Law, Or Law of Love?

Jesus is in the midst of a conversation with Pharisees about God's kingdom. They are adamant salvation lies in the law - in following God's laws to the letter of the law. They are quick to judge and quick to condemn.

Jesus has a different way. Jesus knows that abolishing the law of the land in favor of the grace of God's love is a monumental task - more difficult than the passing of heaven and earth. But that's just what Jesus does, isn't it? Jesus abolishes the law as a means of condemning, punishing, controlling. Jesus ushers in a new law of love as a means of forgiveness, acceptance, and love. And it cost him everything.

Narrative Lectionary Text: Luke 16:14-18

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."