Day 82: Jesus and the Law (577-582)

• It’s Day 82!!

• Yesterday we began ARTICLE 4: JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DIED AND WAS BURIED

• One of the highlights of this is Christ’s RELATIONSHIP with the people of Israel

• Jesus is Jewish!!

• The Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees conspired with the Romans to put Jesus to death

• We want to understand what was the depth of Christ’s relationship with the People of Israel?

• It’s one of LOVE

• Jesus wept and lamented over the fate of Jerusalem

• These are HIS OWN PEOPLE

• Of course, ALL OF US are God’s Creation and God’s beloved creatures

• BUT…

• The People of Israel were SPECIALLY CHOSEN

• Jesus knew that SOME OF THEM would reject Him

• MANY MANY OF THEM SAID YES!!

• WHICH IS AMAZING!!

• WHICH IS INCREDIBLE!!

• WE CANNOT FORGET THAT!!

• We have to ALWAYS REMEMBER that Jesus is the FULFILLMENT OF JUDAISM

• Today we are going to talk about the relationship between JESUS AND THE LAW

• Tomorrow and the next couple of days we will talk about JESUS AND THE TEMPLE 

• And then JESUS AND ISRAEL’S FAITH IN THE ONE GOD AND SAVIOR

• Talking about JESUS AND THE LAW can often be a problematic moment

• For many reasons, Jesus was rejected by the elders, chief priests, Sadducees etc.

• One of the reasons is because Christ placed HIMSELF as the AUTHOR OF THE LAW

• He has AUTHORITY

• Because of that, that is one of the many reasons the Scribes, the Pharisees, the elders, etc. REJECTED HIM

• THEY DID NOT ACCEPT HIM FOR WHO HE WAS!!

• Even though His mighty works VALIDATED AND VERIFIED that HE DOES HAVE AUTHORITY OF THE AUTHOR

• The term AUTHORITY in English comes from the term “author’s rights”

• If you are the AUTHOR of the book, you have the AUTHOR’S RIGHTS

• You have the right of the story

• You can tell…(Squirrel? 🤔🤨)

• Think of any famous fiction author (For this exercise, we will use Michael Crichton because Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books of all time and I would love to have a pet T. Rex and I would ride her to work and name her Trixie 😁)

• They get to tell us the reality of the character

• Whether we agree with him or not, he’s the author

• Therefore he has the AUTHOR’S RIGHT to have the AUTHORITY to be able to teach DEFINITIVELY

• THAT’S WHAT JESUS DOES!!

• There are MANY interpretations of the Old Law

• Jesus ultimately says, “But this is the DEFINITIVE interpretation of many of these laws.”

• For example, the Jewish dietary laws

• They had a function

• IN FACT…

• They had a PEDAGOGICAL FUNCTION

• They TAUGHT people something

• Jesus then says, “Ok. Now here is the ULTIMATE MEANING of those Jewish dietary laws.”

• He has the AUTHORITY to be able to give the DEFINITIVE INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW

• Yes there might be many interpretations

• BUT…

• Here is the DEFINITIVE INTERPRETATION

• He has the AUTHORITY to do that because He has VERIFIED AND VALIDATED

• He is the AUTHOR OF THE LAW

• Does that make sense?

• Let’s start with a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you for the Law. We thank you for the gift of the Jewish dietary laws. We thank you for the gift of the Jewish Temple laws. We thank you for the gift of the Eternal laws that you have revealed to us, those moral laws that are true at all times, in all places, for all people. Lord God, we also give you thanks that in you, you have offered the definitive interpretation of many of these laws. You have revealed to us who it is you are and how it is you want us to come to know you. How it is you want us to worship you and love you as best we possibly can. With your Grace, send us your Grace right now so that we can know you and love you and worship you the way you have asked, but also the way you deserve. On our own we can never do this. So please, send your Grace upon us this day and every day. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen”

• There we have it!!

• We are here to remember the fact that Jesus DID NOT come to ABOLISH the Law

• JESUS CAME TO FULFILL THE LAW!!

• If we can remember ANYTHING when it comes to what Jesus is doing with the Old Covenant and the Old Testament it’s that He is NOT ERADICATING IT

• IT IS NOT DEAD!!

• IT IS MORE ALIVE THAN EVER!!

• At the same time, there are certain laws that NO LONGER APPLY

• Yes, it is ALIVE because God’s Covenant is a LIVING COVENANT

• God is a God of the LIVING and NOT THE DEAD

• He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

• Jesus is the FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

• Jesus is the FULFILLMENT OF THE TEMPLE

• TEMPLE WORSHIP is fulfilled in Jesus as well

• EVERYTHING in the Old Testament is REVEALED in the New

• EVERYTHING in the New Testament is HIDDEN in the Old

• Jesus is coming with a DEFINITIVE INTERPRETATION OF THE LAW

• Jesus is NOT eliminating it

• Jesus is giving it the TRUE INTERPRETATION AND FULFILLMENT IN HIMSELF

• There are a couple of things to keep in mind…

• Not only did Jesus give the definitive interpretation of say, the dietary laws

• How do we read the Old Covenant Laws in the Books of Deuteronomy, Leviticus, or Numbers?

• Not only are they FULFILLED IN JESUS

• THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!

• BUT…

• There are also certain kinds of laws in the Old Covenant

• Some of them we still attend to

• Some of them we still pay attention to and obey

• Some of them have been FULFILLED FULLY

• We can distinguish them into three kinds

• THE TEMPLE LAWS

• THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL LAWS

• THE MORAL LAWS

• All of them have a MORAL COMPONENT

• Because if God COMMANDS IT then we ought to DO IT

• THAT IS MORALITY!!

• What we mean by MORAL LAWS is those laws that are true AT ALL TIMES IN ALL PLACES FOR ALL PEOPLE

• The Temple Laws have to do with how Temple worship and care go down

• The Kingdom Laws have to do with how to live life in the Kingdom of Israel, that Jewish community that was brought together under the covenant

• The Moral Laws are ABSOLUTE

• Why are some laws fulfilled in a way that are still applicable to our lives?

• For example, Jesus said, “You have heard it was said of old that you should not murder. But I say to you that even if you grow angry with your brother, you are committing murder in your heart.”

• “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you to forgive and love your enemies.”

• “You have heard it was said that you should not commit adultery. But I say to you if you even look at another with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery.”

• So Jesus is taking those COMMON MORAL LAWS 

• These laws are applicable AT ALL TIMES IN ALL PLACES TO ALL PEOPLE

• Jesus is FULFILLING THEM by saying, “Not only do they have to reach your ACTIONS. They have to go ALL THE WAY TO YOUR HEART.”

• Jesus has FULFILLED and in some ways AMPLIFIED and EXPANDED those laws

• THEY ARE STILL IN EFFECT!!

• BUT…

• There are some laws that we do not follow

• You may hear people talk about this when it comes to The Book of Leviticus

• There are some laws in Leviticus that we know are STILL IN EFFECT

• Particularly, there are laws governing human sexual relations THAT ARE STILL IN EFFECT

• The question comes up, “Wait, why are THOSE still in effect but we don’t stone people for violating the Sabbath?”

• “Why are the laws about sexual action still in effect but we can mix fabrics in our clothing?”

• The reality, of course, is because the laws that are no longer applicable are no longer applicable because the CONTEXT in which they EXISTED no longer EXISTS

• If you have a TEMPLE LAW well, there is NO TEMPLE ANYMORE

• Therefore those laws governing worship in the Temple CEASE TO EXIST because the Temple has CEASED TO EXIST

• Similarly, the laws for governance for the People of Israel cease to exist

• Why?

• Because the Kingdom of Israel as it existed in the Old Covenant has CEASED TO EXIST (Now, the NATION of Israel exists, but in a different way)

• Here is an analogy

• Outside Fr. Mike’s house is a speed limit sign that says 30 MPH

• At some point, the United States will FALL and will CEASE TO EXIST (Probably because of those DARN DIRTY APES!!!! https://youtu.be/bYaTlw4Xlyk  🤣)

• Minnesota will FALL and will CEASE TO EXIST

• When that happens, the speed limit will CEASE TO EXIST

• If there is a governmentally enacted law and there is no more government, then the law will cease to be in effect

• Does that make sense?

• The law has been FULFILLED in the sense that Jesus has now ESTABLISHED THE KINGDOM

• JESUS HAS ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH ON EARTH!!

• So the FORMER kingdom that has been fulfilled now in the Church CEASES TO EXIST

• The FORMER Temple that is now fulfilled in the worship of God at Mass CEASES TO EXIST

• AND YET…

• THE MORAL LAWS CONTINUE TO EXIST!!

• Hope that makes sense!!

• Tomorrow, we will talk about JESUS AND THE TEMPLE 

• We will talk about JESUS AND ISRAEL’S FAITH IN THE ONE GOD AND SAVIOR

• IT IS GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE!!

• Then we will move on to JESUS DIED CRUCIFIED and THE TRIAL OF JESUS

• IT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!