Be the “Sign of Jonah.”
by Fr. David M. Knight
Monday, October 14, 2024
Twenty-Eighth Sunday of the Year
Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr
Lectionary 467
Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31—5:1/Lk 11:29-32
Galatians 4:22 to 5:1: Why does Paul say that for Christians to subject themselves to the religious laws of Israel would be to “take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time”? Scripture praises the law:
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.... making wise the simple... rejoicing the heart.... Happy are those... who walk in the law of the LORD… (See Psalms 19:7-10; 119:1-3.)
What is the “law” Paul is talking about? The most general word for law in Judaism was Torah, a “divine response,” translated in New Testament Greek as nomos, which could “designate the law as such, the Pentateuch [“first five” books of the Bible], the entire Old Testament, the Decalogue [Ten Commandments], or a particular law of the Pentateuch.” Paul would be focused more on the collections of laws in Exodus (the “Code of the Covenant”), Deuteronomy (“Second Law”) and Leviticus (the “Holiness Code”).
The Jews came to see the whole Torah as a guide of life, identical with wisdom. “Since the observance of the law was perfection” the “Pharisee” (“separated”) party arose, who “conceived Judaism as a religion centered upon the observance of the law” and interpreted the law in the strictest sense.
To protect perfect observance they “built a fence” around the law... legal opinions which advanced the obligations of the law beyond the sense of words and thus made it more difficult to violate. This was the “oral law” (called “human tradition” in the New Testament) which was regarded as second in authority only to the Torah itself.... The law was reckoned to include 613 distinct “commandments.” (See John McKenzie, S.J., Dictionary of the Bible, under “Law” and “Pharisees.”)
Paul opposed, first, this mentality; second, making converts observe the religious practices identified with Jewish culture, such as circumcision and dietary, kosher restrictions.
He calls “slavery” the mentality that cannot separate the forms of piety from their content—for example, the physical act of circumcision from its meaning. For the “slavers,” orthodoxy is inseparable from uniformity of expression. All must “bear the yoke” of every Jewish rule and regulation.
More deeply, and essentially, he is insisting that perfection cannot be identified with anything people do, but with what they are. The only true perfection—or salvation—is to become Christ by dying and rising in him, and to let his Spirit within us guide and empower all we do. Perfection is total surrender to God’s life within us, not minute observance of external laws.
Luke 11:29-32: The “sign” that vindicates Jesus is the visible Church whose conduct reveals Him alive in her.
Initiative: Be the “sign of Jonah.” Reveal divine life in your human actions.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry
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