From Statutes to Love: Blessed is the One who Walks in the Gospel of Jesus
Feb 24, 2024 - Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Deut. 26:16-19; Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8; Matt. 5:43-48
The liturgy of the Word commences with a passage from the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 26:16-19). The people of Israel are summoned to wholeheartedly keep and follow God's statutes. They are reminded of their covenant with God and the responsibility to walk in His ways. By adhering to God's commandments, they invite His favor and reaffirm their commitment to being a chosen and special people set apart for His purposes.
Psalm 119, the longest in the Bible, presents God’s Law as the source of happiness, wisdom, and life (Ps. 119:1, 93, 98). The psalm begins by declaring that those who "walk in the law of the Lord" are blessed. The "law of the Lord" refers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While these books contain numerous rules and regulations, their primary focus is to tell us the story of how God chose a people for Himself in order to bless them abundantly. Therefore, blessed is the one who knows the story of the Torah. Why? Because it is our story. We have been created by God and given a place in the Garden of Eden. We have listened to the voice of the snake and lost our way to the tree of life. But the Lord has not abandoned us. He calls us to a relationship with Him, liberates us from our slavery, gives us instruction for right living, and leads us to the Promised Land.
The excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew is the most challenging segment from the entire Sermon of Jesus on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). We are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This commandment extends the concept of love beyond familiar boundaries, urging a radical form of love that mirrors God's impartial and boundless love for all. This is the hallmark of Christian faith: the world will recognize us as Christ's disciples by our love (see John 13:35). Psalm 119 also takes on a deeper meaning from the perspective of this commandment. For us, the law of the Lord is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who calls us to follow Him to resurrection and eternal life through the cross. For us, the Gospel is the source of happiness, wisdom, and life.
In one of his sermons, Martin Luther King offered five practical reasons for loving our enemies. First, we should love our enemies in order to imitate God. Jesus said that our God “is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Luke 6:35). Second, we should love our enemies to emulate Jesus, who, instead of calling for an army of angels (Matthew 26:53) to destroy his enemies, prayed: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
Third, Jesus' command, “Love your enemies,” is the only solution to break the vicious cycle of war, violence, and death prevalent in our world. “Hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe” (Martin Luther King). Fourth, love has redemptive power; it can change another person for the better. Finally, the last reason for loving our enemies is medical. Hate causes headaches, stress, and heart disease. When you hate, you cannot think clearly and tend to act irrationally. You end up seeing your enemies everywhere and accusing the whole world of conspiring against you. Love, on the other hand, keeps you healthy and psychologically balanced.
“Love your enemies” is easier said than done. Yet, is there any other option to stop hatred and violence? Perhaps it is time to take Jesus’ commandment seriously and begin creating an alternative way of living where love begets love, turning our enemies into friends.