Fulfilling the Law

Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Jesus comes to fulfill the Law of Israel.  He does so by providing laser focus on what the purpose and end of the law is, and that is to love others.  The law does not exist to exclude or to condemn.  It exists solely to have human beings love one another.  That is the entire teaching of Jesus, one that he exhibited as he went from place to place doing good to others - by healing those were sick, liberating those enslaved by their demons, and nourishing those hungry in body and spirit.  

Jesus then invites other people to this work, and gives us a framework of how to show love and mercy to others.  We are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit those sick and imprisoned, and provide welcome to the immigrant, refugee, and migrant.  All of these activities can be found in various places in the law of Israel, and they now become the central focus of the law of love.  

Church campuses exist in great numbers, but are these above deeds of love the central focus of their existence? Imagine if they were.  Imagine if church operations were about these things and not selling time shares in pews for an our per week.  Imagine if every Christian were engaged in these works of love and mercy.  It would certainly be a different Christianity than the one that exists now, and perhaps a different world too.