“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place,” said Jesus.

What does it mean for Jesus to fulfill the law? Jesus sees in the law the means to the fulfillment of time (“until all things have taken place”), when the law will be replaced by righteous relationships within the kingdom of heaven. The fundamental law is gift of self to others. When self-giving is lacking in any act of keeping the law, the law in fact is not kept. We are to keep the law as the way to enter a manner of caring for and relating to others that leads to fullness of life. Our model for doing so is Jesus.

The key to the question of fulfilling the law is to ask if “our heart is into” the law, into the reason for the law? There are many laws which we as human beings do not fulfill for a host of reasons but mainly because “our hearts are just not into them.” For example, the speed limit law. We know the point of them: to make the roads safe and to reduce and prevent traffic accidents thereby reducing and eliminating injuries on the road. We understand the reason for such laws (speed limits, safety belt use laws, motorcycle helmet laws) are to promote public safety and to reduce public expenditures related to the police, ambulance and fire departments when there is a corresponding reduction in the number and severity of traffic accidents. Yet many individuals regularly ignore the letter of the law feeling for whatever reason that it does not apply to them. The same thing can happen in faith. Some folks know the Church’s “laws” or “regulations” and even understand the reasons for them, i.e., annulments and remarriage or requirements for religious education or Confirmation or the Pre-Cana requirements for marriage ceremonies in the Catholic Church, yet some individuals will ignore them and demand exemptions or special treatment. It’s just part of the human condition.

Christ addresses this “law verses personal preference” concern in today’s Gospel of Matthew (11:25) which is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount, which itself is a blueprint for faithful Christian living. Jesus is speaking about laws and human behavior. He does not make His hearer’s lives easier by easing the law; He does give a better reason for keeping it than the consequences of breaking laws: Whether we are talking about civil laws and ordinances or religious commandments and regulations, the consideration that should be foremost in our minds and hearts is what is this leading me towards?

The end result with which we should be concerned is not will we make it through the yellow or “lite pink” light, or will I have a pretty ceremony on my wedding day, but rather am I safely living in communion with others in society and have I worked to form a life-long relationship leading to right relationships with my spouse, family, with my eternal and loving God?
As we consider the “letter of the law” and whether we fulfill it, let us have greater concern to ask if we are fulfilling the Spirit of the law, for the Spirit is what leads to right relationships and right relationships are what leads us to eternal happiness. For the righteousness that Jesus is asking all of us to consider in the “law” is not a righteousness of the minimum—what’ the least I can do for you, and I mean the very least, but rather His righteousness is concerned with caring for others as He cares for us. It means loving, and caring, and forgiving as He did. It is after all about self-giving. He is the model!