Fulfilling the Law With Jesus: Wednesday in the 3rd Week of Lent


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In our Gospel this evening, Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." This might sound strange to us, because it speaks to how we sometimes misperceive what Jesus was trying to do. After all, wasn't Jesus here to get rid of the Law since we couldn't follow it? Wasn't Jesus just trying to forgive us?

What Jesus was actually trying to do was reconnect us with God and restore that broken relationship. The Law was there to show us how to be in right relationship not only with God but with one another.

We also have to look at this passage in the context of the whole. This passage is right at the beginning of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. It comes just before Jesus starts telling us what the Law says and then what it is that we should do further. Things like not lusting after people we see or praying for our enemies instead of just our friends.

Jesus says all this in the context of telling us that we should forgive others and that we should treat others as we would have them treat us: the so-called Golden Rule.

Jesus is trying to restore our relationship with God. Jesus loves us no matter what and freely gives us the gift of grace and salvation, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't act a certain way. Being restored to relationship with God means that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and that we love our neighbor as ourselves. That sums up everything said by the law and the prophets.

In this time of uncertainty, we show that love by staying at home as much as possible. If we keep ourselves contained, it means we are less likely to contract COVID-19, which means we are also less likely to spread the virus to others, others who might not have the immune system to handle the disease.

Jesus didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The law was meant to help us live in right relationship with God and one another, and Jesus came to restore and renew those relationships. Do what you can to allow Jesus to restore those relationships for you. Do what you can to be in right relationship with God and your neighbor.