334. Jesus' teaching about the Law

Teaching about the Law

Ave Maria series

What connection is there between the “natural moral law” and the Law of the Old Testament?

The Law of the Old Covenant expresses truths that by nature are evident to human reason yet are now proclaimed and authenticated as God’s Law.  [1961-1963, 1981]

Dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees by Gustave Dore (1832-1883).

The Greatest Commandment:  When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,“Teacher,^* which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”—Matthew 22:34-40

Teaching about the Law:   “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.  I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.-- Matthew 5:17-20

“God wrote on the tables of the Law what men did not read in their hearts.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

[1961-1963, 1981]

THE OLD LAW

1961 God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose Israel for himself to be his people and revealed his Law to them, thus preparing for the coming of Christ. The Law of Moses expresses many truths naturally accessible to reason. These are stated and authenticated within the covenant of salvation. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

1962 The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral prescriptions are summed up in the Ten Commandments. The precepts of the Decalogue lay the foundations for the vocation of man fashioned in the image of God; they prohibit what is contrary to the love of God and neighbor and prescribe what is essential to it. The Decalogue is a light offered to the conscience of every man to make God's call and ways known to him and to protect him against evil: --CCC

God wrote on the tables of the Law what men did not read in their hearts.(St. Augustine, En. in Psalm. 57,1:Patrologia Latina 36,673.)¹³ –CCC

1963 According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good,(Compare Romans 7:12,14,16.)¹⁴ yet still imperfect. Like a tutor(Compare Galatians 3:24.)¹⁵ it shows what must be done, but does not of itself give the strength, the grace of the Spirit, to fulfill it. Because of sin, which it cannot remove, it remains a law of bondage. According to St. Paul, its special function is to denounce and disclose sin, which constitutes a "law of concupiscence" in the human heart.(Compare Romans 7.)¹⁶  However, the Law remains the first stage on the way to the kingdom. It prepares and disposes the chosen people and each Christian for conversion and faith in the Savior God. It provides a teaching which endures for ever, like the Word of God. –CCC

IN BRIEF

1981 The Law of Moses contains many truths naturally accessible to reason. God has revealed them because men did not read them in their hearts. –CCC

JT  Dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees