We are in the Sermon on the Mount, according to St. Matthew. The lectionary gives us a series of extracts from that to be read over these Sundays before the beginning of lent. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus offers a description of those who belong to his Kingdom: their attitudes, their behaviour, their prayer. He shows us too how to live worthily as sons of God our Father: in other words, how concretely to live with his own attitudes to God and to one another. That must necessarily involve a radical unselfishness, and self giving love: such that we would always prefer the good of others to that of self, and be ready to accept crucifixion rather than in any way to offend God. The picture Jesus paints is beautiful, inspiring, appealing, noble. If only everyone could live like that, we think, how happy the world would be! That would be the end of all wars, all poverty, all family breakdown, all injustice!
But of course we ask: can we ever come up to this exalted standard? Certainly not! In our own strength alone, that is. But we’re not left to rely on our own strength. We are given the Holy Spirit, and in his power we can observe it all easily: as easily as falling off a log. That’s how it was for the Saints. For them, living according to the Sermon on the Mount is just how anyone would naturally behave, given their constant desire for perfect union with Jesus.
Nevertheless: what Jesus says in this Sermon leaves us with some difficulties. Of course we don’t want to explain away any of his words, as if we want only to soften or evade them. Nor do we want to say, with Martin Luther, that it’s actually impossible to fulfil all this, so that we must inevitably live in sin and infidelity. Obviously that’s nonsense. Let me then just mention now that the strong images Jesus uses are not always to be taken merely literally, or mechanically. He is not giving us just another set of fixed Rules we have to follow. To interpret his words rightly we have to read them in their context, and in the context of the whole of Scripture, and in the light of the interpretation and practice of the Catholic Church.
So for example, Jesus says we are not to call anyone Fool (5:22). But he himself jolly well calls the Pharisees fools (23:17). Come to that, when St. Paul lays into the Galatians, he roundly denounces them as fools too (Gal 3:1). So also, Jesus tell us to turn the other cheek; but when he was struck on the cheek during his trial, he did not turn the other one, and neither did St. Paul when the same thing happened to him during his trial (Jn 18:22; 19:3; Acts 23:2). Again, Jesus tells us to take no oath (5:34), but St. Paul sometimes does when he wants to say something with particular solemnity (Gal 1:20). Jesus presents us here with very radical teaching, but not of the sort to weigh us down with scruples. In the light of the Holy Spirit we should know how to act in any circumstance or occasion.
As a matter of fact the Holy Spirit is never once mentioned throughout the Sermon. But He is certainly present. He is present in every word of Jesus. He’s also present in the hearts and minds of all who hear Jesus, since it’s the Holy Spirit alone who makes us able to understand and accept what Jesus says. But more profoundly yet: really all the Sermon teaches us is how to live the New Law of the Gospel, which is simply charity. Or as theology teaches us: the new law of the Gospel is the Holy Spirit in Person. So: those who belong to Jesus must love as he loves: must love through the same Spirit by whom he eternally loves his Father and us.
Our passage today begins with Jesus’ declaration that he has not come to abolish the Law and Prophets, but to fulfil them. This is a most important point especially for St. Matthew, the Jewish Christian. Jesus is not founding a new religion, not doing away with the Old Testament, not setting himself up against Moses and the whole history and religion of Israel. On the contrary: he alone rightly interprets them: he’s their meaning and goal. There is only One God, and God has only One Plan of salvation. It began with Abraham and Moses and David and the rest, but it is achieved and completed in Jesus. That’s why Jesus says our righteousness has to go deeper than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, who for all their ardent dedication to the Law have managed to miss its whole point.
But if it’s important for Matthew to show that Jesus is in continuity with the law, it’s no less important to show that he is not just another Rabbi, just another interpreter. “You have heard that it was said - by Moses - mediating the divine commandments - but I say to you.” This language is quite unprecedented among the Rabbis. It means Jesus claims to be greater than Moses; greater even than the Law: equal indeed to God who gave the law. No other interpretation is possible. So many commentators through history have been attracted by the person of Jesus, but tried to make him just a very good man, just a great moral teacher, just one more religious leader. It won’t do. As Blaise Paschal put it: the one who uttered the words of today’s Gospel must be either Bad, or Mad, or God.
So we read the whole Sermon through with care, seeking to discern for ourselves. Is he bad? Is this all a symptom of self centred megalomania? No - we encounter throughout the humility of Jesus: although he makes uncompromising claims for himself, he directs us always towards his Father. Far from being selfish, he is the one who would lay down his life for love for us.
Is he mad? Is this all just crazed nonsense? Does it come from an unhinged mind? No: His words are sober, consistent, deliberate, and he himself first put them into practice before enjoining them on us. They’ve been acknowledged as words of the deepest wisdom by the finest minds through all the ages since, and not just among Christians either. These words have power to change lives - always for the better - to inspire Saints, to convert sinners, to give hope and courage and joy even in the darkest and most difficult situations.
So we are left with the only other conclusion possible: he’s God.
But how can we possibly measure up to this new law? How can we always avoid anger and lust and idle words? How can we be perfect, as he commands later on in the Sermon? The answer is simple: we can do that in so far as we belong to Jesus, listen to his words, ponder his mysteries, and remain in close touch with him through prayer and the Sacraments. That is why we come to Mass, so that each Sunday, at least, we can participate in his saving sacrifice, and receive communion in his body and blood, given for us, so that we might have life in him.