“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17). Jesus then went on to teach what he meant by that statement by following up with his six antitheses. Four of which are covered in today’s reading.

Upon first reading, Jesus may appear to be opposing, this is why these statements are labeled antitheses, the teachings passed down generation after generation from Moses. Jesus is doing no such thing. He is digging deeper to expose the root of each condition. As he himself said, he has not come to abolish the law and the prophets, the Hebrew sacred scrolls, he has come to fulfill them and give them deeper context and meaning.

When Jesus recounts Moses’ prohibition against killing, he follows up by stating that we are not to give in to the temptation of anger or lashing out with derogatory words. By being more intentional with our words and less reactive, we have a better chance of making more sound and rational statements. When we are more conscious of our thoughts and think them through before letting them lose, we are more apt to respect the dignity of the person we are speaking with as well as ourselves. We are also less likely to unleash our anger or lash out with harsh words. Doing both, will help us not to escalate to physical violence. Something we are very much in need of in our time.

Jesus then addressed the prohibition against committing adultery. Not only are we not to have sexual relations with someone else’s spouse, but we are also to resist the temptation of thinking about anyone in any lustful way. Again, Jesus is lifting up the dignity of the person. People are not to be objectified and lessened to mere carnal objects of satisfaction through our actions or our thoughts.

Now in both cases above, Jesus is not saying the we are robots. We will get angry, we will experience attractions, neither which are bad nor what Jesus is asking us to resist. With each emotion, we are to experience them. They are not to have free reign and to be disordered. Instead as we experience each, we bring them to Jesus with a prayerful pause or period so to properly order them to the will of his Father. Anger properly channeled can lead to healthy fraternal correction and attraction can lead to a chaste and blessed friendship.

Such a friendship can then blossom into marriage. Jesus, upholds the dignity and sacredness of marriage, recognizing that this is to be a covenantal relationship. There were some prescriptions for dismissing a wife in ancient Israel considered to be valid just because the wife had cooked a bad meal. Jesus recognized that the reality of a bill of divorce, especially for the women in his time, placed them in a very precarious position economically as well as socially. Not to mention the toll that the rupture of the relationship could cause. Women, without any means to support themselves, would seek to remarry or sought prostitution. Often their families would not take them in to care for them.

This is why Jesus stated that “whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew 5:32). A bill of divorce in this time is not equivalent to the civil divorce of our time. The couple was still considered married. Moses made an allowance for a bill of divorce, because of the hardness of men’s hearts and to protect women from abuse. In the most egregious of cases, men would kill their wives to marry another.

Jesus is holding up the dignity and sacredness of marriage which is a sacrificial gift of love between husband and wife, with the openness to bring forth life into the world. The Church continues to follow Jesus’ teaching today, considering marriage, even in the event of a civil divorce as valid until proved differently. Thus a declaration of nullity granted is not considered Catholic divorce, nor if one is issued does the ruling consider the children of the marriage illegitimate. God brings about a greater good, even from marriages that he did not bring together. The good in this circumstance can be the children.

One more antithesis presented in today’s account was the value of giving our word. What we say reveals something about our character. We are to resist saying what is expedient in the moment, as well as swearing false oaths to justify false claims. Instead, Jesus commands us to be honest and truthful in each situation such that our “‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and [our] ‘No’ mean ‘No'” (Mt 5:37). If we are telling the truth, there is no need to make an oath. We speak the truth and stand on the truth.

In each of the four antitheses that we read about today, resisting not only murder but also anger and unleashing dehumanizing words, not only committing adultery but also remaining chaste in mind and heart, being faithful in marriage which is a unbreakable covenant, and being true to our word, Jesus calls his disciples to a higher standard. This is just as true for us today.

The light of Jesus reveals to us the darkness of our survival and fight or flight instincts. By slowing down, stepping out of the constant noise and business, we can resist the disordered affections and baser temptations of our fallen nature. This begins in our thoughts. For if we choose to be more aware of and intentional in engaging with our interior lives, our thoughts and emotions, begin to breathe into and experience them instead of deny or not pay attention to them, we will become less reactive and impulsive. We then stand a much better chance of thinking and speaking about and acting better toward one another.

Unfortunately, the effects when we don’t can be devastating, dehumanizing, and isolating. We can see results of not following God’s laws and its destabilizing effects all too often in our culture and society. Lowering the bar of these foundational principles is not the answer. We need not separate ourselves from the commands of Jesus, but yolk ourselves to him, and then we can heal and move closer to putting into practice his teachings. The sprouts of our words and actions spring forth from the seeds of our thoughts, for good or for ill.

Practicing the teachings of Jesus begins by acknowledging the value and relevance of them. We need to resolve with a deeper commitment and firmer intent to be more careful in what we feed our thoughts, words, and actions with, while at the same time understanding that on our own we will fall short. God is God and we are not. We need the support of the Holy Spirit as well as the support and accountability of others. Aligned with Jesus, trusted family and friends, we too can fulfill the law and the prophets, by fulfilling the way of love Jesus calls us to aspire to, and will become more human in the process.

Photo: Jesus can make the antithesis statements, “You have heard that it was said” relating to the Hebrew Scriptures, and then, “But I say to you…”, expanding the teaching of the law and the prophets by his own authority because he is the Son of God come to save us.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, February 15, 2026