At the end of the book of Deuteronomy, with the people of Israel assembled at the end of 40 years of wandering through the desert, just before they enter into the Promised Land, Moses asks them to renew their Covenant with God. Moses says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and clinging to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
This is not the first time the people have come to that position, on the threshold of entering the Promised Land. 40 years before, after the Passover, the escape from Egypt, and a detour at Mt. Sinai to receive the 10 commandments and establish their Covenant with God, they had arrived near enough to send spies to scout out the Promised Land. When they realized taking it would be very difficult because the cities were well fortified, and the men extremely tall and strong, the people rebelled. Until God intervened, the people were ready to stone Moses and his closest allies, and select a new leader to take them back to Egypt. Because Moses intervenes, God does not completely reject Israel. He does, however, punish them by not allowing them to successfully enter into the Promised Land for another 40 years. 40 years that would be spent wandering in the wilderness. 40 years, long enough for the generation that had rejected the Promised Land to die, and be replaced by a new generation.
It is to this new generation that Moses is speaking. They know exactly what rejection of God looks like: they have seen its results for the past 40 years: a dry wilderness, a wasteland without food or water. A stark contrast with the land flowing with milk and honey that the Israelites have been promised. They renew their covenant with God, take on the commitment to follow His ways, and are led into the Promised land by Joshua after the death of Moses.
This pattern, however, would repeat throughout the Old Testament. The people ignore their covenant with God, fail to keep His ways, and reject God. There follows punishment, which calls the people to repentance, and renewal. At its most extreme, the punishment would result in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple built there for the worship of God, and the exile of the people to Babylon for about 70 years, until the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and allowed them to return.
About 1000 years after Moses, and about 200 years before the birth of Christ, the book of Sirach was written, from which today’s first reading is drawn. This book contains a series of teachings by the scribe Ben Sira. It is an interesting book, whose history reflects the time it was written: it was originally written in Hebrew, but it only survived intact in Greek and Syriac. It was included in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament put together in Alexandria, in Egypt, for the Jewish people who did not live in Israel, the diaspora. The translation into Greek used for the book of Sirach was done by the original author’s grandson, who also added an introduction to the text. In spite of the difference in time and audience, Ben Sira gives the same basic message as Moses: “Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall be given him.” Follow God’s law, keep his commandments, do good and do not sin, and you will live. Reject his commandments, and live entirely by your own will, and you will die.
This theme of commandment and law is essential to the Jewish understanding of who they are as the People of God, and it is taken up by Jesus in today’s Gospel. Jesus first establishes his relationship to the Law and the Commandments. “I have come not to abolish (the law) but to fulfill (it).” Jesus is in continuity with the Old Testament, but also represents something new. The whole of history leads up to Him: to the Incarnation of the Word, who takes on the fullness of humanity. All of Israel’s history, from Abram’s call to leave his ancestral homeland and journey to Canaan, through their time as slaves in Egypt, their time in the Desert under Moses, the conquest of the Promised land and the Judges, the kingdom of David and his descendants, the Babylonian exile, the period under Persian rule, the period under Greek control, during which the book of Sirach was written, the period of independence after the Macabbean revolt, and finally the period under Roman control all prepare the way for Christ’s coming. The one constant, throughout this varied history of different political systems, and different levels of oppression instituted by different empires, was the Law, the Torah: the teachings God had given to instruct the people on how to live in His presence: the way to life for Ancient Israel. As St. Paul points out, the end of this whole process remained unnoticed by the great powers and rulers of the world: otherwise, they would not have crucified Jesus.
This law is taken up in Christ, but not in a way that abolishes any of it. Instead, he raises the standard. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors. You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery; But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife - unless the marriage is unlawful - causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.”
In each of these cases, Jesus is taking up the external practice of the Law, and extracting from it the teaching that is behind it, a teaching that impacts our whole being, not just the external actions that are noticeable by others. Far from abolishing the Law, he is showing how the Law can truly become life-giving: by teaching us how to turn our whole heart, mind and soul towards Him. Later on in the Gospel, while teaching in Jerusalem, Jesus will respond to the question of what is the greatest commandment by saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” This is a shorter, more concise way of saying the same thing illustrated in today’s Gospel: all the failures of love of neighbor, internal as well as external, are also failures to love God: all failures to love God, are also failures to love our neighbor.
And that is the choice we are given: we have free will. We can choose love of God, and love of neighbor, we can choose to follow Christ and keep to his ways, we can choose life. Ironically, in this life, that will mean taking up our cross and could involve a great deal of suffering. We can also choose death and destruction. We can choose to reject God’s love, and reject our neighbors, and cling to ourselves. We can choose to reject God’s commands. Since we are formed by what we do, including our actions, as well as our thoughts, this choice is formed by what we do, both actions and thoughts. If we choose death and destruction, we will be liable to fiery Gehenna. However, if we choose life, if we choose God, we will enter our true homeland, the place “God has prepared for those who love him.”
Fr. Edward Mazuski currently serves the community as novice master, junior master, secretary of the monastic council, and teaches in the mathematics department in Portsmouth Abbey School.
To learn more about Fr. Edward, please click on his picture to the left or click here.