1st week in Lent, Friday – 11th March 2022 — Gospel: Mt 5,20-26
Exceed the Hypocrites
The righteousness of the disciples of Jesus must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, whose standard of religious piety and practice was high. Those listening to Jesus must have been shocked at what he said for three reasons. First, the Pharisees and scribes were considered the arbiters of God and his law. No ordinary person would consider questioning their authority in public. Secondly, Pharisees were strict observers of the law, adhering to the oral laws and traditions. Scribes translated and taught the law of God. How could anyone be more righteous than they who were more familiar? Thirdly, Jesus was opening up a path for the common person to access heaven. With the heavy burden of the over six hundred laws Jews were expected to keep, heaven was considered an impossibility for the ordinary person. However, Jesus wishes the ordinary person to exceed them, because the Pharisees and scribes did only to be seen by people and to show off their piety. The disciples are called not merely to avoid being hypocritical, but to radicalize and interiorize the law.
