Some time ago a young priest whom I had known as a seminarian, told me
the following story:
When I left the seminary, I was full of ideals and good intentions. I was appointed to a village parish as assistant to an old parish priest. He is a good person, but one hundred per cent of the old school. He does not allow me to take any initiative. He does not want a parish council. He stopped me from starting a youth movement. When I visit people’s homes, he is suspicious and asks questions.
At first I thought it was only the parish priest. Then I found the people did not want a change either. When I talked to the vicar general and some senior priests in the diocese, they advised me to keep quiet. “If you make too much noise,” they said, “you will get the reputation of causing trouble. Just do your work as everybody else does.” Thinking it over I found the whole system is against me. So I gave up trying, and now I am doing exactly what everyone else is doing.
A similar story could be told by many persons in different situations of life: by a teacher who would like to introduce changes into a school; by a religious sister who believes her congregation should adopt a different lifestyle; by a bishop who would like to have cordial relations with Protestant groups in his area. What they are up against is not just a lack of understanding in one or two persons, but a system. Each system is a network of beliefs, attitudes, traditions and established customs which it seems almost impossible to break down.
When we analyze such a system from a sociological point of view, we find that it rests on many explicit and implicit laws. The young priest mentioned earlier was actually facing dozens of rules of behavior, among them,
Furthermore, the people imagine that the official laws of the church give support to these unwritten laws. They might say: “The bishop has appointed the pastor. Scripture teaches that young people should be humble and obey. The way our parish is run was laid down by the church.” Thus the system is believed to be unshakable because it is based not only on customs and traditions, but ultimately on official laws and the will of God.
How can one escape if God himself is part of the system?
When we study the law books of the Old Testament we make a remarkable discovery. Many of the laws seek to regulate social obligations, it is true; yet, in their essence, they aim at protecting and liberating people from the system. The laws do not support the system, but break through it.
Let us begin with an example from the economic order. In every human society there is a tendency for some families to become rich and others poor. The rich acquire power and do their utmost to strengthen their own position. A capitalistic system may emerge in which the rich hold most of the property and an absolute right to its use. The system, then, is a system of the rich.
Yet the economic laws of the Old Testament are laws for the poor. Consider the following:
“If you lend money to any of my people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and require him to pay interest” (Ex 22:25).
“At the end of every seventh year you are to cancel debts of those who owe money. This is how it is to be done. Everyone who has lent money to a fellow Israelite is to cancel the debt. He must not try to collect the money; the LORD himself has declared the debt canceled” (Dt 15:1-2).
“For six years plant your land and gather in what it produces. But in the seventh year let it rest, and do not harvest anything that grows on it. The poor may eat what grows there” (Ex 23:10-11).
“Do not cheat a poor and needy hired servant....Each day before sunset pay him for that day’s work; he needs the money and has counted on getting it. If you do not pay him, he will cry out against you to the LORD and you will be guilty of sin” (Dt 24:14-15).
“When you walk along a path in someone else’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but you must not carry any away in a container” (Dt 23:24).
“Do not show partiality to a poor man at his trial....Do not deny justice to a poor man when he appears in court” (Ex 23:3,6).
What is so interesting about these laws is that they upset the absolute right over their property claimed by the rich. Lending out money, for example, is not profitable if one cannot exact interest; it is especially risky if all debts are automatically cancelled every seven years! This kind of lending contradicts the natural instincts of every businessman. Yet the law states emphatically:
“Be generous and lend him [the poor man] as much as he needs. Do not refuse to lend him something, just because the year when debts are cancelled is near” (Dt 15:8-9).
The laws thus challenge the economic system, question it, modify it, try to free people from the stranglehold it may have on them.
Systems, of course, are terribly strong. They reassert themselves in spite of such official challenge. In Israel the rich managed to circumvent these laws in the course of time, as we can see from Amos’ vehement protests. One strategy was to make the laws part of the system by incorporating them as exceptions. By giving in on some minor points, the rich could maintain their privileged position and their exploitative practices as before. It is only in the New Testament that Jesus implemented the full meaning of the laws by his total reversal of economic values: Not the rich but the poor are happy; instead of enlarging our property, Jesus advises us to sell all our belongings and give the money to the poor; we should lay up riches in heaven; the man who puts his security in property is simply called a fool; the two copper coins offered by the poor widow are worth more than the gold and silver donated by wealthy benefactors. This is where the old economic system breaks down and a new freedom is born. But the old laws prepared the ground.
Jesus teaches:
“When someone asks you for something, give it to him; When someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him” (Mt 5:42).
He is actually quoting the law of Deuteronomy 15:1-11. The essence of that law is having mercy, being generous, being prepared to cancel debts. Jesus incorporated the law into the charter of his kingdom, thereby fulfilling its real purpose of cracking open the system established on wealth as the highest value. We see a similar process in the area of religion.
In the Ancient Middle East, people venerated the powers of nature. According to the most prevalent mythologies, the original father god, El, was no longer in complete control. One of the younger gods, the god of lightning and storm, had obtained the kingship by defeating other gods, such as the sea (Yamm) and death (Moth). This ruling god was variously known as Baal (lord), Melek (king) or Marduk. His wife, a fertility goddess, bore the name Astarte, Asherah or Anath. It was thought that these deities were specially present in their idols, worshipped in shrines and temples. Procuring prosperity and fertility became a system of sacred practices and rites. If one brought the right sacrifices at the right time and in the prescribed manner, the god or goddess would dispense blessings. Faithfulness to the system insured rain for the crops, healthy children, fertile lifestock, protection from disaster. The gods and goddesses were part of the system. They acted in a predictable way.
The great religious innovation of the Old Testament religion was the determined effort to dismantle this system of gods and goddesses. To begin with: God is only one. He is not part of a pantheon of divinities. And on no account can he be captured in an image or an idol.
“Do not make for yourself images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth. Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, for I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals” (Dt 5:8-9).
“Do not sin by making for yourselves an idol in any form at all-whether man or woman, animal or bird, reptile or fish. Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky-the sun, the moon and the stars” (Dt 4:16-19).
“Obey his command not to make yourselves any kind of idol, because the Lord your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals” (Dt 4:23-24).
It was a commandment which the Israelites would find extremely hard to obey. From the historical books we learn that until the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 the worship of idols continued in many forms. At times the old Canaanitic or Mesopotamian fertility gods were invoked. At times Yahweh himself was represented by an image, as in the golden calves of Bethel and Dan. When King Josiah purified the Temple at Jerusalem, he removed idols representing Baal, Kemosh, Melek, Marduk and Asherah, as well as horses dedicated to the sun. All this, mind you, in God’s own Temple! The inclination to represent divinity in a tangible form and to rely on ritual for obtaining blessings was deep-seated indeed.
In our present-day spirit of dialogue and tolerance we might argue: Why not allow people to have something visual to focus their devotion on? Don’t we also use statues today, say of the Good Shepherd or the Sacred Heart? Was it really necessary to forbid images and statues in such a radical manner?
The answer lies precisely in the need to demolish the religious system enshrined in statues and idols. God is not part of this world; he is its creator. He is not a power of nature; he transcends it. He does not act in a predictable manner; instead, he changes the course of history by choosing Israel, by liberating them from Egypt and by giving them their own land. God is not male or female. He does not marry or have children. Yet he is a person who shows love and mercy and demands loyalty in return. The system of idols and rituals is replaced by a living covenant in which both God and the people promise mutual love and generosity.
“You saw how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me....The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people” (Ex 19:4-5).
“The LORD - and the LORD alone - is our God. Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Dt 6:4-5).
To realize this new relationship the old system had to be demolished. The law prescribes this in no uncertain terms:
“Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols” (Dt 12:3).
The system had to go to make place for faith in the living God.
The sad fact is that here, too, as in the economic order, the Israelites gradually turned their allegiance to Yahweh into a new system. The idea of a living covenant with its obligation of genuine love and true sanctity made way for a ritualism in which God was expected to give blessings in return for sacrifices.
“Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? It’s useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins” (Is 1:11-13).
These prophetic complaints had little effect. It was only when Jesus came that the new system of ritualistic piety was abolished. With Jesus’ death on the hill of execution outside Jerusalem a new covenant came into being of a totally different nature.
“The time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God’s Spirit people will worship the Father as he really iS, offering him the true worship that he wants. God is spirit and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is” (Jn 4:23-24).
With the coming of the Spirit, direct relationship between God and man has been established. The law of love, infused by the Spirit and consisting of intimate union with Christ Jesus, has freed us from any system. For systems only result in sin and death. The objective of the ancient religious laws, namely, to demolish religious system has thereby been achieved and human kind finally made free.
Freedom was also the main purpose of the Sabbath law. The worries of living could all too easily absorb a person’s total existence. Again we encounter the clutches of a system, in this case the system of daily routine, stereotype duties, inward-looking activity. The Sabbath offered a way out. It forced men and women to pause and rest, to have time for leisure and reflection, to become aware of wider realities.
“You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest, dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigers who live in your country. Your slaves must rest just as you do” (Dt 5:13-14).
Notice that the purpose of the law is not to enjoin religious worship on that day. Nowhere do we find it stated that work is forbidden to give people time to attend services or to say prayers. No, the law prescribes the rest itself, the leisure, the being free from the usual grind of work and worry. The rest was required because humanity is bigger than work, just as God is bigger than his role as creator. God finished creation in six days, we are told.
“He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working” (Gn 2:3).
Men and women, who are true persons created as images of God himself, express their free, god-like origin by enjoying leisure.
Do I need to repeat it again? The Sabbath itself became yet another system, the very opposite of what it was meant to be. When the priests and scribes got their hands on it, they turned it into a duty, an obligation, a condition for blessing. I shudder when I read, “Whoever does not keep it [the day of rest], but works on that day, is to be put to death” (Ex 31:14). It was the first step to the unbelievable legalism that was to be showered on keeping the Sabbath. In Jesus’ time what was meant to be a day of joy and leisure had been turned into a day of horror and mental paralysis. One could hardly move without fear of infringing the law. Small wonder that Jesus fought this interpretation of the Sabbath: “The Sabbath was made for the good of man; man was not made for the Sabbath” (Mk 2:27). And this applies to all laws.
It is clear from the foregoing that I am suggesting a different way of reading the Old Testament laws. We can, of course, read them in isolation and reflect on the values they contain. But much more profitably, I believe, we should meditate on them against the whole background of God’s history of salvation. We know that it was God’s intention to make us truly free, to remove any obstacle between God and ourselves, to create a new relationship entirely based on mutual love and not on a system of laws. In the light of this divine plan we can see how he gradually opened the way to a realization of this new order. We can see how God compelled the Israelites to think and behave in a way contrary to the systems by which they were enslaved. We notice that the old systems constantly reassert themselves, that they reappear in the guise of modified and corrected versions. We observe with dismay that legalism and ritualism, an enslavement in systems, gained the upper hand in the Jewish practice of religion in later times.
But then, we know, Jesus entered the scene and he overturned all those systems. His Sermon on the Mount is a calculated and deliberate departure from the approach followed by the Jewish leaders of his time. It is a return to God’s original intention, but in a far more radical manner. Every single example Jesus gives of the new conduct expected in his kingdom defies incorporation mto a system. Being spiritually poor, desiring God’s justice, showing mercy, working for peace, enduring persecution, being the salt of the earth and light of the world, giving your coat to whoever takes your shirt - these indicate attitudes that transcend and defy exact legislation. But these attitudes were present in a seminal form m the old system - destroying laws. These laws, therefore, retain their use as the starting point of God’s program of instruction.
Studying the Old Testament laws in this way is also necessary because it may open our eyes to our own relapses into a slavery to systems. We find in the history of the church, just as in the Israelite kingdoms, a constant inclination for people to turn Christian practice into systems of one sort or another. For many centuries Christians thought that the capitalist system was officially sanctioned by God. They quoted laws from scripture and canon law to support this view, which included the right to capture slaves, possess them, buy them and sell them. The encyclicals of one pope after another have now dislodged this false support of a particular economic system. Vatican II expressed it in official church teaching. But the facts of history prove that for centuries the system held people in its grasp.
Even now there are Catholics who consider the whole church in terms of a system of organizational structures and laws defining everyone’s rights and duties. Without realizing it, they go against the very nature of what God and Jesus intended. The ministries in the church have authority and power, but they are meant to liberate and heal, not to enslave. The laws of the kingdom are meant to create freedom, not to curtail it. For a Christian there should be no such thing as feeling safe when working within the system. We are the people of God. Jesus is present to us in many exciting ways: in his word; in his ministers who serve and guide us; in his sacramental signs; in the fellowship of love, in his Spirit which shines through all these realities.
Everyday realities - they are the test case of every law What was more commonplace than seeing a man struggling with his donkey? What to do about it, if you didn’t like that man?
“If you happen to see your enemy’s cow or donkey running loose, take it back to him. If his donkey has fallen under its load, help him get the donkey to its feet again; don’t just walk off” (Ex 23:4-5).
Walking off with ill-disguised glee is exactly what our human system of helping only our friends would have us do. Helping someone whom we distrust or dislike breaks through that system. It is as unusual and unpredictable as doing good to those who hate you, blessing people who curse you, praying for those who ill-treat you! This falls outside any system; it cannot be formulated in any law.
The Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these (Gal 5:22 23).
If the Spirit leads you, then you are not subject to the Law (Gal 5:18).
For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Gal 5:14).