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In recent weeks, we’ve watched as many laws were swept aside by demonstrators who would have the United States redefine the category of “illegal immigrant”. These persons challenge established law and also distort the message of the Church. While laws of the U.S. Constitution promote freedom of speech and allow for peaceful demonstrations, in the Church we also remember that Jesus taught his disciples about freedom while they gathered. Those men who would one day become his Church were to learn that they had been set apart. He taught them a more difficult way… a method not of the fallen world. The Law he offered went beyond the normal. He first told them to toss away some rights to freedom and turn the other cheek… and even love their enemies. He taught them to go the extra distance, so to do more than what was legally demanded. He instructed them to give freely to those who were needy… to openly share themselves and their belongings with those who would borrow them. Finally…, Jesus the Lord of all Creation said to his apostles that we are to imitate God himself… by loving even those who hate us. All this, however was not expressed as Law, but was a sign of gospel freedom. These instructions were and still are indeed difficult for we sinners to follow. We are called to look lovingly upon those who distort laws so their own priorities can gain precedent. These instructions from Jesus are activities that cannot be accomplished nor maintained over time without fervent prayer and fasting. Therefore hard decisions need to be made by Christians. If we are his disciples in this struggle, we must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Riots are so foreign to our Christian sensibilities because we desire a quiet world. We are so sinful that we regularly avoid the signs of discord and live so separated from those that march, that we refuse to acknowledge disruption. However, examining scripture, we find that many took troublesome offense when Jesus not only endorsed the Law stated in the Commandments, but radicalized them. His interpretation of law was so that those who unduly claimed holiness were also condemned. |
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Black Robe Regiment Allegany-Feb 2026 Editorial |
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When reading of the occasion, we may ask, “Why were they who claimed righteousness so offended? Were the people of that age so committed to pleasing God that they felt that they had to protect the law and prove themselves worthy before the throne built in the temple? Did they feel they were rightly jumping to defend God… which of course in their view had its providential evidence in the devout building of that temple of Jerusalem that housed God? Or were some people of that day just selfishly attempting to maintain their own power and position in that ancient society?” Let’s take a close look at what they accomplished by doing so. The Jewish leadership of that time, religiously promoted the fulfillment of the laws which had been handed down from generations before. The laws included even dietary legislations. The law covered many avenues of human behavior and interaction. They ranged from such as how to behave, how to worship, what to wear, what to eat, when to stand… when to sit, when to be married and when to divorce. You see, the lawyers and the Pharisees inherited and promoted legalistic traditions, and over several centuries turned the obedience of these mandates into a tradition. Basically, they'd said that if anyone should keep these well-known rules... they would profit in this life and the next. Disobey any of the Law and you should and would be punished. You’d rightly fall on hard times and go to a heated, evil place… even if their sects themselves had to be the medium for the punishment. |
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A VOICE FOR CHRISTIAN POLITICAL INFLUENCE TODAY! |
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Law and Freedom |
