The New Covenant Document is Completed

Covenant themes are shot through today’s readings, as Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount in a way reminiscent of covenant documents of antiquity.

Moses told the people,
“Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.
Bind them at your wrist as a sign,
and let them be a pendant on your forehead.

“I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse:
a blessing for obeying the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today;
a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
but turn aside from the way I ordain for you today,
to follow other gods, whom you have not known.” (from Deut 11:18-32)

Our first reading is from Deuteronomy, which is The Law of Moses par excellence, since Moses takes personal responsibility for the giving of the laws in Deuteronomy in a way unlike anything previously seen in Exodus through Numbers.  We see this in today’s reading: “Moses told the people, ‘Take these words of mine into your heart and soul ...”  Moses’ responsibility for some of the laws of Deuteronomy is highlighted in Jesus’ teaching: “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives ...” (Matt 19:8).  This is significant, because some of the laws of Deuteronomy are not God’s highest and best, but accomodations authorized by Moses.

Deuteronomy is a covenant document, as has been demonstrated many times (See G.E. Mendenhall, Meredith Kline, Kenneth Kitchen).  Covenants in ancient times were the extension of kinship to another party through an oath (On this see F.M. Cross, but especially Gorden Hugenberger).  Covenant documents typically ended with a set of blessings for obedience, and a set of curses for unfaithfulness (See the covenant documents in Pritchard’s ANET).  Moses refers to this in today’s reading: “I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse: a blessing for obeying ...; a curse if you do not obey ...”

The way Moses speaks here sounds as if there is an equal balance of blessing and curse in Deuteronomy.  When, however, we page to the end of Deuteronomy, to the section of blessings and curses (chs. 27-32), we find an egregious imbalance towards curses.  Chapter 27:15-26 has a litany of twelve curses, with no corresponding blessing litany, even though 27:12 leads us to expect one.  In chapter 28, there are a mere 14 verses of blessing followed by over 50 verses of curses!  A careful reading of chs. 29-32 reveals additional curses, and the fact that these curses are inevitable.  No wonder, then, that St. Paul speaks of “the curse of the law” (Gal 3:13).

The blessing and curse of Moses’ Law is relevant to today’s Gospel reading, but first let’s take a look at the Psalm and Second Reading.

R. Lord, be my rock of safety.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.

The Response for today’s Psalm is taken from Ps 31:2-3, “LORD, be my rock of safety.”  It obviously relates to the Gospel, in which we understand that Jesus is the LORD (YHWH), the Rock on whom we build if we do what he tells us to do in the Sermon on the Mount.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul speaks of the coming of the New Covenant, which Jesus has laid out for us in the Sermon on the Mount.  In fact, one can think of the Sermon on the Mount as the “covenant document” embodying the New Covenant.

Brothers and sisters,
Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,
though testified to by the law and the prophets,
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for all who believe.
For there is no distinction;
all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
They are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as an expiation,
through faith, by his blood.
For we consider that a person is justified by faith
apart from works of the law. (from Rom 3:21-28)

Paul says, “Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law (the Old or Mosaic Covenant), though testified to by the law and the prophets (i.e. the Old Testament), the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” (Rom 3:21)

In order to understand Paul correctly, I think we need to understand that he uses the term “law” in several different senses throughout Romans.  It is a form of word play.  In the passage above, I have glossed the occurences of “law” with the meaning I think St. Paul intends.

Protestants and Catholics differ on what is meant by “the righteousness of God through faith.”  Classic Protestants understand this to mean “a righteousness that consists of faith,” i.e. faith is all the “righteousness” you need.  The Catholic Church understands this to mean “a righeousness enabled by faith,” i.e. your being and actions are really transformed by faith.

The last verse of the Second Reading sounds very “Lutheran”: “For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”  Luther understood “works of law” to mean any good works, indeed, any human effort.  Thomas Aquinas suggested that “works of law” referred to the cultic and purity laws of the Mosaic Covenant, which he called “the ceremonial precepts.”  The discovery of the only use of the phrase “works of the law” in ancient literature (outside of Paul’s letters) in the Dead Sea Scroll document “4QMMT,” a technical work discussing purity laws, bolsters Thomas Aquinas’ suggestion.  I understand St. Paul to mean: “no one experiences the restoration of the proper order of one’s soul (= “justification”) through obeying the ceremonies of the Old Covenant (= “the works of the law”), but one does experience this transformation through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Now, the Gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’ (Matt 7:21-23)

First, Jesus gives a severe warning that we should all take to heart: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matt 7:21).  Note the emphasis on doing.  This verse contradicts any notion of salvation by easy-believism, as “salvation by faith alone” is sometimes (but not always) preached by non-Catholics.  In the following verses, Jesus indicates that even some who have demonstrated Charismatic or Pentecostal gifts (prophecy, exorcism, miracles) will be cast out of heaven because they were, in fact, “evildoers.”  So apparently, doing the will of my Father does not refer primarily to displaying extraordinary spiritual gifts!  Doing the will of my Father refers to the lifestyle described in Matthew 5-7.  We should all go back and read these chapters again, because Jesus says they are the path to Heaven! 

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” (Matt 7:24-27)

Finally, Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with what amounts to a blessing and curse statement for obedience and disobedience.  Those who obey his words will be blessed by having built a secure “house” on the “rock.”  Those who disobey will experience the destruction of their “house.”  This “blessing and curse” statment gives the entire Sermon on the Mount the feel of a covenant document, since, as mentioned above, this was the typical way to end such documents in ancient times.  Therefore, we can almost understand the Sermon on the Mount as the “covenant document” of the New Covenant on the analogy of Deuteronomy as the “covenant document” of the Old (i.e. Mosaic).

Unlike the Mosaic Covenant, however, there is much more emphasis on blessing in the New Covenant.  For example, there is no Blessing Litany in the Mosaic Covenant, only curse (see again Deut 27:15-26).  The New Covenant, however, begins with a Blessing Litany (the Beatitudes, Matt 5:3-12).  Are the Beatitudes meant to supply the “Blessing Litany” Moses never provided?

As noted last week, the allusion to “the wise man who built his house on the rock” is to Solomon, the royal Son who built the House of God (the Temple) on the eben shettiyyah, the “stone of foundation” or bedrock outcropping that now undergirds the so-called “Dome of the Rock.”  So the Sermon on the Mount begins and ends with references to the Kingdom or some aspect of it.

Notice that Jesus does NOT say “those who listen to these words of mine and BELIEVES them ...” but rather “those who listen to these words of mind and ACTS on them”  will be like a wise man, etc.  It is providential that we conclude the entire Sermon on the Mount this year before the start of Lent, because Lent now gives us the opportunity to put the Sermon on the Mount into practice.  Let’s re-read Matthew 5-7 between now and Ash Wedneday (which is three days away!) and ask ourselves, “Am I actually DOING this stuff?”