Today, Sirach, Paul and  Jesus himself offer us a slightly different take on   perceiving and carrying out the dictates of the Law.  For them, and especially for Jesus, following or obeying the Law is not a matter of accomplishment, not the end for which we are created.  The Law is a primer, a beginning point from which the possibilities and the true meaning in life are to be pursued.  As Jesus’ ministry    unfolds in Matthew today to the days of his   Passion, Death and Resurrection, it will appear to his followers and to the crowds that much of what Jesus will do is, in fact, contrary to the Law. Such a reading of his actions will set the stage for his arrest, judgment and execution.
 
 But Jesus has come to neither uphold nor abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.  Generations    before him have sought to uphold the Law, but with weakened hearts, with spiritual postures that have sought to use the Law for their own purposes or as a weapon of defense.  Anything, including the Law, can be contorted or abused when the human mind and spirit has itself become contorted.  Some have sought the    protection of the Law from “others” whom they do not know, understand, or for whom they   cannot summon true sympathy.  They need to protect themselves from the differentness or the threat of another, or they need to protect themselves from the more clear knowledge of themselves revealed in the other, in his weakness, in her avarice, in their unquenchable thirst for wealth, power, influence, comfort.
 
         There is no law given us more crucial than the Law that is Christ.  Every other law must be read and observed according to Him.  The law can teach, but the Person of Christ gives life!  Law might help us avoid transgressions or see how we fail.  Christ frees us from those       transgressions!  And give life!