A reading from the prophet Ezekiel (18:21-28)
Thus says the Lord: ‘If the wicked, however, renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and righteous, he will most certainly live; he will not die. None of the crimes he committed will be remembered against him from then on; he will most certainly live because of his righteous actions. Would I take pleasure in the death of the wicked – declares the Lord God – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?
‘But if the righteous abandons righteousness and does wrong, copying all the loathsome practices of the wicked, is he to live? All his righteous actions will be forgotten from then on; for the infidelity of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, he will most certainly die.
‘But you say, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Now listen, House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the righteous abandons righteousness and does wrong and dies, he dies because of the wrong which he himself has done. Similarly, when the wicked abandons wickedness to become law-abiding and righteous, he saves his own life. Having chosen to renounce all his previous crimes, he will most certainly live: he will not die.’
This section of moral teaching of the prophet Ezekiel begins and ends on an optimistic note. It is possible for human beings to change from wickedness to goodness, and God welcomes this change. In the heart of the reading, however, lies the warning that the converse is also true, for human beings can move from goodness to wickedness, so that their goodness will be forgotten. There is always the opportunity to change. God treats a person for what that person is, not what they may have been in the past. God, who is supremely just, yearns for the sinner to ‘renounce his wickedness and live’, taking pleasure not in death but in life. The good God awaits the goodness which every person can freely give.
Psalm 130 (129) This psalm, the De profundis, is traditionally prayed for the dead. It is chosen here to resonate with the possibility of change through the mercy of God, with whom is found forgiveness and fullness of redemption.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (5:20-26)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven.
‘You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, “You shall not murder”; and whoever murders must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother or sister “idiot” will answer for it before the assembly; and anyone who calls a brother or sister “fool” will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, go and first be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court together, or your opponent may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the attendant, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen I say to you, you will not get out till you have paid the last coin.’
Jesus brings a new kind of righteousness, a new kind of justice (dikaiosyne), which surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. In a series of six contrasts, known as ‘antitheses’, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers the challenge of a broader justice. The antitheses are punctuated with ‘You have heard it said’, and ‘I say this to you.’ Jesus, the new Moses, deepens the traditional teaching. In this first antithesis Jesus makes clear that there are to be no half measures, no half goodness, but wholeheartedness. External acts are one thing, but God sees and judges the heart. Anger and hatred against brother or sister are on the same level as murder. Reconciliation with the brother or sister must always be the first concern, and does as much good to the one who offers it as to the one to whom it is offered.
While Ezekiel assures us that God welcomes change for the good, Jesus exemplifies what such change could look like.
For the grace of a new heart, we pray.