The Spirit and the Letter

By D.R.K. Ruhweza

I would like to attempt to answer a question that challenged me today.

    

  Is it fair to say that the main philosophy of Jesus the Christ is following the Spirit of the Law as much as one follows the Letter of the Law? 

     

    That is, does Jesus want us not to merely observe what the Law says, but to also understand that it is the attitude with which we follow it that actually matters? Similar to how God told Samuel that whereas man looks on the outside, He - God - looks at the heart of man (1 Samuel 16:7)?

     If   that is do, has how then should it impact our day to day life? How can it also impact the way we respond to the other controversies that we confront each day?

I will start by looking at the Gospel according to Mark Chapter 12 where Jesus talks about the Greatest Commandment;

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

 ^{Mark 12:29} “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[e] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[f]  

³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

The response He receives is worth noting -

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

The above is clarified further in Matthew 5 : 17, where Jesus Christ expounds on his views about the law- 

The Fulfilment of the Law

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

So it seems that whereas Jesus the Christ knew the Law and was happy to obey it, ( remember how he astounded the teachers of the Law when he was only six years old (Luke Luke 2: 49), it seems to me that He sought to clarify to His followers that the Spirit of the Law should be followed with as much zest as the letter of the Law –

Thus, in Matthew 5:27 Jesus states;

'Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, 

Thou shalt not  commit adultery: 

Then he takes it a notch higher and says in Matthew 5 : 28 –

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (In essence we sin by though and deed)

The above point or emphasis is made by the Learned Apostle Paul which starts in 1 Corinthians 12:30 -

²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues^[d]? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Love Is Indispensable

And yet I will show you the most excellent way...

 

... which he expounds in 1 Corinthians 13:1, thus ...  

If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

In essence, however much we follow the Law or do all these things that are prescribed in the Bible but forget the Spirit with which we are to do them (do it in Love), we but deceive ourselves.

If the aforementioned is the true interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, it therefore means that we ought to check our hearts first and inquire as to whether we act out of love when we do the things we do or say the things we say.

 

 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

*******************

 -((DRRZ: Musings at Meal Time: If Brains could Speak Series No. 2))-