The Wisdom of the Law (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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The book of Deuteronomy begins with a historical prologue detailing how God rescued Israel out of Egypt and guided them through the wilderness, in a manner reminiscent of ancient near eastern vassal treaties. These treaties usually began with a historical prologue which explained how the suzerain-vassal relation came to be, providing context for the treaty's stipulations. In Deuteronomy, God is the suzerain, and Israel is the vassal. The book's prologue sets the stage for the Law that God is about to give them, which will serve as guidance and instruction for how to live their lives.

One of the main purposes of the Law is to display God's wisdom, not just to Israel, but also to the Gentile nations surrounding Israel. They are to witness Israel's obedience to the Law and learn from their example about God's wisdom, which ultimately leads to God’s glory. Although we learn later in the Old Testament that Israel failed to follow God's Law properly, we see how Israel could have acted as a light to the nations. This ideal continues to be reflected later in Scripture, when the prophets speak of the law going forth from Jerusalem to all nations (Isaiah 2:1-5, Micah 4:1-4, Habakkuk 2:14)

We see Jesus upholding the wisdom of the Law in our Gospel reading, where He chastises the Pharisees for disregarding it in favour of their own traditions (Mark 7). St. Paul also speaks of the relevance of the Law when he says “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31), and “we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately” (1 Timothy 1:8). Even though we are not under the Old Covenant, the moral principles of justice and equity that undergirded the old laws are still relevant, as they show how God applied those principles to ancient Israel's context, and provide a blueprint for us to discern how to apply the same principles in our own.

J. Luis Dizon