"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 the kingdom of heaven.
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;
and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
"You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
"It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife - unless the marriage is unlawful - causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
"Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one."
- Matthew 5:17-37
Being a Christian is hard. We often think of being a Christian as simply being about loving our neighbors and God. In the abstract, this sounds like it should be easy. We often lament that, if only everyone would treat those around them with love, the world would be a much better place. What we forget when we focus solely on this is that, while that message is central to what Jesus was teaching, it is not the only lesson he ever gave us. Yes, if we focus on that core message, everything else should flow from it, but that doesn’t mean we get to forget the rest.
Today’s Gospel is a perfect example of that. Jesus is continuing the Sermon on the Mount and is challenging his listeners to rethink the way they think about the commandments. Those hearing the sermon live would have been extremely familiar with all of the different laws and regulations governing ancient Judaism. Jesus was telling them, however, that they must go beyond the letter of those laws and really live the spirit of the law. Not only must you not kill your neighbors, you also should not even think poorly of them. It is not enough to simply take an oath declaring something to be true. Instead, we should simply state what we mean and let that stand.
This is a very different way of thinking about sin and how to live your life. Some might say that it is impossible for an individual to live up to such a high standard, and they would be right. It is impossible for us to live up to that standard by ourselves. That is why it is critical that we turn to God in all that we do. It is only through God’s help that we are able to achieve anything. It is the grace we receive in the sacraments – especially Eucharist and Reconciliation – which gives us the strength to live a Christian life. If we forget this, all is lost. But if we continue to turn to God with a pure heart, He will pour out His Grace and Mercy and raise us up to be a better person than we could ever have dreamed of being.