This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
The pairing of today’s readings is fascinating.
In the first reading, St. Paul describes Mosaic Law, epitomized in the Ten Commandments, as the “ministry of death.”
Jesus in the gospel, on the other hand, is adamant that no letter or part of a letter of the Law will not disappear, and the Law must be followed. He came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.
So which is it? Is Jesus the fulfillment of the ministry of death? Does the old Law pass away, or remain and come to fruition?
Startling as it may sound, Jesus is, in a way, the fulfillment of this “ministry of death.” The old Law was a ministry of death inasmuch as the command to avoid sin was in itself sterile and fruitless, because compliance with this command could not bring life. Humanity remained doomed to death.
But in introducing the new “ministry of the Spirit,” the ministry of life, as it were, Jesus replaces the mortal destiny of man with the destiny of eternal life. He allows mortality to take away His life, and in doing so, opens the path to life in Him.
It is not that the Commandments themselves are forever linked to death. Rather, in linking them now to life, Jesus ushers in the new Law of the Spirit, and fulfills the very destiny of the old Law and the Commandments, which was never meant to remain as futility and death.
The difference between the old Law and the new Law is not the difference between following the Commandments and living in the Spirit. Rather, it is the difference between fulfilling the Commandments with no path to salvation, and fulfilling them in the fullness of the Spirit’s joy, with an eye to eternal life.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for help in living as a New Testament Christian, not one of the faithful prior to His coming. Ask Him for the joy of confidence in the victory of the Spirit, that turns the fulfillment of God’s will in our lives into our focal passion and desire.
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