“Jesus & jurisprudence” (St. Luc: mardi, le 06 février, 2018; 1 Rois 8, 22-23.27-30; Ps. 83; St. Marc 7, 1-13)

Jewish jurisprudence.  Who doesn’t enjoy a good legal drama?  Think of movies such as A Few Good Men or A Man for All Seasons or To Kill a Mockingbird, to name just a few.  Prosecutors and defense attorneys give impassioned speeches in an effort to sway the jurors towards their interpretation of events.  Today’s Gospel provides us with a scene akin to that of the climax of the greatest cinematic court battles.  Throughout his ministry, Jesus is engaged in legal debates with “the scribes and the Pharisees” – the theologians and canon lawyers of his day.  While it is sometimes tempting to think of Jesus as simply being a “hippie” – a kind of “holy anarchist” – who enjoyed challenging the religious establishment, or perhaps someone who promoted a “religion of the heart” as opposed to a “religion of law”, a closer look at what is going on in the Gospels provides us with a more complex picture.  To be sure, first-century Judaism was very much a “legalistic” religion.  Also, at the time of Jesus, there was no distinction made between “religious law” and “criminal law” or “civil law”.  The “Law of Moses” governed all aspects of Jewish life.  Moses was celebrated as having been the great Law-giver.  There were, of course, the 10 Commandments to be observed; however, there were also 613 other laws contained within the 5 “books of Moses” (i.e. the “Torah”).  Of course, as anyone with any experience of legal practice can tell you, it isn’t enough to have a list of laws written down somewhere.  The Law is always in need of interpretation in light of present circumstances as well as application to individual cases – all of this interpretation gives rise to an enormous “tradition” of jurisprudence.  In today’s Gospel, this body of legal precedent is referred to as “the tradition of the elders”.  This was the “oral law”, the collection of rabbinical verdicts that had been handed down over a period of centuries (this “oral tradition” would eventually be committed to writing during the 3^rd-6^th centuries AD in what is called the “Mishnah” & the “Talmud”).  Of course, once the Law begins to be interpreted, debate unavoidably occurs concerning the meaning of the law and how it should be applied.  Different schools of thought appear, each with its own understanding of the Law.  This was indeed the case at the time of Jesus – there were even different schools of thought among the Pharisees themselves (e.g. the schools of Hillel and Shammai).  What we see in today’s Gospel is Jesus “throwing his hat into the ring” as he joins this ongoing debate over the interpretation of the Law of Moses and the ramifications for how Israel should understand its covenant relationship to God.

Jesus & the new Law.  Today’s Gospel is far from being a rejection of “law” in religion.  Our Catholic faith has many dogmas and laws which are binding on the faithful.  Jesus himself is presented, especially in St. Matthew’s Gospel, as being a new “Moses”.  The “Sermon on the Mount” (chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of St. Matthew) is presented as being the new law for the disciples of Jesus.  Jesus said that he had not “…come to abolish the law or the prophets”; rather, he had come to fulfill them (Mt. 5.17).  Jesus claimed to be able to interpret the Law on his own authority.  Jesus gave the “new” commandment to love God and neighbour (Mt. 22.37-40; cf. Jn. 13.34), which was a way of obeying the spirit of the entire Law.  Indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus intensifies the Law of Moses; rather than mere outward observance of the letter of the Law, Jesus requires observance, not only of the letter but also of the spirit of the law, not from a sense of duty, but rather from a heart motivated by love.  For example, instead of mere abstinence from murder, Jesus forbids the harbouring of hatred in one’s heart towards one’s brother/sister (Mt. 5.21-22).  As far as Jesus is concerned, the emphasis on love does not let us off the hook; au contraire, by insisting on love of neighbour, Jesus has “raised the bar” – instead of obeying some arbitrary rule (e.g. “don’t kill people”), Jesus insists that we must do everything in our power to ensure the good of our neighbour (e.g. the parable of the good Samaritan).

“Tradition”: the good, the bad & the ugly.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus critiques one of the Pharisees’ interpretations of the 4^th Commandment: “Honor your father and your mother” (cf. Ex. 20.12).  Part of the “oral law” stipulated that one could pledge “to God” (i.e. the Temple) the financial support that was due one’s parents.  Jesus underlines the fact that this “tradition” renders the original commandment to honour one’s parents null and void, meaningless.  Jesus castigates the human interpretation (i.e. “tradition”) that undermines the original God-given commandment.  To be sure, Jesus is not rejecting the very idea of “tradition”; the word “tradition” means simply “that teaching which is handed on as being authoritative”.  The words of Jesus himself at the Last Supper – “This is my body…” – would become part of Christian “Tradition” (cf. 1 Cor. 11.2, 23).  The challenge for the People of God – then as now – is to discern whether our tradition(s) serve to enable genuine obedience to the will of God as revealed in Scripture and the Church’s official teaching, or whether our tradition(s) are serving some other purpose, whether it be political, financial, ideological, etc.  Jesus had a habit of calling his contemporaries back to the will of God as expressed in Scripture.  In chapter 10 of St. Mark’s Gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus about divorce, and quote the portion of the mosaic legislation which allowed a husband to divorce his wife (cf. Dt. 24.1-4).  Jesus responds by quoting from the book of Genesis about the man and woman becoming one flesh (cf. Gn. 2.24).  Jesus concludes by saying “what God has joined together, let no one separate”.

A messy business.  The official teaching of the Church has ALWAYS been controversial (if you don’t believe me, just read Church history).  The Church’s teaching has been forged in the fires of fierce debate.  Today’s Gospel has given us a behind-the-scenes look at a doctrinal debate at the time of Jesus.  Debates have been raging ever since – recently, the question of divorce and remarriage has come to the forefront of discussion.  Reflecting on today’s Gospel is like opening a can of worms… all kinds of questions can arise – Have you ever wondered where the Church’s doctrines come from?  …or who wrote the Catechism of the Catholic Church?  The reality is, the Roman Catholic Church has been interpreting Scripture in light of the liturgy and the lives of the saints – and thereby developing its Tradition – for 2,000 years.  It is tempting to wonder if perhaps God should have just dropped from heaven a thousand-volume encyclopedia of all the answers to all possible questions.  However, ever since the first biblical author put pen to parchment, God has always revealed his own divine Word through the words of imperfect human beings.  The God of the Bible is a God who works with and through women and men.  Therefore, the human dimension will be ever present in matters of faith.  Therefore, hammering out official Church teaching will always be a messy business.  Blessed John Henry Newman made the following remark in the 19^th century: “Doctrines are like sausages; it is better not to see them being made”.  What God has given to his Church are means of being guided by the Holy Spirit “into all truth” (cf. Jn. 16.13).  Through the authority given by Jesus to the apostles and their successors the bishops, the Spirit has promised to guide the Church as she continues to plumb the depths of revelation on her pilgrim journey across time.  Amen.