June 13, 2012
Thursday 10th Week in
Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
2 Cor 3:15- 4:1, 3-6
Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26
Jesus said to the crowds, “I tell you, then, that if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to our people in the past: Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you: whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council; whoever calls a brother or a sister ‘Fool’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. (…)
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus begins a series of discourses on the proper Christian conduct. He justifies each conduct by citing legal basis from existing laws or precepts (“you have heard it said”) and adding his own teaching (“but now I tell you”). Thus as regards murder, Jesus cites a provision from the Book of Exodus as basis. He says: “Do not commit murder (see Exodus 20:13); anyone who does kill will have to face trial (see Exodus 21:12)”. Then adding his own teaching in order to deepen the legal basis of the prohibition against murder, Jesus says: “Whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial…”
In going beyond the Exodus prohibition of killing, Jesus wants to prohibit even expressions of anger that eventually lead to loss of self control. Jesus even prohibits the calling of another person a “fool”. The Aramaic word used in the original is “reqa” which means “imbecile”. Clinically this term refers to a form of mental retardation where a person’s mental age stagnates at seven. In common parlance this is “stupid” – a term used to verbally abuse a person. The bottom line is that a disciple of Jesus must address sin from its roots. A true disciple will never give the devil a chance to get to first base.
The punishment that Jesus mentions is in ascending order. The first is judgment by a local council (“Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council”), the second is trial before the Sanhedrin –the highest judicial body in Judaism (“be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court…”), the third is condemnation to Hell (whoever calls a brother or a sister “Fool” deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell). These punishments are heavy enough to make us understand that Jesus is serious about his desire that we go deeper in our spiritual life. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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