Holy Reconciling: Matthew 5:17-37
Having offered his followers an identity very different than the one offered by the Roman appraisal of them, Jesus turns to the practices that he expects for the community gathered around this alternative vision. Jesus reaches into the law and the prophets to find the model for godly living. He has not come to set aside even a stroke of the law but has come to fulfill it (Mt 5:18). Yet this does not mean that things will continue as they have been operating. Jesus becomes the authoritative interpreter who will teach them righteousness or justice that surpasses the practices of the religious establishment (Mt 5:20).
Jesus is aware that those who have lived their lives under violent powers will be tempted to use the same violence toward others. Having been threatened, they may turn to people in their own community with threats; having been insulted by the powerful, they may use their power to degrade others. Jesus interprets the law radically identifying God’s intent: they are not to will harm for anyone in their community. At this point, the concern focuses on internal relationships, that is, how members of the community will treat their “brother or sister” (Mt 5:22). Murder is not only carried out by the sword. Abusive anger and scathing insults directed against other members of the community violate God’s command for life.
Worship also is to take place within the context of whole relationships. If a member has offended another, he must go and seek reconciliation with her before offering gifts to God. Right relationship with God should be sought within the context of right relationships with others in the community of faith. Gifts are offered to God only after one has pursued reconciliation with the parties that one has harmed. Thus worship and our offerings to God cannot be used to justify unjust and broken relationships. Followers of this new way must seek out reconciliation with those whom they have harmed before they find themselves morally bankrupt in the presence of a judge. To nurture old animosities rather than to seek healing with another again locks up people in prisons of their own making.
Jesus continues his mapping of communal relationships and his reinterpreting and radicalizing of the law. In each case he interprets prohibitions in light of their disintegrating effects on communal life. Adultery is not only about sleeping with those who are not one’s marriage partners; it is about making others into objects of one’s own fantasies. The use of others to satisfy one’s own base needs makes them into objects rather than people to relate to as fellow children of God. Such attitudes lead to hell and havoc for the community. Jesus calls for people to remove from themselves all that violates their integrity. He desires whole people holistically seeking the Empire of God. Hungering lustfully over others takes away from the hunger and thirst for justice on their behalf. Similarly, the practice of dismissing or divorcing the person whom one has pledged to care for leads to a break down of community. People are not objects to be disposed of based on personal whims.
Finally, Jesus challenges the interpretation of the law that suggests that one must speak truth when an oath is taken; but, that, therefore one may lie at other times. Integrity–that is the whole, single-minded focus–requires that one’s word be consistently dependable. When one utters “yes” then the meaning is always “yes”; when one declares “no” the meaning will always be a clear “no”.
In this section Jesus has offered his radical interpretation of the law that provides the grounds for healthy community living. Within the community of faith people are not to replicate the control and violence that they suffer in the broader world. They are to use words to build each other up rather than to tear each other down. They are to own up to the harm they have caused others and seek reconciliation with them. They are to treat each other with respect and not make objects of others. They are to care for each other for the long haul and not dispose of each other when conflicts arise. They are to live with integrity, totally dedicated to following their hunger for justice so that unrighteousness does not derail this utterly essential quest for wellbeing for all.
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