At a time when the Teachers of the Law and the Scribes and Pharisees are preoccupied with its letter,

Jesus does not abolish the Law but comes to give it a deeper meaning and insight.

He did not come to abolish but to fulfill the law.

It’s a fulfillment based on a proper understanding of the role of the law in enhancing the lives of believers.

  

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Kings 18:20-39*

So Ahab sent for all the people

Of Israel and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah addressed the people and asked, "How long will you follow two ways at the same time? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal is God then follow him." The people remained silent.

 

So Elijah continued, "I am the only prophet of Yahweh left here to face Baal's four hundred and fifty prophets. Get us two bulls. Let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood; and I will do the same with the other bull. But we will not set it on fire. Then you shall call on the name of your gods while I shall call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire is the true one." Then the people answered, "That is right."

 

Then Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose for your-selves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many. (...) But there was no voice; and no one answered them while they went on, dancing on one foot around the altar they had built.

By noontime, Elijah began to mock them, "Shout out louder. Baal is a busy god (...) So they shouted louder (...) But still there was no voice. (...) Then Elijah said to the people, "Draw closer to me," and the people drew closer to him. He then repaired the altar of Yahweh which had been thrown down. (...)

 

When the time of the evening offering came, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel; (...) Then the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offering, together with the wood, the stones also, and the dust; the water also dried up in the trench.

 

All the people witnessed this. Then they fell on their faces and said, "Yahweh is God! Yahweh is God!"

 

Ps 16:1b-2ab, 4, 5ab, 8, 11 Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊      

Matthew 5:17-19

Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets. I have not come to annul them, but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the law will change, until all is fulfilled. So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"To fulfill the law."

In today's Gospel Jesus tells the people that he came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets. In Jesus' time, the law and the prophets constituted the available part of the Hebrew scripture. Jesus came to fulfill the scripture by practicing it. The verb plēroō (to fulfill) may also mean "to bring into completion what has already been started."

 

The verb kataluō (to abolish) may also mean "to detach something from something" (i.e., detaching a stone from a building during demolition). To complete our faith journey, mere knowledge about the faith we profess is not enough. In front of the challenges pertaining to our faith, we need to act. In front of the needy other, we must do something.

 

If at this point of our faith journey we still find it difficult to practice what we profess, we are actually detaching ourselves from the examples set by Jesus himself. The examples set by Jesus need to be emulated, continued and fulfilled in our time. We, followers of Jesus, are called and sent to continue the mission which Jesus has begun, and Jesus is with us until the law and the prophets are fulfilled through us (cf. Mt. 28:19-20).