The Five Monkeys Experiment. Five monkeys were placed in a pen together. Dangling from the ceiling was a rope, and a cluster of bananas was at the top of the rope. One of the monkeys spots the bananas and begins to climb the rope. Immediately, the experimenters spray all five monkeys with freezing cold water for five minutes. Once they recover, a second monkey gives it a try, and again, they are all sprayed with freezing water. Afterward, none of the monkeys tried for the bananas, and the experimenters never used the water again.
After some time, one of the five monkeys is replaced. The newcomer sees the bananas and starts to climb the rope but is quickly pulled back down by the other four. The newcomer tries several times, but the result is the same, so he eventually stops trying.
Over time, all five of the original monkeys are replaced with newcomers. None of the monkeys in the pen have ever been sprayed with freezing water, but anytime a new monkey is introduced into the enclosure, it will be attacked if it attempts to climb the rope.
If the monkeys could respond and were asked why they refused to climb for the bananas and attacked any that tried, even though they had no knowledge of the freezing water, they would likely respond, “Because we’ve always done it this way.”
Regarding the Law, Moses said to the people, “Take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.” And the people obeyed, teaching the Law from one generation to the next. Jesus believed that the Law was good, for He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill,” but he was very critical of the way the Law was being taught.
No–in no way shape or form am I comparing God’s Chosen People to monkeys, but the way they taught the Law was similar to those monkeys in the pen. The first generation knew the “Why” behind their actions—climb the rope and get sprayed by freezing water—yet subsequent generations only behaved in a certain way because it was how they had always done it. The teaching of the Law was done similarly. All it accomplished—when it worked, which wasn’t very often—was to conform the people’s actions to how they had always done it, but it did nothing to draw them nearer to God, which was the original intent of the Law, and this is why Jesus was so critical.
We know that sin separates us from God, so God gave the Law that we might know sin. St. Paul teaches us, “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.” (Romans 7:7) Therefore, the Law was to be taught and obeyed, not to avoid or fear God spraying us with freezing water, but so that we could have the means to draw closer to Him. Jesus’ words and deeds, His life and death, all declared that what the people were doing was not working, so through His death and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the Law. In doing so, He restored us to God and made us one with Himself and the Father.
We follow the Law by following Jesus. Not out of fear, but out of relationship… out of love.
Spend some time considering your relationship with God. Ask yourself, “Am I following Jesus because ‘This is the way we’ve always done it’ or because I’m in love with Jesus?” The answer may help you draw nearer to our God.
I once heard of a farmer who had a complaining wife. From morning till night, she would complain about something or the other. He only got relief when he went to the farm with his donkey. One day as he was plowing, his wife brought him lunch. He put the donkey in the shade of a tree and began to have his lunch. Immediately, his wife began her complaining. Suddenly, the donkey lashed out with both hind feet, hit her, and killed her on the spot. At the funeral, the pastor noticed something odd.
When women would come, the farmer would listen for a minute and nod his head in agreement, but when men approached him, he would listen for a minute and shake his head in disagreement. This was so consistent that the pastor decided to ask him about it. After the burial, the pastor asked him why he nodded in agreement with the women but always shook his head in disagreement with all men. The farmer said, “The women would come up and says something nice about my wife — how she cooked, how good she was, and so on. I’d nod my head in agreement.” “And what about the men?” the pastor asked. “The men knew that the donkey killed my wife, and all they wanted to know was if my donkey was for sale.”
That’s a goofy way of putting it, but it does point out that we all have different ways of understanding the same set of circumstances or information. An article I was reading said that human beings have an “adaptive capacity to ‘construct their own reality’ and [this] is the way a person makes sense of things in the face of incomplete or ambiguous information…. Most of the time, we fill the gaps with our own biases, assumptions, beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and conclusions.” (Source) You look out and see a rainy day, and you may describe it as “Blah,” but if you ask a farmer, he’ll give you a very different answer. It is the same when it comes to interpreting Holy Scripture.
Consider this: a 2012 study from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary determined that there are roughly 43,000 Christian denominations and that this number would increase to 55,000 by 2025. They estimate that a new Christian denomination is formed every 10.5 hours. That’s more than two a day! (Source) So much for being “one body.” If you were to investigate why there are so many, I’m guessing that in many cases, the answer would be because of differences in interpreting and applying Holy Scripture. The problem, in this case, is a difference in hermeneutics. What is that?
In the next couple of days, Americans will spend $2.3 billion on flowers, and many of those flowers will be distributed by independent florists who are associated with FTD (Florists’ Transworld Delivery). They are the ones who link all these florists together and allow you to send flowers to people around the world.
In dealing with these florists, you may or may not have noticed the FTD logo: a man with wings on his feet (actually his sandals) and his hat. This is Hermes, one of the many Greek gods. He is supposed to be able to move quickly between humans and the other gods and act as a herald of the gods, bringing messages to us lowly creatures. Hermes was an interpreter of the messages of the gods. Picking up on this idea, Aristotle first used hermeneutics to describe the act of interpreting. There are so many different Christian denominations because we are all using different hermeneutics to understand Holy Scripture. This goes back to the fact that we all look at things differently—including Holy Scripture—with our own biases, assumptions, etc. Not only is this true within Christianity, but it is true in all religions, including Judaism.
When the Israelites received the Law, their teachers took it and gained a particular understanding of its meaning. However, even amongst them, there were differences. A different hermeneutic was applied, which is why, by the time of Jesus, there were Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes. Applying a hermeneutic to the Mosaic Law, the Sadducees were primarily concerned with the sacrificial system at the Temple and the application of the laws found only in the Torah. The Pharisees were focused on the Law and the intricate details of additional interpretation. They loved to argue. Modern Judaism is most closely related to the Pharisees’ understanding. And the Essenes, well, they were disgusted with both these other groups and went off and applied a rigorous hermeneutic—interpretation—of the Law. It was the three sects of Judaism that were their ‘denominations.’ Each uses a different hermeneutic for their interpretation of the Law. What does this have to do with anything today?
Today’s Gospel reading is broken down into four paragraphs. The first paragraph begins, “Jesus said, ‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times.…’” The second: “You have heard that it was said.….” The third: “It was also said.….” And the fourth: “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times.….”
Each of these statements is then followed by one of the Ten Commandments or, in the case of divorce, a broader view of the Commandment on adultery. For example, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’” However, in each of the four statements, Jesus adds, “But I say to you….” “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you….” and he goes on from there.
The people have had the Law interpreted for them by one or all three denominations: Sadducees, Pharisees, or Essenes. Jesus was saying, You have heard it said ___, and this is your understanding, but… these teachers of yours are using the wrong hermeneutic. Their interpretation is wrong, and I am providing the correct interpretation, as God intended.
Last Sunday (and this Gospel lesson immediately follows last week’s and is still a part of the Sermon on the Mount), when Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Mosaic Law but to fulfill it, what he was saying is that he came to bring the Mosaic Law to its intended meaning and conclusion, so these statements—“You have heard it said… but I say to you.”—are examples of how this fulfilling of the Law is accomplished.
It would be very easy to look at these teachings of Jesus as a new moral law. A law that replaces the old law, but notice, Jesus only went through some of the Ten Commandments, and he barely even touched on the further expansion of the Law that the Pharisees taught, so Jesus is trying to accomplish something else by this teaching. What could it be? I think N.T. Wright comes close to answering that. Wright says, “Throughout this chapter [chapter five of Matthew’s Gospel], Jesus is not just giving moral commands. He is unveiling a whole new way of being human.” And not only is Jesus unveiling a whole new way of being human, but he is also living it. And in living it, he is showing us how to live it.
Our hermeneutic, our understanding of God, is not limited to the text of Holy Scripture. And please don’t burn me at the stake or call the Bishop for saying this, but I would dare say that our primary hermeneutic is not the text at all. Instead, it is the life and person of Jesus Christ. We don’t seek to know God by only understanding the text. Yes, we can have an academic understanding of God by studying the text, but we can only know God by knowing His son, Jesus—by joining our lives with His.
Think of Jesus’ great priestly prayer the night before He was crucified. He prayed for his apostles and then said, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me… I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one.” Not one with the text, but one with Him.
When Jesus said, “…but I say to you…,” then we are to follow his teachings, but more importantly, we are to apply the idea of that teaching to every aspect of our lives so that we might discover that whole new way of being human for ourselves.
See the progression… Thou shall not commit murder. Don’t even become angry. Pray for your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Settle the argument. Give them your cloak. Love one another. That is what Jesus taught, and it is what he lived. To the letter. With Jesus as your hermeneutic—your understanding of God—go and live the same. This is the way to God.
Let us pray: Loving Father, faith in Your Word is the way to wisdom. Help us to think about Your Divine Plan so that we may grow in the truth. Open our eyes to Your deeds, our ears to the sound of Your call, so that our every act may help us share in the life of Jesus. Give us the grace to live the example of the love of Jesus, which we celebrate in the Eucharist and see in the Gospel. Form in us the likeness of Your Son and deepen His Life within ours. Amen.
Several years ago, at a passion play, an incident occurred during Jesus carrying the cross. A man in the audience was heckling the character playing Jesus, throwing out jeers, taunts, and dares. Finally, the character could no longer tolerate the heckler; he dropped the cross, went over, and punched out the man. The director was aghast and, after the play, pulled the actor aside and told him in no uncertain terms that he was never to do that again. But the next night, the same heckler was back, and the same thing happened again. Jesus, this time, had to be restrained. The director called the actor in and gave him an ultimatum of quitting or keeping his composure. The young actor assured the director he would keep himself under control. On the third night, the heckler was present again and taunted even stronger than the two previous nights. The man playing Jesus rose to his full stature, gritted his teeth, and told the heckler, “I’ll see you right after the resurrection.”
Today our Gospel reading was from Matthew 5:13-20, and they are a part of the Sermon on the Mount, following immediately after the Beatitudes. Verses 13 through 15 of our reading, which speak of salt and light, make for good sermon material. Verse 20—“For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”—also makes for a good sermon, but verses 16 through 19… those are best left alone. What did they say?
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
You wouldn’t be the first if you were confused by the meaning of that statement. In fact, it is still up for debate, but perhaps we can come close, and it primarily hinges on our understanding of the word fulfill.
When we consider the word fulfill, we might think of fulfilling an order or fulfilling the requirements for something, but to fulfill can also mean “to bring to an end” (Merriam-Webster) or to bring “to its intended meaning.” (Word Biblical Commentary, p.106) When Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, he was saying that he came to bring the Law to its end by fulfilling it as it was intended. When Jesus spoke these words, the fulfillment was a work in process. It would not be completed until the Cross.
It was there, on the Cross, that every letter—every jot and tittle of the Law was fulfilled and completed in the life and teachings of Jesus. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:9-10) Love fulfills the Law, and there is no greater act of love than Christ giving Himself on the Cross that we might have life in him. It was then and there that the Law was brought to its intended end, but it was also there that you and I were called to a much higher standard because before he departed, Jesus gave us a new commandment so that we might be His true disciples. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Jesus brought the Mosaic Law to its intended meaning, so he did not abolish it; he lived it—every jot and tittle—and He asks us to do the same. Jesus said, “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus said, “The Pharisees lived the Law externally—they ‘clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.’ (Matthew 23:25b) The Pharisees were all show, but on the inside, not so good. So if like them, you only give lip service to this new commandment, then you are no better than they are.”
“No,” says Jesus. “You must fulfill the Law by loving one another as I have loved you. And ‘greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.’” (John 15:13) That is the new standard. So… how ya doin’? Is that how you are living your life? Is that the Law you are fulfilling in your life? In answering this, most of us could probably agree with Ernestine, the telephone operator, Lili Tomlin, “If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question?” Yet, would Jesus have given us this mandate to love as he loves if it were impossible? And if it is, then why don’t we?
I won’t speak for you, but I will speak for myself. I don’t know how to love like that. I don’t even know if I have it within me, but I also know that’s the devil within giving me an excuse. A way out of applying my body and soul to live in such a way. If I can set aside those excuses, then why? Well, I can give you some philosophical explanation or discuss the heresy of Pelagianism or something along those lines. Still, if I am honest with myself, the answer to why I can’t love as Jesus loves is—deep down inside—I don’t want to. I want to want to, but I also want to live my life according to my rules. There is this war inside of me, and the good guys don’t always win. But… that does not give me permission to stop wanting it. To stop trying. As a disciple of Jesus, I have a standard set for my life, and that standard is Jesus, so He must always be my aim. Regardless of my successes and failures, I must never stop trying.
George Herbert wrote The Country Parson. Included at the beginning was a “Note to the Reader.” Here, Herbert writes, “I have resolved to set down the Form and Character of a true Pastor, that I may have a Mark to aim at: which also I will set as high as I can, since he shoots higher that threatens the Moon, than he that aims at a Tree. Not that I think, if a man do not all which is here expressed, he presently sins, and displeases God, but that it is a good strife to go as far as we can in pleasing of him, who hath done so much for us.” (The Classics of Western Spirituality edition, p.54) We aim for the stars. We aim for Jesus. There will be days when we come close to hitting the stars, and there will be days when—regardless of how hard we try, how many times we’ve been corrected with threats of losing everything, we will raise our fists and shout, “I’ll see you right after the resurrection.” On those days, the One who fulfilled and completed the Law will fulfill and complete our weak efforts through his grace and mercy. Those are the days when we get back on our feet, confess our sins, and try once more to fulfill the New Commandment to love as Jesus loves.
Let us pray: God, our Father, You redeemed us and made us Your children in Christ. Through Him, You have saved us from death and given us Your Divine life of grace. By becoming more like Jesus on earth, may we come to share His glory in Heaven. Give us the peace of Your kingdom, which this world does not give. By Your loving care, protect the good You have given us. Open our eyes to the wonders of Your Love that we may serve You with a willing heart. Amen.
Candle in a Cave 