The Covenant Code (3rd Sunday of Lent)

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When God rescued Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He brought them to Mt. Sinai, where He committed Himself in a covenant to constitute them as His chosen people on earth. In return, Israel was expected to listen to God’s voice and do as He says. We see this when God through Moses tells the people:

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites. (Exodus 19:4-6)

As part of the stipulation for this covenant, God gave them a law code that they were expected to abide by, and all the covenant blessings were conditional upon their keeping it. This law was summarized in what is known as the Ten Commandments. This Law became central to the identity of this new nation as a covenant people. As Scott Hahn points out, these commandments “gave this ragtag outfit of twelve loosely knit tribes a new identity. The Decalogue revealed to Israel a radically new way of living under the lordship of Yahweh.”¹ So central was this Law to Israelite life that the stone tablets containing them were deposited in the Ark of the Covenant and kept in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:16).

Even though we are under the New Covenant, this law continues to inform our moral life. As Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19).

Thus, we see in the New Testament that almost all these commandments are restated in some form or another, testifying to their enduring relevance.² As St. Paul tells us: “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31).

Most importantly, this Law serves as the teacher that leads us to Christ, as St. Paul states in Galatians 3:24. Through the Law, we realize our sin and thus our need for a Saviour. Thus, Law and Gospel come together to produce a complete picture of God’s story of how He saves us.

Notes

J. Luis Dizon