Jesus Fulfills the Law to be Inscribed in Our Hearts for Conversion - Friday of the First Week of Lent

Thus says the Lord:

Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked.

But if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die!

None of the crimes he has committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the justice he has shown (Ezekiel 18:20-22).

In the First Reading (Ezekiel 18:21-28),  God reminds us that we may be spared from God’s eternal punishment even we have committed sins before, as long as we repent, convert our hearts from sins to God and His grace, and act justly ever since. It is because God is merciful and therefore does not put our past sins against us, as long as we repent, convert, and remain just in the eyes of God, keeping His commandments. The First Reading also warns us that we may be subject to God’s punishment even we used to be righteous – if we turned away from righteousness to sin (Ezekiel 18:24).

God has given us through Moses the Law as our guide to stay on the right path – to be holy as God is (Leviticus 19:2), to remain just so that we may not subject to His eternal punishment (i.e. Deuteronomy 10:13).

In the Lord’s Prayer, we petition to God to keep us from His eternal punishment, saying, as taught by Jesus:

…do not subject us to the final test (πειρασμόν/peirasmon:temptation, trial, affliction), but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13).

And we say, “ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo” in Latin, “no nos dejes caer en al tentación sino que líbranos del malo” in Spanish, asking God not to subject us to temptation and trials…not abandon in temptation, but rescue or save us from evil. And in English, we say, “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”.

This is an expression of our heart’s desire to keep God’s Law, humbling asking God to help and empower us to abide by His Law to remain just as God wants us to be – so that we will not be subjected to temptations, trials, and condemnation, thus, being saved. As reflected in Psalm 119, our genuine and joyous observance of the Law of God helps us being saved. However, as Paul points out, the Law per se cannot save us but only Christ, who died to save us, and his grace can (i.e. Galatians 2:21).

Therefore, for us to really let the Law work for us and our salvation, we do need Jesus and his grace!

Thus, in the Gospel Reading of Friday of the First Week of Lent (Matthew 6:20-26) and the Gospel Reading of the following day (Matthew 5:43-48), Jesus points us to a blind spot, which those who were taught about the Law by the Pharisees tend to slip into and become subject to God’s warning of losing righteousness in Ezekiel 18:24.

During his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29), Jesus taught about the Torah (Law) (Matthew 5:1-48), following his teaching on the beatitudes (blessedness) (Matthew 5:3-12) and our vocational call to serve as salt on earth and light of the world to be blessed (Matthew 5:13-16).

Why did Jesus teach the Torah to the crowd during his Sermon on the Mount?

It is to fulfill the Law or the prophets, not to abolish (Matthew 5:17). Remember whom Jesus was with on the mountain top during his Transfiguration? He was conversing with Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the prophets (Matthew 17:3). In other words, for us to be blessed, to serve as salt and light, we need to make sure that we stay on the right path by observing the Law authentically, as taught by Jesus, not by the Pharisees.

Why not the way taught by the Pharisees?

Jesus says:

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).

In other words, the level of the Pharisees’ teaching about the Law is not enough for us to be entitled to the Kingdom. It is not enough for us to keep us in the right way up to the Kingdom, as it may subject us to temptation and trials.

Why?

Because doing as the Pharisees have taught works only our external behavioral level but not necessarily affects our hearts – may not prompt our hearts’ conversion.

Remember, Lent is not simply doing “right things” but to truly change our hearts – conversion of our hearts – changing ourselves from inside out. Thus, cosmetic behavioral changes may only make us look good to the eyes of others but not necessarily so to God.

On the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we heard Jesus warning against making our Lenten behaviors, represented with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, cosmetic (Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18).

Thus says Jesus:

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ (Matthew 5:21).

With the above statement, Jesus first reminds his audience of what they had learned about Exodus 20:13 from the Pharisees.

And Jesus points us a problem of keeping the Law simply literally, as taught by the Pharisees, because it is not enough to stay on the right path all the way to the Kingdom, salvation.

So, Jesus supplements to fulfill:

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna (Matthew 5:22).

If you have never killed anyone at all in your life time, you sure never get in trouble with the police and the judicial system. And it make you look in compliance with Exodus 20:13, right?

Yes, only in the level of the Pharisee’s morality.

But, as Jesus said, it is not sufficient to be saved into the Kingdom (Matthew 5:20).

So, to surpass the level of the Pharisees, Jesus points out what it means to observe Exodus 20:13 authentically to be saved is to overcome our psychological disposition to anger, because anger is a powerful emotion, which can prompt us to kill someone, especially combined with jealousy, as in the case of Cain (Genesis 4:1-8).

Because our brain is wired to become angry in the limbic system, anger may seem inevitable in response to certain stimuli. Devil in the world often tempts us to become angry and act out of anger. Moses lost his chance to cross the Jordan River and forfeited the land of milk and honey because of his anger problem (Numbers 20:1-13).

Jesus further speaks on our need to overcome problems of anger and to work toward reconciliation – so that we will not let anger rot our hearts but also not act out of this poisonous emotion (Matthew 5:23-26). As we keep anger from ruining our hearts and shaping our actions, which can lead to killing, we can work toward peace through reconciliation, in response to conflicts. This is what is required to be worthy for the Kingdom, according to Jesus.

Though we may keep acting in compliance with Exodus 20:13, by not killing anyone, so far, we may unintentionally kill someone and regret for violating Exodus 20:13. And according to Ezekiel 18:24, and just as in the case of Moses losing his chance for the promised land (Numbers 20:13), we may be subject to God’s punishment.

Again, we pray that we will not be left in temptations to anger but be delivered from evil who tempts us to fall to anger.

In Matthew 5:27-30, with the same pattern, Jesus teaches against lust, which can prompt us to commit adultery and fornication, in terms of what it means to keep the commandment in Exodus 20:14 (Deuteronomy 5:18).

Let us remember that Jesus teaches that the Law of God is applied all the way down to our hearts, not just to change our behaviors to look good to others.

For our Lenten transcendental transformation and growth toward renewal, let the Law change our hearts, prompting our hearts to be genuinely converted, to be in peace with God and with one another.

After all, Jesus is fulfilling the Law, as well as, the prophecies of the Prophets, in order to change our hearts anew with his New Covenant to fulfill these words of God, spoken by Jeremiah:

It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, though I was their master—oracle of the LORD. But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days—oracle of the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jesus is fulfilling the Law, as well as the Prophets, for the Law to be inscribed in our hearts so that we are truly converted from our hearts to God and His grace.