Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
It is an interesting reading. If taken literally and out of context you could argue Jesus is saying we need to follow the Ten Commandments and the various social and religious practices set down by the religious leaders of the time. But that is not what Jesus is saying. Mark 2:23-28 and John 5:1-18 see Jesus challenge specific Sabbath restrictions but not the core principle of Sabbath rest. Similarly, in Matthew 9:10-13 he eats with tax collectors and sinners despite the disapproval of the Pharisees. The core message seems to be “Don’t let the rules get in the way of loving thy neighbour”. Get to the core of my commandments. That is what you need to keep not all the man-made stuff added to meet some human need. It’s the virtue of prudence = judging rightly as to when a lesser good is to be sacrificed for a greater good.
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