From Law to Heart

Scripture Reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent (March 11, 2012)

Scripture Readings:
Exodus 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

Click here for the podcast.

Laws have to do with relationships. Think about it: Why do we need laws and regulations? At the end they always define how we want to live with each other in any given society and community. In order to share a common legal system, members of a society have to agree on basic values that build the foundations of the expectations we have for each other. Without laws, there is no objectivity and the society ends up either in anarchy or dictatorship.

The first reading for this Sunday recounts the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. Most likely the Ten Commandments did not fall from heaven in one dramatic event, but had been developed over many years. The first set of commandments describes the right relationship with God and the second set the right relationship with each other.

What I find striking is that the whole passage starts with recalling the act of liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt: “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.” The text reflects the profound experience made by the people of Israel, of how God was with them in this time of trial and hardship and eventually freed them from slavery. Only after recalling this event, does God give the TenCommandments, asking for Israel’s response to God’s saving action.

For the Israelites the Ten Commandments were not a set of limiting rules, but a seal on their freedom – a sign that they really were God’s chosen people, privileged with laws that assured their identity as the people of Israel.

The Ten Commandments are not only valid for the Israelites of the Old Testament, but also for Christian believers today. Many years of history have separated us from the immediate experience of God’s saving power as the foundation of God’s commandments to the chosen people - but Jesus in the New Testament reminds us over and over that what all the rules, laws and commandments are about, is finding the right relationship with God and with each other.

One example is the story about the cleansing of the temple:There was nothing “unlawful” about selling animals for sacrifice and changing money in the outside area of the temple. Pilgrims needed sacrifices for their offerings and the Roman coins had to be exchanged. But Jesus must have felt that all these commercial activities distracted the people from what really mattered: The temple was supposed to represent God’s presence to Israel. Even though everything was “legal,” Jesus reminded people that the temple was the house of his Father, a place of worship and prayer, and not a marketplace.

In the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus points out that he didn’t come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Mt 5:17). Jesus explains the true meaning of the Ten Commandmets with the words: “You have heard that it was said ... But I tell you ... .” (Mt 5:21-48) This list culminates in the love for enemies and the invitation to perfection of love: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48)

Also today we are tempted to look at our faith as a set of rules. If we follow this line, we make of the gospel a religion of duty: instead of announcing the “joyful message” of God's love for us, we announce the “boring message” of our duties towards God and each other.

Especially in our polarized Church today we need to accept Jesus’ invitation again and turn away from “rules,” toward the “heart” of our faith. Also today Jesus gives us his NEW commandment: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.^” (Jn 13:34) Just like the Jewish and Greek Christians in the time of St. Paul, we have competing groups within our Church today who focus on specific elements and “rules” of our faith tradition: there are the social justice people; the rosary makers; conservatives and progressives; pro-life groups and groups for Eucharistic Adoration. The danger is that we become self-righteous and consider the striving of the other groups as “wrong.” The results are division, jealousy, suspicion and disrespect. But we can’t call ourselves followers of Jesus if we don’t accept the “foolish” message of the cross. If we don’t follow Jesus all the way up to Calvary, carrying our crosses of misunderstandings, wounded identities, humiliations and fear, we won’t be able to testify to the greatest act of God’s salvation that formed the “new covenant”: The passion and death of God’s beloved Son. Jesus’ death on the cross is the “heart” of our faith. The wisdom of the cross and the foolishness of a love without limits go beyond every “rule” and transcend every particularity. Only when we love until the end, like Jesus did, can we penetrate the wisdom beyond the folly and God’s power beyond the weakness.

As we gather on this Third Sunday of Lent to celebrate the Eucharist, let us reflect on how we can overcome a merely legalistic approach to our faith and open our hearts to this loving God who wants our hearts rather than our deeds. And let us ask for the grace to move away from the “law” toward the “heart” and so become a credible witness of the “foolishness” of God’s love to others.

Image: Copyright 2010 by Free Christ Images