Day 82: Jesus and the Law

The perfect fulfillment of the Law could be the work of none but the divine legislator, born subject to the Law in the person of the Son. In Jesus, the Law no longer appears engraved on tables of stone but "upon the heart" of the Servant who becomes "a covenant to the people", because he will "faithfully bring forth justice". Jesus fulfills the Law to the point of taking upon himself "the curse of the Law" incurred by those who do not "abide by the things written in the book of the Law, and do them", for his death took place to redeem them "from the transgressions under the first covenant". CCC 580

In today's reading, the Catechism relates how Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. He is its Author and the only One who could keep every part of it without error perfectly. Some aspects of the Law and the Old Covenant are "no longer applicable because the context for which they were enacted no longer exists." As the Catechism Companion, Vol I notes:

Laws governing the worship in the Temple ended because the Temple itself ceased to exist. Laws for the governance of the people of Israel ended because the kingdom of Israel - as it existed in the Old Covenant - ceased to exist. (p. 168)

So we no longer should concern ourselves with things like tithing "mint and dill and cumin," like Christ's Pharisee critics, but instead focus on what He has placed on our hearts from the moral law, "mercy and fidelity" (Matt 23:23). Again from the Catechism Companion:

The moral laws are absolute. They are true and binding at all times in all places for all people... Jesus tells us the moral law must reach not only our actions but also our hearts. This moral law is still in effect. (p. 168)