6th Sunday after Epiphany
Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
God has always had the well-being of his people in mind since they were freed of slavery and oppression. The scene in Deuteronomy 30 finds the Hebrews about to cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan. God calls their memory about everything they have been through, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and reminds them that every commandment and instruction was meant for them to be well as a community and flourish as people. Hear and do, and you will live. That was the promise. Some verses later, God shares with Moses what God knew would happen (31:16). The people would not hear and would do as they pleased, not as God instructed. The consequences of their actions would bring God’s displeasure (17-18).
The gospel reading brings us back to the sermon of the mountain. Last Sunday, Jesus declared himself to be the fulfillment of the Torah, God’s commandments and instructions, that is, the divine hope that we would live well with one another. Jesus here begins the process of refocusing the gracious and loving meaning of God’s instructions. The refrain “you heard this before … now I say to you” will be repeated by Jesus multiple times until the end of the 7th chapter of Matthew (verses 24-27), where the incarnation of God’s Word will again remind his disciples that hearing without doing may not be in their best interest.
Jesus wants us to hear today that any sort of mutual aggression will not lead the community where it needs to be. Reconciliation is paramount to participate in the kingdom that has already come. Jesus raises the bar of what violence against the neighbor would be. He also sets a new standard to the commandment against adultery to protect married women and curtain the abuse of the laws about divorce by male spouses. Finally, do not use God’s word in vain by leveraging possible empty promises against his name. We don’t have the power.
In 1 Corinthians, we hear the echoes of Jesus’ wish that the disciples function well as a community. Paul points against possible clicks beginning to form at the church in Corinth. We are all God’s servants working together (verse 9).
The psalmist (verse 2) sings a beatitude about what we now know. Happy are those who hear and seek life!
Bridging Faith 