Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

¹⁷  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹  Therefore whoever relaxes 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. ²⁰  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

²¹  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²²  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Lust

²⁷  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Divorce

³¹  “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²  But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

³³  “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ ³⁴  But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵  or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶  And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷  Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Matthew 5:17–37 ESV – Christ Came to Fulfill the Law – “Do – Bible Gateway

This Sunday, as we the last two weeks, we continue on with the Sermon of the Mount as Jesus hints further that his authority is more than the prophets of old along with explaining the depth of the moral law.

Dr. John Bergsma notes that:

This Gospel passage explodes the narrative that Jesus came to dumb down the moral law in order to make it easier to get to heaven. Jesus dumbs down the law not in the least. In the four antitheses (contradictions) that we have in this Gospel reading (“You have heard that it was said … but I say to you …”), Jesus does not loosen the moral requirements of Moses but tightens them. Moses did not go far enough, Jesus is saying. The Mosaic law governed external actions, but unless you undergo interior transformation as well, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.[1]

Jesus introduces the fulfilment of the law and the prophets, and you could say doubles-down on it. He does not explain away what came before, but points to the reality of the teaching that was always there. Yet, throughout history, we have those who would lighten his teaching to make it “easier” to “live out.” This tendency undercuts the grace that is given us to live out Jesus’ teaching. They diminish Jesus while boosting their own understanding. This lessening of our burdens actually increases them. This is one reason Jesus has such strong words for those who would teach others to relax their living out of the moral law. His praise is for those who hear his word, accept it, and live it out. James would echo this when he wrote, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.[2]”

Dr. Brant Pitre explores what fulfills means:

The Greek word there for fulfill, plēroō, literally means to make complete, to bring to perfection. So what Jesus is revealing here is he is showing us that there are aspects of the Old Testament that are not perfect. In other words, they are not what God ultimately wants for his people.[3]

Jesus’ words regarding the Scribes and Pharisees imply that the heart of the moral law is not simply the text of the law, the explanation of the law, or the enforcement of the law regarding others. This entire section of The Sermon on the Mount shows how it is in the depths of our heart when united and lived out that we become more fully ourselves.

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture introduces the next session;

Jesus offers six vivid illustrations of the surpassing righteousness to which he calls his disciples. He sets up these examples with the phrase You have heard that it was said or It was also said, introducing either a quote from or an allusion to the law, sometimes with a mention of how the law was understood and applied. This is followed by the words “But I say to you,” which mark a solemn pronouncement by Jesus bringing forth the deeper meaning of the law and how it is to be lived out in the kingdom. In Greek, the “I” in these statements is emphatic. Jesus presents his teaching with the same authority as that by which God gave the law to Moses. This must certainly have aroused the attention of his listeners.[4]

When we look at the “Six Antitheses,” we might think that Jesus is bringing a new or deeper teaching. Showing how all our exterior acts start in the interior of our heart. That all sin starts in the will and what we will entertain and accept in our minds. Still, this idea was always an aspect of the Old Testament teachings from the beginning. In the Ten Commandments, we see condemned more than just outward actions as Dr. Brant Pitre points out:

The last two commandments are “you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” and “you shall not covet your neighbor’s property.” So already in the Old Testament, God is trying to get his people to see that sin begins in the heart with the will.[5]

Or as Dr. Peter Kreeft puts it:

He explains “You shall not commit adultery” to mean not merely that we may not be unfaithful with our bodies but that we may not be unfaithful even with our souls.[6]

A fire is the easiest to extinguish if you first notice the embers growing and consuming an object. When that fire is robbed of the oxygen or material it needs to grow, it dies and can do no damage. This is the same with the moral life. We must be attentive to those potential fires in our will that end up consuming us. If a thought occurs to us, that is off-putting and against the moral law, we can snuff it out immediately and provide it no room to grow in our souls. If we entertain it and justify why this would be an acceptable response, we have allowed it to grow. Feeding it with resentment, anger, and a range of emotional excuses, the fire goes from easily contained to requiring much more effort to put out. We can move to denying the fire and feeding it more fuel until there is a conflagration that moves are will to action in carrying out this evil. We have moved from we must not do this to we must do this.

This ties back to those who teach relaxation of a commandment. Or indeed ourselves when we think that the moral law might be a fine ideal, but one we cannot live out. Later in the Gospel of Matthew, after Jesus teaches regarding impermissibility of divorce, “The disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.[7]’” This is a similar reaction we all have too difficult circumstances. There is an honesty in it if we realize it might be beyond our capability. We need help and that grace that only God can give us in carrying out his will. We don’t have to just white-knuckle it through life in that we have an advocate to help us and to form us.

This growth in holiness is a lifelong process of forming our interior dispositions to the will of Christ. It is properly a battle that requires eternal vigilance if we are to enter eternal life. Making John the Baptist’s “He must increase, but I must decrease,[8]” our own. Easier said than done, but we are not on our own.

One final aspect regarding oaths from the Catechism:[9]

2153 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained the second commandment: “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all.… Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Jesus teaches that every oath involves a reference to God and that God’s presence and his truth must be honored in all speech. Discretion in calling upon God is allied with a respectful awareness of his presence, which all our assertions either witness to or mock.

2154 Following St. Paul, the tradition of the Church has understood Jesus’ words as not excluding oaths made for grave and right reasons (for example, in court). “An oath, that is the invocation of the divine name as a witness to truth, cannot be taken unless in truth, in judgment, and in justice.

Sources

• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A–John Bergsma
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• English Standard Version Catholic Edition
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
2. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute. (James 1:22)  ↩
3. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
4. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
5. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
6. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
7. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute. (Matthew 19:10)  ↩
8. English Standard Version Catholic Edition (2019). Augustine Institute. (John 3:30)  ↩
9. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩

Matthew 5:1–12a

The Sermon on the Mount

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

²  And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
³  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴  “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
⁵  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
⁶  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
⁷  “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
⁸  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
⁹  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹  “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

¹²  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1–12a ESV – Bible Gateway

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In the lectionary, this Gospel passage marks the start of six consecutive Sundays focusing on the Sermon of the Mount, and we start with the Beatitudes. These verses are charged with meaning and are the template for living the Christian life.

We can blithely pass over “he went up on the mountain” and pass quickly to the Beatitudes. Dr. Brant Pitre brings out an important aspect regarding this:

Just as Moses went up Mount Sinai in order to get the 10 Commandments, the old law, so now Jesus, the new Moses, goes up to the top of this mountain in Galilee in order to give his disciples the new law, the law of the Gospel. So Jesus is a new Moses here. However, it’s important also to note though that there’s both a difference and a similarity. The difference here is significant. If you go back to the book of Exodus in Exodus 19 and 20, Moses, when he gets the 10 Commandments, the old law, he brings it down to the bottom of the mountain and gives it to the people at the bottom of the mountain. But when it comes to Jesus, the new Moses, with the new law of the Sermon on the Mount, he actually doesn’t deliver it at the bottom of the mountain, he gives it at the top of the mountain. So he’s bringing the disciples up to a higher law, a higher commandment, because Moses’ law was ultimately oriented toward the kingdom of Israel, toward the earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, but Jesus’s new law is going to be ordered toward the kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom. So there’s a similarity but there is also a big difference here with regard to Jesus as the new Moses of the new mountain giving the new law.[1]

To continue with a note from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

The mountain signifies the higher precepts of righteousness, for the precepts given to Israel were lower. God gave lesser laws to those requiring the bonds of fear, but higher laws to those ready to be set free by love. The higher precepts are for the kingdom of heaven, just as the lower precepts were for a kingdom on earth (St. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount 1, 1, 2). he sat down: The posture of a Jewish rabbi speaking with authority (cf. 23:1–2; Jn 8:2). [2]

Dr. John Bergsma gives a quick overview of what the Beatitudes are:

Now, with respect to the Beatitudes (which are just the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount and not synonymous with the entire Sermon, which lasts from Matt 5–7), we should note that there are eight main ones (vv. 3–10), followed by an epilogue on persecution (vv. 11–12). The first and eighth beatitudes promise the blessing of the “kingdom of heaven.” That is a literary device called an inclusio (beginning and ending on the same topic), which highlights the main point. So the Beatitudes are about the kingdom of heaven; specifically, they are the virtues that are required of kingdom citizens.[3]

and

Finally, we should note that the beatitudes are not a simple grab-bag of random virtues, but there is a certain progression as we move through them. They are all interrelated, and to a certain extent they move from one to the next.[4]

I need to be reminded of what the translated word “blessing” means:

The Greek word being translated as blessing here is actually makarios, which means happy. That is the literal translation of the word. So when you read the Beatitudes it’s not just a list of blessings, it’s actually a description of how to be happy, it’s the secret of happiness. And you can see this much more clearly if you read a Latin translation of the Bible like the Latin Vulgate, because the Latin word is beatus, which means happy, and that’s where we even get the word beatitude from.[5]

Dr. Brant Pitre also writes:

…the Catechism says that the Beatitudes “depict the countenance of Jesus Christ.” In other words, the Beatitudes are not just something that he’s calling his disciples to, they are something that he himself embodied. So if you look at each of the Beatitudes, they kind of give you a spiritual profile of Jesus himself. They depict the face of Christ himself. [6]

Specifically, the Catechism says:

CCC 1717 The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ’s disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.[7]

Looking at the individual Beatitudes, you can quickly come to the opinion that they are a serious pushback against almost everything the world attempts to teach daily. This is not surprising, as this is the very pattern of Jesus’ teaching method. To stand us on our heads to see his magnificent creation as it is and that it permeates the moral law with this same magnificence and wonder.

The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture for the Gospel of Matthew puts this idea succinctly:

Jesus’ beatitudes represent a reversal of values, turning the world’s standards for happiness upside down. Many of the people whom the world would consider to be among the most miserable—the poor, the mourning, the meek, the persecuted—Jesus proclaims to be in an advantageous situation, for God looks now with favor on them and assures them of consolation in the future. Jesus thus challenges his followers to see life from God’s viewpoint, not the world’s. When his followers live by God’s standards, they are truly in a fortunate state in life, no matter what their circumstances may be, for they bring a glimmer of the joy and hope of the heavenly kingdom into the afflictions of the present world.[8]

These references provide a quick summary of the concept of the Beatitudes, and I am only going to do a quick look at one of them. The second Beatitude addresses those who mourn, and this is one I never understood correctly since I have jumped to the common meaning of mourn.

“Blessed are they who mourn” or “happy are they who mourn.” Here St. Augustine and other commentators say that Jesus is describing those who lament the sufferings, the sin and the death that are part of this present life. So someone who mourns is someone who is experiencing the pain of loss, whether lamenting their own sinfulness or the sinfulness of others, lamenting their own suffering or the sufferings of others, and especially of course the primary expression of mourning is mourning for those who have died. What does Jesus say? “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” He points to a promise of comfort beyond the sufferings of this life.[9]

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on Matthew, states:

And this mourning can be explained in three ways. Firstly, mourning can be not only for one’s own sins but also for others’ sins; because if we lament those who have carnally died, much more should we lament those who have died spiritually; “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul,” etc.[10]

I will finish with two more quotes from the Church Fathers:

St. Ambrose: When yon have done thus much, attained both poverty and meekness, remember that you are a sinner, mourn your sins, as He proceeds, Blessed are they that mourn. And it is suitable that the third blessing should be of those that mourn for sin, for it is the Trinity that forgives sin.[11]

St. Augustine. Otherwise; mourning is sorrow for the loss of what is dear; but those that are turned to God lose the things that they held dear in this world; and as they have now no longer any joy in such things as before they had joy in, their sorrow may not be healed till there is formed within them a love of eternal things. They shall then be comforted by the Holy Spirit, who is therefore chiefly called, The Paraclete, that is, ‘Comforter;’ so that for the loss of their temporal joys, they shall gain eternal joys.[12]

Sources

• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A—John Bergsma
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
2. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
3. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma, 4TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  ↩
4. ibid  ↩
5. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
6. ibid  ↩
7. Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference.  ↩
8. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
9. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)  ↩
10. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
11. St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, A.D. 374. Ambrose. (ubi sup.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩
12. St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, A.D. 396. (Serm. in Mont. i. 2.) Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew (J. H. Newman, Ed.; Vol. 1, p. 150).  ↩

Matthew 4:12–23

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²  Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. ¹³  And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,¹⁴  so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁵  “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶  the people dwelling in darkness
    have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
    on them a light has dawned.”

¹⁷  From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

¹⁸  While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹  And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰  Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹  And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²  Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Matthew 4:12–23 ESV – Bible Gateway

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This Sunday’s Gospel kicks off our journey through the Gospel of Matthew for Year A of the Lectionary Cycle. This journey starts with what Matthew identifies as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

After the news had reached them of the arrest of John the Baptist, they withdraw to Galilee. This reminds me both of the prudence of Jesus, but also of Joseph. When Joseph received word from an Angel that Herod had died, he was all set to return to Bethlehem with Mary and Jesus. When he learns that Herod Archelaus had succeeded his father in Judea, he goes to Nazareth in Galilee instead. In both cases, we see a decision made to avoid what was possibly a dangerous place too close to the political and religious authorities.

From the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible:

Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth in lower Galilee but stays only long enough to say his good-byes. He has decided to resettle in Capernaum, a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. This was a place of some importance in the first century, quite a bit larger than the tiny village of Nazareth. Capernaum thrived on its fishing industry and was close to a Roman road called the Via Maris, which served as a commercial route connecting Galilee with Syria to the north. Jesus chooses this busy town as the base of operations for his Galilean ministry.[1]

Matthew interprets the move to Capernaum as a fulfillment of prophecy.[2] He quotes from Isaiah, which was our first reading today. Dr. Brant Pitre elaborates:

Now guess what were the first two tribes to go into exile in the Assyrian exile. It was the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. In other words, the territory of Galilee is where that exile began, where the overthrow of the 12 tribes started, and that’s where Jesus is going to begin his public ministry. Precisely where the exile began is where Jesus is going to start undoing the effects of the exile. Precisely where the 12 tribes were decimated and broken into pieces and scattered to the four winds is where Jesus is going to begin calling his 12 disciples in order to gather around himself a new Israel and in order to establish a new king. That’s why he’s doing it. This is very very deliberate on Jesus’ part. He knows exactly what he’s doing here.[3]

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible adds:

4:15–16 The land of Zebulun … dawned: A citation from Is 9:1–2 concerning the land allotments of two Israelite tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Since these Galilean regions were the first to be ravaged by Assyrian invasions from 733 to 732 b.c. (2 Kings 15:29), Jesus targets Galilee as the place to begin reversing the tragedies of Israel’s history by restoring the 12 tribes in the New Covenant (cf. 15:24; 19:28; Rev 7:4–8).
Isaiah foresees a “latter time” (Is 9:1), when God will restore hope to Galilee. Matthew links this with Jesus’ residence in “Capernaum” (4:13), a town north of the Sea of Galilee where the tribal territories of Zebulun and Naphtali intersect. Matthew’s sustained interest in the Davidic kingship of Jesus suggests that the fuller context of this oracle is also significant. Isaiah 9:1–2 prefaces an Immanuel prophecy of the birth of a new king who will sit “upon the throne of David” (Is 9:7) and restore this light of hope to Galilee (cf. Lk 1:32–33). [4]

Jesus starts with a message that continues on the preaching of John the Baptist and would also have been very familiar to John’s disciples.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, writes:

From that time Jesus began to preach. Having set forth the place where Christ first began to preach, here is set forth the manner of preaching. From that time, namely, after the conquering of gluttony, vainglory and ambition, or avarice, He began to preach: for suchlike men can suitably preach. And in this way is fulfilled that passage of Acts 1, 1: “Jesus began to do and to teach.” Or, from that time, that is, after John’s imprisonment, He began to preach publicly: for previously He preached secretly and to certain men (Jn. 1, 38 ff.), namely, to Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Nathaniel, but here publicly. Now He did not at first wish to preach publicly, to give place to John’s preaching: otherwise it would have been of no avail, just as the light of the stars is obscured by the light of the sun. Now it is signified by this that when the figures of the Law had ceased, Christ’s preaching began; “But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away” (I Cor. 13, 10). For by John the Law is signified; “The prophets and the law were until John”[5]

As Dr. John Bergsma points out, it is likely not the case that “the four men drop their nets to follow a total stranger…”[6] and continues with the likelihood “that these four men had already encountered Jesus before and had some interaction with him. Jesus is not calling to total strangers, but he is calling the men to commit whole-heartedly to what, up to that time, had been a casual relationship with him.”[7] Another interesting aspect he points to is that “In Judaism, it was only permissible to cease the practice of one’s livelihood and break family ties for the sake of the study of God’s Word, the Torah, “The Law.” In calling his disciples to abandon everything, not to study the Law but to follow him, Jesus is placing himself in the role of the Law of God. He is God’s Word incarnate. Imitating him is a form of studying God’s Law.”[8]
He also gives us this detail:

He calls fishermen to follow him and become “fishers of men.” Although Matthew doesn’t call attention to the fact, this is actually a fulfillment of an oracle of the prophet Jeremiah:[9]

Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall catch them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. (16:16, RSV2CE)

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen called Jesus The Only Person Ever Pre-Announced and Dr. Peter Kreeft reminds us about Messianic prophesies and their importance:

There are literally hundreds of specific prophecies in the Old Testament of the Messiah, the “anointed one” or the “promised one,” and Jesus fulfilled every one of them in every detail. No other religious founder ever fulfilled so many specific prophecies. Today’s reading from Isaiah is one of them, and Matthew quotes it in today’s Gospel.[10]

We can discern much by this initial call of four apostles. Unsurprisingly, St. Thomas Aquinas gives us some of the depth of this:

Note that at the beginning He called brothers: and although He called many others, nevertheless, mention is specially made of these, because they were outstanding, and because He called them by pairs: for the New Law is founded in charity: whence, also in the Old Law, He called two brothers, Aaron and Moses, because even then the commandment of charity was given. And because the New Law is more perfect, thus at the beginning a double number of brothers is called, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. By these four men the four Gospels’ doctrine, or four virtues, is signified: because by Peter, which is interpreted ‘knowing,’ the virtue of prudence is signified; by Andrew, which is interpreted ‘virile’ or ‘very strong,’ the virtue of fortitude is signified; by James, which is interpreted ‘supplanter,’ the virtue of justice is signified; and by John, on account of his virginity, the virtue of temperance is signified. Their piety is set forth, because they were with their father, Zebedee.[11]

St. John Henry Newman reminds us that Jesus calls all of us:

“Such are the instances of Divine calls in Scripture, and their characteristic is this; to require instant obedience, and next to call us we know not to what; to call us on in the darkness. Faith alone can obey them. But it may be urged, How does this concern us now? … For in truth we are not called once only, but many times; all through our life Christ is calling us. He called us first in Baptism; but afterwards also; whether we obey His voice or not, He graciously calls us still. If we fall from our Baptism, He calls us to repent; if we are striving to fulfil our calling, He calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness, while life is given us. Abraham was called from his home, Peter from his nets, Matthew from his office, Elisha from his farm, Nathanael from his retreat; we are all in course of calling, on and on, from one thing to another, having no resting place, but mounting towards our eternal rest, and obeying one command only to have another put upon us.”[12]

Sources

• The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible꞉ The New Testament
• The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)
• Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
• Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. Thomas Aquinas
• The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A – John Bergsma
• Life of Christ, Fulton J. Sheen
• Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
• Newman Reader – Parochial & Plain Sermons 8 – Sermon 2
• Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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1. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
2. The Gospel of Matthew, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, Edward Sri and Curtis Mitch  ↩
3. Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre  ↩
4. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament  ↩
5. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
6. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year A, John Bergsma  ↩
7. ibid  ↩
8. ibid  ↩
9. ibid  ↩
10. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A  ↩
11. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press  ↩
12. Sermon 2 in John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899), 8:22–23.  ↩