A Homily for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

+ How often do the Pharisees accuse Our Lord of making light of and ignoring the Law of Moses. The teaching of Christ is, in contrast, the veritable fulfilment of the Mosaic Law; as much by word as by example. “Go”, he commands the cured leper “show yourself to the priest and offer the gift which is prescribed by Moses.” And this is far from an isolated incident. The Pharisees complain about Our Lord’s treatment of the Law precisely because He will not wield it as a weapon, nor as an excuse. He will not accept that the Law serves to empower the Pharisees, Scribes and other religious authorities at the expense of the people of Judah. Rather it is placed at the service of man that he may be at liberty to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) as did their Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

With abundant power the prophets frequently decried the Israelites offering sacrifice to God and thinking that so long as the sacrifice is made it mattered not what was in their heart nor what they did with their hands. God cared nothing for these empty hollow sacrifices. These are not the prescriptions of the Law of Moses, nor what Our Lord instructed the cleansed leper. Looking at the heart of the man before Him Our Lord sends him to make the sacrifice prescribed by Moses, a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the benefits given to the healed man.

God knows that man needs ritual acts to signify what is in his heart; and not only to signify that reality but to lead him more deeply, more integrally, into that disposition. We have such acts within every human relationship, whether it be parents to children, husband to wife or simply among friends. There are always actions made to demonstrate the affection, the gratitude, and the love that is shared between them.

Before God, we are not able to show Him due gratitude without His aid. Nothing that man can do of himself is sufficient to honour everything which God has given and is giving us. Moreover, the only way we can approach Him is according to His direct Revelation of the straight road which leads us to Him. God commanded Israel through Moses to make innumerable sacrifices before Him, in propitiation for sin, in thanksgiving, in remembrance of the delivery of Israel from Egypt, in petition and so forth. All of these are, nonetheless, simply in preparation for the one efficacious sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. A sacrifice in which we must participate in order to live from and with Christ.

Christ’s instruction to the cured leper to offer sacrifice demanded by Moses is given precisely so that he can perform an act of thanksgiving which will express and further develop the leper’s gratitude. He ought not to have needed to make such an instruction for the command already stood.

The money-changers of the Temple sought to profit from this requirement of the law to offer sacrifice in many circumstances. In no other instance do we see Our Lord demonstrate such righteous anger as against such profiteering. The sacrifice did, nonetheless, need to be a substantial act which would make impression on the soul of the cured leper, reminding him of his entire dependency upon God. Soon however, these sacrifices in the Temple would no longer be lawful because their prophetic function would be fulfilled.

If this is true of those sacrifices of the Old Testament which are nothing but a prefiguration, an anticipation, a prophecy, a shadow of the only efficacious sacrifice how much more does it press upon us in respect of the sacrifice of Himself by God Who became man for our sake. How much more urgent is the cry of the prophets that justice and righteousness must be sought after for the sake of God. Our Lord says the integrity required between lifestyle and worship of God by telling his disciples: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Even whilst Christ is preaching reconciliation and meekness, He is by no means shy of correcting the abuse of power where it is possible to so do. He never tires of calling the Pharisees hypocrites and does not stop short of driving the money changers out of the Temple with a whip, having thrown their tables to the ground. He knows well that the dignity of God has to be given priority even if it means defending it against overbearing political and even military forces (cf. I Maccabees 2:41). He knows well that the “sabbath is made for man not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27) and that the man who loves does not need to be told how to behave: it will come naturally to him through grace. He knows also that man is weak and often finds people it is very difficult to love. He knows the necessity of the defence of the rights of the innocent and weak.

Contrasting this attitude with the Pharisees who demand obedience to their unjust interpretation of the Law, which oppresses everybody outside their political network, it is easy to see just why Christ was such a threat to them. The Pharisees made the law an instrument of religious oppression and control out of an obedience which did not look to what is true and good. This did not stop them blaspheming against God by denying his promise to David that his son would never fail as king of Israel in saying “we have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).

Christ proclaimed that God seeks authenticity in worshipping Him knowing that we owe everything to Him. If the Pharisees called Christ out for making light of the Mosaic Law it is because he taught that God gave the Law as an instruction for a well-ordered, just life with all that is necessary to live it integrally, not as an instrument of control held by the elite of society. +
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