Replies

From: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Faithfulness to the Law: God’s Closeness to His People

(Moses said to the people:) [1] “And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and
the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and
take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.
[5] Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord my God com-
manded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take
possession of it. [6] Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and
your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these
statutes will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’
[7] For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our
God is to us, whenever we call upon him? [8] And what great nation is there, that
has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you
this day?

The Revelation at Horeb

[9] “Only take heed, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things
which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of
your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

4:1-8. Having recalled the main events in Israel’s journey from Sinai-Horeb on-
wards, in which God’s special providence was evident, the text now stresses the
privileged position of the Hebrew people, chosen as they are by God from among
all the nations of the earth, and enabled to draw near to him in a close relation-
ship quite beyond the experience of the Gentiles.

The passage acts as an advance exhortation to fidelity to the Law, the core of
which will be recorded later on (5:1-6; 6; 12:1-28:68); it may have been inserted
in the course of a revision of the book. The main argument it makes in favor of
keeping the Law is the fact that God is so near his people and so accessible to
them (vv. 7-8).

4:6-8. The theme of these verses is typical of Wisdom writing. The very life of
Israel, shaped as it is by obedience to the Law, will be an eloquent lesson for all
other nations. This message, open and out-reaching, implies a universal mission
for the chosen people, a message which looks far ahead and will find its fulfill-
ment in the future spread of the Church throughout the world.

4:9-14. This section concentrates on a line of teaching found throughout holy
Scripture: salvation history is based on the will of God who on his own initiative
offers a Covenant to the chosen people. The key points in this Covenant have to
do with Abraham (Gen 17:1-14) and Moses (Ex 19-24) and they culminate in the
future New Covenant in Jesus Christ (Mt 26:28; Mk 14:24; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25).
The promulgation of the Law on Sinai-Horeb is a product of the Covenant: God
promises the people of Israel protection, a land of their own, etc. Because a co-
venant or pact is involved, certain things are laid down that the people must do:
these are contained in the precepts of the Law. God will be true to the promises
he makes, but the people never decide whether to be faithful or unfaithful. Accor-
ding to this passage the Law consists in the Ten Commandments (v. 13).

On the events of Baal-Peor, cf. Num 25:1-18.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 5:17-19

Jesus and His Teaching, the Fulfillment of the Law

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [17] “Think not that I have come to abolish the law
and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For tru-
ly I say to you, till Heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass
from the law until all is accomplished. [19] Whoever then relaxes one of the least
of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the King-
dom of Heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in
the Kingdom of Heaven.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

17-19. In this passage Jesus stresses the perennial value of the Old Testament.
It is the word of God; because it has a divine authority it deserves total respect.
The Old Law enjoined precepts of a moral, legal and liturgical type. Its moral pre-
cepts still hold good in the New Testament because they are for the most part
specific divine-positive promulgations of the natural law. However, our Lord gives
them greater weight and meaning. But the legal and liturgical precepts of the Old
Law were laid down by God for a specific stage in salvation history, that is, up to
the coming of Christ; Christians are not obliged to observe them (cf. “Summa
Theologiae”, I-II, q. 108, a. 3 ad 3).

The law promulgated through Moses and explained by the prophets was God’s
gift to His people, a kind of anticipation of the definitive Law which the Christ or
Messiah would lay down. Thus, as the Council of Trent defined, Jesus not only
“was given to men as a redeemer in whom they are to trust, but also as a law-
giver whom they are to obey” (”De Iustificatione”, can. 21).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.