A theme of the Liturgy of the Word on the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C, is the Law. In particular, it is about acting according to the Law, as we interpret it correctly, in orde to fulfill it.
Through Moses’ words, the First Reading (Deuteronomy
30:10-14) reminds us that the Law of God is so close to us and involves in our daily
life. It is not abstract and incomprehensive.
Rather it is, indeed, a fabric of our life so that we stay on the right
path with God. However, some experts of the Law abuse it to justify their
certain sinful and immoral behaviors. So Jesus rebuked them quite harshly (Luke
11:39-52).
The Law of God is not meant to be contained in our
heads. Rather, it is to be inscribed in our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10; cf. Romans
2:15), and therefore it is to be carried out in our actions (Deuteronomy 30:14).
Ultimately, the Law, as it is internalized in our conscience and serves as our
moral intuition, is expressed through our actions of love toward God and
neighbors. This is an important lesson
from the Gospel Reading (Luke 10:25-37). Otherwise, we would
commit abuses of the Law as the hypocrites did (e.g. Matthew 15:1-20//Mark 7:1-23).
In the Gospel Reading (Luke 10:25-37), a scholar of
the law asked Jesus, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”,
to test him (Luke 10:25). His motive was not sincere. It was like a wealthy
official who asked Jesus the same question (Luke 18:18-23), because both the
scholar of the law in Luke 10 and the rich official in Luke 18 asked Jesus a
question on eternal life to justify themselves (Luke 10:29; 18:21).
In response to the scholar’s question, Jesus did not
give a simple answer. Instead, he asked the scholar to find a reference in the Law
(Torah) to inherit eternal life, saying:
What
is written in the law? How do you read it? (Luke 10:26).
With the above question, Jesus is testing the
scholar’s ability to read and interpret the Law. And the scholar cited two important
commandments to answer his own question on eternal life: Deuteronomy 6:5 and
Leviticus 19:18, saying:
You
shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with
all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself
(Luke 10:27).
Notice that this set of the commandments cited by the
scholar of the Law does not say that loving God and a neighbor will entitle us
to eternal life. However it is how he interprets these commandments to love.
After all, he is an expert on the Law. He is confident in interpreting the Law.
Though Jesus did not object, he did not simply affirm the scholar’s
interpretation. So he commanded him not only to observe the Law as he
interpreted but to live according to it for inheriting eternal life, saying:
You have answered correctly; do this and
you will live (Luke 10:28).
An emphasis should be on “do this”, because the Law
would not mean anything unless we “do” it. Interpreting the Law is necessary but not sufficient for the
purpose of it, for it must be observed in our daily actions. correctly. That is why Moses also said this in regard to
the Law:
It is something very near to you, in your
mouth and in your heart, to do it (Deuteronomy 30:14).
The scholar of the Law could have promised Jesus to observe
the commandments he cited to inherit eternal life, as commanded by Jesus, and
go. However, he asked Jesus who his neighbor was to justify himself (Luke
10:29).
What does it mean that the scholar of the Law asking
Jesus who his neighbor to love is for his self-justification?.
The scholar is certain that he already loves God, as
commanded by Deuteronomy 6:5, which states, “You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength. This is
absolute. On the other hand, however, he seems to think, in regard to the other
commandment to love his neighbor as if he or she were himself (Leviticus
19:18), “neighbor” is defined rather relatively. In this thinking, whomever he
considers as his neighbor is a neighbor, according to this thinking of hi, to
justify the way he loves his neighbor.
To such a faulty thinking, Jesus speaks a parable
about a Samaritan traveler, a priest, a Levite, and a man beaten by robbers, in
order to let him answer his own question (Luke 10:30-36). This parable is known
as the Parable of the Good Samaritan, only found in Luke’s Gospel. The parable
says that a man, who was traveling to Jericho from Jerusalem, fell into the
hands of robbers. The man was beaten, robbed, and left naked and half-dead on
the road. A priest, who was traveling from Jerusalem, saw this victim of
robbery but passed by on the other side, Then, a Levite was also traveling on
the road and saw the beaten naked and half-dead man on the road. He also passed by on the other side,
just as the priest did. But when a
Samaritan traveler came to the sight, he was moved with compassion and came to
the victim. Then he performed emergency treatment on the victim’s wounds with
oil and wine. After this, he took the victim to a nearby inn and further cared
for him. Next day, he gave the innkeeper money and aske him to take care of the
victim and promised the innkeeper to pay more if the coast of care exceeds the
amount he gave when he returns.
Having spoken this parable, Jesus asked the scholar of the Law, “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”(Luke 10:36). “These three” refers to the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan traveler. To this question, the scholar correctly answered that it is the Samaritan traveler. Then, Jesus said to him:
Go and do likewise (Luke 10:37).
There is no doubt that the
scholar’s knowledge and abilities to interpret the Law were excellent. However,
Jesus knew that he was not able to fulfill the Law as God desires, even though
he was in the position to teach the Law. To let him recognize this problem,
Jesus applied what is known as Socratic method, instead of simply answering the
scholar’s question to be tested by him and to let him get way with his self-justification. Telling the parable is a part of Jesus’
application of Socratic method.
Seeing the scholar correctly
identifying who the neighbor to the victim, Jesus commanded him to be like the
Samaritan traveler, whom he identified as the victim’s neighbor, in observing the
commandment to love his neighbor. In doing so, perhaps, Jesus hoped that the
scholar of the Law would not be like the priest and the Levite in the parable,
who could use the Law as an excuse for their refusal to help the victim.
Then, what commandment in the
Law that can be cited to justify the uncompassionate response to the victim?
Actually, there is no commandment
in the Law to excuse their callousness to the victim, because he was not dead (i.e.
Leviticus 2:1-3). And his bleeding and discharge were not likely to be applicable
to the prohibition in Leviticus 15:19-33. Therefore, the priest and the Levites
rather had no love for their neighbor.
Being baptized and confirmed
Catholics, we do not ask who our God is. If the Law is inscribed in our hearts,
we are able to observe it in our actions of love, as the Samaritan traveler did
to the victim. In fact, by our actions of love to our neighbors, the Law is fulfilled
(i.e. Romans 8:10; Galatians 5:14).
Our neighbors are anyone being
created in the image of the Triune God (Genesis 1:26-27). They are not limited
to those who are in need, though they are our neighbors in priority of our love
to fulfill the Law. Everybody is a
neighbor to everyone else, because we are many interrelated parts of one body
of Christ, the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). As reflected in the Second
Reading (Colossians 1:15-20), we are not only neighbors to each other but also
Christ’s neighbor, for he is the head (Colossians 1:18) and we are the rest of
the body parts. We, together with all our neighbors, are created through
him, the firstborn.Therefore, asking “Who are our neighbors” is just as
ignorant as asking who is our Church and who is Christ. Because Christ is also our neighbor, the head of the body, which we make up, loving our neighbors includes loving Christ (i.e. Matthew 25:34-36). If we fail to do this, we will forfeit eternal life (i.e. Matthew 25:37-46).
The Law is not found in the hearts of the self-righteous, who abuse the Law for self-justification,
The question that we must ask
ourselves is:
Do we fulfill the Law by our
daily actions of loving God and loving our neighbors?
It is a precondition that we
know our neighbors are as we know God and the Church for us to fulfill the Law.
The Samaritan traveler, whom we call "Good Samaritan", is a good case study in regard to fulfilling the Law by way of our actions of love to God and our neighbors,
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