, though, God answers prayers in ways that are unexpected, even undesired. What then? Trust the Lord, and wait. Continue to remember and speak simply: Lord, you are my hope. I believe you hear my prayers. I trust you to answer me and bring good out of this situation.

The Post by Franciscan Media about Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint of the Day for June 13, describes his contribution as priest and Doctor of the Church.

Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments..

Friar Jude Winkler provides some background on the contest on Mt Carmel between Prophets of Israel and Baal in the territory of Jezebel. The God of the storm in Psalm 29 was changed by a Jewish author to the Lord from Baal. Friar Jude notes that the demographics of the growth of Christianity favoured the Pauline approach to the Law over the rabbinic method familiar to the Jewish Christians of Matthew's community. Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, cites Jack Jezreel, the founder of JustFaith Ministries, who writes about crucial ingredients for Christianity to be an effective force for peace and justice.

Catholic social teaching speaks to dignity, solidarity, the option for the poor, the rights of workers, care of creation, peace and so on. It is, in fact, an extraordinary tradition. The only problem is that it is so often not integrated in the life of the local faith community, the parish. It is, to use a tiresome and now pathetic phrase, “our best kept secret.” . . .

Authentic love will not allow us to continue to ask the rest of the world to put itself at the mercy of our conveniences.

References

(n.d.). CHAPTER 18 Elijah Ends the Drought. 1Long afterward, in the third .... Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1kings/1kings18.htm

(n.d.). Matthew 5:3. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/matthew5.htm

(n.d.). Jesus' halakhic argumentation on the true intention of the law in .... Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2074-77052013000100009

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/

(n.d.). Saint Anthony of Padua – Franciscan Media. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-anthony-of-padua/

(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/