Verses 5:17-37 of Matthew’s gospel are from the section of the Sermon on the Mount that contains “the antitheses.” They are given this title because they contrast a previous instruction with the teaching of Jesus. They are arguably the most misunderstood verses in the gospel. The most frequent way to interpret the antitheses is to imagine Jesus setting aside the Jewish law and replacing it with a new law. Such an understanding of the antitheses is untenable, if we carefully read the text.
Matthew clearly states that Jesus’ teaching does not set the old law aside. Jesus has come “not to abolish but to fulfill” (verse 17). “Not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (verse 18). Matthew accepts the authority of the Jewish law.
What makes Jesus’ teaching different than other rabbis is that it goes beyond what the law requires. In the antitheses Jesus sharpens the Torah, moving to the level of inner dispositions. If murder is wrong, then we must avoid anger which is the root of murder and lust which is the root of adultery. To avoid swearing falsely, we should not swear at all. The disciple should not be satisfied with strict justice (an eye for an eye) but avoid every violent reaction. The Jewish law teaches to treat foreigners and even enemies with respect (Exod 23:4-5; Prov 25:21-22), but Jesus teaches that his disciples should love and pray for their enemies.
It is wrong to identify the Jewish law with retribution and hatred. It is filled with love and forgiveness. But those who follow Jesus are called to do more than even this gracious law requires.
A Church of Good Works
Throughout his gospel Matthew encourages a proper relationship between God’s grace and our works. All Christians believe that salvation is a free gift of God. We can never merit such a gift. Had not God chosen to grace us with a relationship through Christ we could never attain eternal life. Because the grace of God is so primary, some Christian theologies have denigrated the value of our good works. They suggest that our efforts to do good only tempt us to boast in our own merit and to claim that we have somehow earned salvation. In their worst form, these theologies have called such works legalism and have placed such human striving at the center of Judaism. Thus Jews are sometimes characterized as a people who seek to control their relationship to God on the basis of doing the works of the law.
Matthew knew better. Steeped in the Jewish tradition, he understood that the heart of Judaism was God’s free choice of Israel. He also appreciated that the presence of such a gift required a human response. Jews were to respond to God’s choice by following the law, the Torah. The law, however, had to be interpreted. Matthew believed that it was Jesus’ interpretation of the law which would guide his community in the proper response to God. Far from being a way to earn salvation, following Jesus’ teachings was the essential way of accepting the gift which was given.
Because Matthew is secure in the primacy of God’s grace, he boldly asserts that the teachings of Jesus must be followed, that the good works which they outline must be done. He insists that it is not the one who says “Lord, Lord” who will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of the Father (Matt 7:21). He ends the Sermon on the Mount by saying that the one who wishes to build his or her house on rock must not only hear his words but act on them (Matt 7:24-27). The ultimate measure of a life is not what we think or say but what in fact we do (Matt 25:31-46). The final instruction of the risen Christ to his church is that it must teach all nations toobey all his teachings (Matt 28:18-20).
Actively doing what God demands is called righteousness. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus consents to John’s baptism because he feels it will allow him to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). The Church is blessed because it hungers and thirsts for righteousness and is willing to suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness (Matt 5:6, 10). The righteousness of Matthew’s community must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 5:20). Such righteousness is attained by following Jesus’ interpretation of the law. This is why Matthew is so insistent that the works which Jesus teaches must be done.
Doing such works bind us to Jesus and respond to the free gift which is given. They do not serve as a basis for pride but in fact point to God the source of all good. Matthew is clear that the righteousness which we seek is not our own. We are charged to seek first God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness (Matt 6:33). Our light is to shine before others so that they might see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matt 5:16).
Matthew presents us with a Jesus forming a righteous Church. His teachings lay out the proper response to God’s grace, and it is imperative that his disciples put them into practice. The importance Matthew gives to the works of the Church does not negate God’s free choice. Rather it insists that our actions are essential—not because they earn us salvation, but because they demonstrate that we are children of God.
I have long understood your point that we can “never merit” salvation as it is “a free gift of God.” Because of that understanding I find the words found in the new sacramentary that we pray “to merit eternal life” a jarring note. Why is this phrase used in the sacramentary if our Catholic teaching, based on Scripture, is that we cannot “merit” salvation. Your help in understanding this phrase in the sacramentary would be much appreciated!
This is a very good point, Kathy. Here is what I know. Many of the orations in the Missal were preserved because of their antiquity. They may not have stated certain theological positions as clearly as we would today. The Church’s teaching is that we do not earn salvation. But once we accept God’s salvific grace, it is important that we do works of goodness that God has directed us to do. Completely ignoring a moral life would be our way of opting out of God’s free gift. Conversely, serving others and doing what is right demonstrates our acceptance of God’s grace. It is this “doing” that the Missal envisions when it talks about our merit–not earning salvation but demonstrating our place in God’s free gift.
Thank you Father. That clears it up immensely. I remember remarking to Fr. Woost when he visited to explain the new sacramentary that “words are power” and that when we do not have an authoritative figure standing beside us to explain “the real meaning behind the words” that in a passive way many are going to learn incorrect teachings because of hearing these and other words from antiquity
week in and week out.
I don´t understand!?
Jesus came to fullfill what was written abut the messiah: “These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” (Lk 24)
The messiah had to make a new covenant, said the Lord: “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt (= old Mosaic Law). (…) I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts (…) In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”(Hebr 8)
The new law/commandmant is the “law of christ”:”Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)” or “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (John 13:34) (= new commandmant)
Ron,
I agree that the issue of the Law is a complex one. Perhaps the best way to approach it as Christians is that the Law remains God’s law but is enlarged because of the work of Jesus. Like many Jewish rabbis of his time, Jesus had his own approach to the Law. But neither he nor Paul nor Matthew ever supposed that following the Law meant they were earning salvation. The Law was always a response to God’s free gift. What makes the law “new” for Christians is not that it is rejected or discarded but that we have an ever greater grace to which we respond: the death and resurrection of Jesus.