Breaking the Word

3^rdweek in Lent, Wednesday –23^rd March 2022 – Matthew 5, 17-19

Jesus’ Consciousness of fulfillment

Jesus’ hyperbolic statement about the law in this section concerns himself: ‘I have come to fulfill the Law or the Prophets’ (5,17). As we know, the Law and the Prophets refer to the Hebrew Scriptures. To ‘abolish’ something is usually to tear it apart, to loosen it; it is the opposite of ‘building up’. But Jesus does not say that he has come to ‘build up’ the law but rather to ‘fulfill’ it or ‘bring something to an end’. As the last messenger of God, who brings the revelation to its completion, Jesus is the proclaimer of the final Will of God. Mt 5,18 also belongs to this category of Jesus’ witness to himself, that is, if this saying refers originally to the Prophecies of the passion in the Old Testament: ‘not an iota, not a dot, will pass from them until all is accomplished’. Then, in the six antitheses that follow (5,21-48), this consciousness by Jesus of his mission is strongly portrayed and raises to a new level (5,19). And Mt 7,12 summarizes this new teaching of Jesus (5,21-7,11) by relating to the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. The beatitudes as a whole are concealed testimonies by Jesus to himself as the Saviour of the poor. It is in this manner as here, that Matthew uses several such fulfillment formulae to show that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, the fulfillment of the OT prophecies (1,22; 2,15.17.23; 3,15; 4,14; 8,17; 12,17; 13,35.48; 21,4; 26,56; 27,9). Jesus, in himself and through his teachings, brings to completion the close relationship which God has demonstrated through the giving of the commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures.

3^rd week in Lent, Tuesday – 22^nd March 2022 — Gospel: Mt 18,21-35

Uneven Forgiveness

The Jews ordinarily believed that forgiving the same person three times was required. Peter wants to show that he is willing to go twice that plus one, thus he uses the number seven, which means a full number. Jesus says not a full number but a full number plus a full number times. Thus, Jesus is telling Peter that our forgiveness of others must be unconditional, without limits, and always. The point is not so much about numbers but about forgiveness from the heart. If one has to count the number of times one is forgiving, it means that one is not really forgiving at all.

In the parable of the servant who is forgiven an enormous debt by a caring and forgiving master, there is an uneven level of forgiveness shared by Master and Servant. The master’s heart is full of unconditional love that moves out in compassion and erases his servant’s loan when he knelt and begged before him. Whereas the forgiven servant refuses to forgive a smaller debt, which is owed by a fellow servant. The master knows that no matter how much time is given to the servant, he will never be able to pay back what he owes, yet he forgives him all the debt in his magnanimity and generosity. The forgiven servant refuses to listen and be convinced of his fellow servant’s payable debt. He failed to give an opportunity, rather was cruel in his approach to get back his payment. Always the master remains at the top class, while the servant remains narrow minded in his approach. However, we must be willing to extend the master’s forgiveness that is unconditional, without limits, and continuous to those who have wronged us.