From: Matthew 5:20-26

Jesus and His Teaching, the Fulfillment of the Law (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [20] “For I tell you, unless your righteousness ex-
ceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of
Heaven.

[21] “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and
whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.’ [22] But I say to you that every one who
is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother
shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the
hell of fire. [23] So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember
that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your gift there before the
altar and go; first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your
gift. [25] Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to
court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard,
and you be put in prison; [26] truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you
have paid the last penny.

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Commentary:

20. “Righteousness”: see the note on Matthew 5:6 (see below). This verse clari-
fies the meaning of the preceding verses. The scribes and Pharisees had distor-
ted the spirit of the Law, putting the whole emphasis on its external, ritual obser-
vance. For them exact and hyper-detailed but external fulfillment of the precepts
of the Law was a guarantee of a person’s salvation: “If I fulfill this I am righteous,
I am holy and God is duty bound to save me.” For someone with this approach
to sanctification it is really not God who saves: man saves himself through ex-
ternal works of the Law. That this approach is quite mistaken is obvious from
what Christ says here; in effect what He is saying is: to enter the Kingdom of
God the notion of righteousness or salvation developed by the scribes and Pha-
risees must be rejected. In other words, justification or sanctification is a grace
from God; man’s role is one of cooperating with that grace by being faithful to it.
Elsewhere Jesus gives the same teaching in an even clearer way (cf. Luke 18:
9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector). It was also the origin
of one of St. Paul’s great battles with the “Judaizers” (see Galatians 3 and Ro-
mans 2-5).

21. Verses 21-26 gives us a concrete example of the way that Jesus Christ
brought the Law of Moses to its fulfillment, by explaining the deeper meaning
of the commandments of that Law.

22. By speaking in the first person (”but I say to you”) Jesus shows that His
authority is above that of Moses and the prophets; that is to say, He has divine
authority. No mere man could claim such authority.

“Insults”: practically all translations of this passage transcribe the original Ara-
maic word, “raca” (cf. RSV note below). It is not an easy word to translate. It
means “foolish, stupid, crazy”. The Jews used it to indicate utter contempt; of-
ten, instead of verbal abuse they would show their feelings by spitting on the
ground.

“Fool” translates an ever stronger term of abuse than “raca”—implying that a per-
son has lost all moral and religious sense, to the point of apostasy.

In this passage our Lord points to three faults which we commit against charity,
moving from internal irritation to showing total contempt. St. Augustine com-
ments that three degrees of faults and punishments are to be noted. The first is
the fault of feeling angry; to this corresponds the punishment of “judgment”. The
second is that of passing an insulting remark, which merits the punishment of
“the council”. The third arises when anger quite blinds us: this is punished by
“the hell of fire” (cf. “De Serm. Dom. in Monte”, II, 9).

“The hell of fire”: literally, “Gehenna of fire”, meaning, in the Jewish language of
the time, eternal punishment.

This shows the gravity of external sins against charity — gossip, backbiting, ca-
lumny, etc. However, we should remember that these sins stem from the heart;
our Lord focuses our attention, first, on internal sins — resentment, hatred, et
cetera — to make us realize that that is where the root lies and that it is impor-
tant to nip anger in the bud.

23-24. Here our Lord deals with certain Jewish practices of His time, and in doing
so gives us perennial moral teaching of the highest order. Christians, of course,
do not follow these Jewish ritual practices; to keep our Lord’s commandment we
have ways and means given us by Christ Himself. Specifically, in the New and
definitive Covenant founded by Christ, being reconciled involves going to the Sa-
crament of Penance. In this Sacrament the faithful “obtain pardon from God’s
mercy for the offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time, recon-
ciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins”(”Lumen Gentium”,
11).

In the New Testament, the greatest of all offerings is the Eucharist. Although one
has a duty to go to Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, an essential
condition before receiving Holy Communion is that one be in the state of grace.

It is not our Lord’s intention here to give love of neighbor priority over love of God.
There is an order of charity: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul and with all your strength. This is the great and first command-
ment” (Matthew 22:37-38). Love of one’s neighbor, which is the second com-
mandment in order of importance (cf. Matthew 22:39), derives its meaning from
the first. Brotherhood without parenthood is inconceivable. An offense against
charity is, above all, an offense against God.

[The note on Matthew 5:6 states:

6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially re-
ligious one (cf. notes on Matthew 1:19 and 3:15; Romans 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22
and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the Will of God,
which is discovered in the commandments, in one’s duties of state in life and
through one’s life of prayer. Thus, righteousness, in the language of the Bible,
is the same as what nowadays is usually called “holiness” (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10;
Revelation 22:11; Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 9:4).]

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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.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
1 Kings 18:41-46 ©

'A cloud no bigger than a man's hand'

Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go back, eat and drink; for I hear the sound of rain.’ While Ahab went back to eat and drink, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel and bowed down to the earth, putting his face between his knees. ‘Now go up,’ he told his servant ‘and look out to the sea.’ He went up and looked. ‘There is nothing at all’ he said. ‘Go back seven times’ Elijah said. The seventh time, the servant said, ‘Now there is a cloud, small as a man’s hand, rising from the sea.’ Elijah said, ‘Go and say to Ahab, “Harness the chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”’ And with that the sky grew dark with cloud and storm, and rain fell in torrents. Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel. The hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and tucking up his cloak he ran in front of Ahab as far as the outskirts of Jezreel.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 64(65):10-13 ©

To you our praise is due in Zion, O God.

You care for the earth, give it water,

you fill it with riches.

Your river in heaven brims over

to provide its grain.

To you our praise is due in Zion, O God.

And thus you provide for the earth;

you drench its furrows;

you level it, soften it with showers;

you bless its growth.

To you our praise is due in Zion, O God.

You crown the year with your goodness.

Abundance flows in your steps,

in the pastures of the wilderness it flows.

The hills are girded with joy.

To you our praise is due in Zion, O God.

Gospel Acclamation	cf.1Th2:13

Alleluia, alleluia!

Accept God’s message for what it really is:

God’s message, and not some human thinking.

Alleluia!

Or:	Jn13:34

Alleluia, alleluia!

I give you a new commandment:

love one another just as I have loved you,

says the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel	Matthew 5:20-26 ©

Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’