Henry David Thoreau once wrote “That government is best which governs least.” That philosophy has guided American politics leaving a distaste for laws which some wags call government interference in life. Let everyone do what they think best — only legislate when it impacts others. That was not the way the Jewish people thought about laws. Laws were for them the rule and guide that showed the right way to live. What great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? said Moses. Even Jesus who was looked upon as a law breaker revered the law. I have come not to abolish [the law] but to fulfill. What Jesus understood (and St.Paul after him) was that the law itself could become an idol demanding unthinking obedience. Law is meant as a pointer, not an end. We can only be satisfied if the law leads us closer to God.
MARCH62024
By Church Staff
