Consider the Other
In our gospel reading for Sunday (Matthew 5:17-37), Jesus continues teaching His disciples. He says, “do not think 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…I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
For me, to surpass “the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees” is to look at fulfilling to the utmost degree the spirit of the law in the context of the love of God in Jesus Christ, rather than scrutinizing every minute detail of the law, trying to calculate the exact limits of what is acceptable.
And we see this in the following series of passages where Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…” I would like to focus on the first two of these series. They have to deal with contempt and violence and lust, which seem to dominate the news in recent weeks or even longer.
In our first such passage, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said…’You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to brother, ’Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.” Contempt and anger often lead to brutality and cruelty, violence and even murder and even more, attempts at genocide.
In the next passage, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
I see these sins having something in common. They both involve the dehumanization of the “other.” One can justify contempt and hate and injustice when one sees a person or group of persons as less than human and not worthy of God’s attention, never mind God’s love. This has been used to rationalize the Holocaust and slavery and Jim Crow and all sorts of discrimination and violence. It seems to have justified the unjust and often brutal treatment of many immigrants, whether they are documented or not, whether they have criminal records or not.
Dehumanization also occurs when someone is seen, not as a human being, but only something that is there to satisfy another’s desires. This allows for human trafficking and abusive exploitation, of which Jeffrey Epstein’s network is only the most publicized and widespread.
We are called to something different. As we hear in our first reading (Sirach 15:15-20): “The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man’s every deed. No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.” And in our second reading (1 Corinthians 2:6-10), St. Paul writes, “We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, not a wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away.” The wisdom of the Gospel is not the wisdom of this age.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.” If our perception of the “other” is causing us to sin, we need to throw it away no matter how attached we are to it, and listen to what Jesus says! Jesus has told us what to do.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
