Wednesday's Mass readings (The letter & the spirit... / Jesus did not come to abolish the law..)

[distracted]

**Wednesday (6-10) **

2 Cor 3:4-11:

Brothers and Sisters: Such confidence we have through Christ toward God… Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of Spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? for if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.

St Mt 5:17-19:

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.”

*It sounds like the letter of the law (Commandments given to Moses) are not such a good thing… (…if one were to read this psg alone, out of context with the rest of the Sciptures…). Frankly, i love the letter of the law… i wish people would obey Jesus’ Commandments a whole lot better than they do… would make MY life a lot easier…

but i get the gist of the psg.

What i don’t get is why Jesus says that whoever breaks the least of the Commandmetns will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven…

I thought if you broke the Commandments, you were 86’d OUT of the kingdom… … a ticket to fry and all that…

but maybe if you only break the LEAST… and not the greatest…??? *

 

[cheeto1]

Well, it sounds like He’s saying that the commandments that have been “fulfilled”
no longer need to be kept. But until a law is “fulfilled”, it still needs to be kept.
What He doesn’t say is which ones those are…

 

[JAGCath28]

He didn’t come to abolish the 10 commandments. He speaks about the commandments later in St. Matthew 22: 36-40.

36
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
37
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
38
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
39
The second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

One of the fulfillments that come to mind was the sacrificing of animals in the temple. He became our sacrifice. Another fulfillment was the division between God and man.

Matthew 27: 50-51

50
But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
51
And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split,

I’ve been listening and reading a lot of Dr. Hahn lately. He is fascinated by the Old and New Covenant. It would be interesting to go more in depth with his research to see how the fulfillment of the law and the Covenant are related.

 

[cheeto1]

One of the fulfillments that come to mind was the sacrificing of animals in the temple. He became our sacrifice. Another fulfillment was the division between God and man.

Yes, exactly. Sacrificing animals was one of the laws fulfilled. This no longer needs
to be done. Circumcision is another. But my big question is, are there any laws that have Not been fulfilled with Jesus’ death and resurrection?