HUMAN NATURE AND THE COMMANDMENTS

SUNDAY, SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME  

Eccles 15:16-21; Ps 119:1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34; 1 Cor 2:6-10; Mt 5:17-37

The Commandments of Wisdom

Building on the subject of wisdom that featured prominently in last week's reflections and meditations, we proceed to the subject of Commandments. We note that the Commandments still encapsulate the theme of wisdom. Our approach, rooted in the framework of Commandments, tends toward the personalization of wisdom. The focus on the Commandments moves from what is naturally given to us to what we ought to do in response to the gift of God’s creation. Our consideration of wisdom was a reflection on what is connatural to us. As we noted, the image of God we bear is a natural predisposition to our reception of the Eternal Word of God, who is the Eternal Wisdom. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden was an objective presentation of the instruction to man on how to use the brand-new nature we received from God, which is distinct from every other nature in the material universe. The instruction God gave to Adam and Eve was on how to train the new and unique rational model they received. A rational material nature, bearing the image of God, would come to be like God by learning to follow the Word of God in everything; so that it thinks the thoughts of God, loves what God loves, and does what God does. Thus, the Commandments present the path to acquisition and acquaintance with Wisdom. So, what God commanded was not beyond man to follow, but connatural to him. Why do we fail to follow the natural way?

A possible answer to this question is the existence of a window of possibility to become supernatural in place of natural, which is domiciled within the rational nature. The window is a deceptive path leading to a wrong conception of the image of God we carry. A false supposition that we can own and operate the image as its reality, that is, as God. It is a false understanding of the free will of a rational nature, both angelic and human. It is wrong to understand our free will as the freedom to serve or not to serve; it is rather a freedom to be or not to be. The life of a rational creature consists in eating the bread of life, the Word of God. Ecclesiasticus beautifully captures this as follows. “If you wish, you can keep the commandments; to behave faithfully is within your power. He has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer. Man has life and death before him; whichever a man likes better will be given him.” Our understanding reveals an intricate connection between the image and the reality that it images. The image does not operate itself, but finds its own being and operation in remaining in synchrony with reality. We understand the analogy of the Shepherd and his flock, our Lord used for the faithful in this deep sense. The flock and the Shepherd form a unit through a real relation existing in the sheep and in the Shepherd, by which he rules the flock.

The Shepherd or Wisdom lives in the sheep as an adherence or obedience to his voice. Thus, our Lord says: “The sheep that belongs to me listens to my voice.” This is alternatively captured in our reading as: “His eyes are on those who fear him; he notes every action of man.” This presence of the eyes of the Lord on those who fear him is their likeness to him; for it is a shared awareness between them and the Lord, between the wise and Wisdom, by which they act in sync or unison. It is the beginning of beatific vision here, as the psalmist testifies: “They are happy whose life is blameless, who follow God’s law! They are happy who do his will, seeking him with all their hearts.” Their seeking corresponds to His self-giving presence, for God is the one who gives the intention, the desire, and its fulfilment in Jesus Christ. It is in this sense that we say that the Commandments are connatural to our nature. They specify what we ought to be seeking or longing for naturally. The evil one deceived man into thinking that escape through the window is an option for him.

Ordinarily, windows are not for passage, but to let in air and light into our dwelling place. The doors are for passage, for going out and coming in as we wish and at any time. No one who goes out through the door or comes in through the door commits sin or is guilty of any offence. Hence, our Lord states that whoever goes out through the door finds rich and heavenly pastures, and whoever comes in through the door finds rest. This is because he is the Eternal Gate of the sheepfold. We go out through the gate or door by faithful obedience to the word of God in our actions, and we come in through the gate or door in love and contentment of doing God’s holy will. The will of God is eternal life, as our Lord states that whoever does the will of the Father in heaven lives forever. Wisdom consists in our going out and coming in through the door or gate. Saint Paul argues that this wisdom is our natural inheritance. “The hidden wisdom of God, which we teach in our mysteries, is the wisdom that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. It is a wisdom that none of the masters of this age have ever known, or they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.” The wisdom is now considered hidden because the whole world has followed the father of lies to a habit of sneaking out through the window; he convinces the unwary that it is natural to us. Whoever reverts to living in the spirit knows in the Spirit that Wisdom is connatural to us.

Based on the truth of this understanding, the Son of Man reformulates the Mosaic Law to capture the original meaning, content, and purpose. “Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.” By his authoritative reformulation of the Law, he beckons us to walk freely through the door, going out to rich and heavenly pasture or coming in to eternal beatitude or happiness. To climb out or in through the window is to infringe on the commandments, which prompts others to follow suit; but to walk in and out through the door or gate is to keep the commandments, motivating others to do the same. The latter inherits eternal life and beatitude through living wisely, and the former loses the path of wisdom and stumbles into eternal shame and death through living foolishly. All the commandments forbid us from sneaking through the window to attain any amusement, pleasure, possession, but to walk through the door or gate, to possess everything good in God. Anything we climb through the window to possess is evil and from the evil one, for we possess such without the Eternal Wisdom.

Let us pray: O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.