What does the law require? That’s not a bad question.
What does the law tell us we must or must not do?
We need to know the law so that we can act appropriately. However, all too often the question that is asked is not “What does the law require?”, but “How little can I do to satisfy the law?” Or sometimes “What are the loopholes in the law that can help me get around doing what the law calls for?”
When my oldest child was still a toddler I went back to school. My courses required a lot of reading, and I had a favorite chair in the den where I liked to get comfortable when I read. There was a low table next to the chair where I stacked up the books I wanted to read. There was a very strong rule in our house that the children were not allowed to touch the table or anything on it. My daughter loved looking at her books while I was reading, a habit we encouraged. One evening she put one of her books on “daddy’s table”. She then stood looking at me gesturing at her book. Her message was clear “I know I’m not supposed to touch anything on your table, but what if something on your table belongs to me”? I couldn’t believe how early she began the thinking that made her look for the loopholes in the rules.
That’s really the problem with laws. Once there is a law, we start looking for ways around it.
Jesus realizes this in the question put to him in this Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus finds the answer by interpreting the law to be a gift from God rather than a command. The law of God is given as a good gift to God’s people. There is no reason for us to look for ways around God’s law.
Pastor Bill