“You crazy Catholics… you have so many rules!” Have you ever heard that? It makes it seem like following God’s plan is some kind of kill joy that takes all the fun out of life. Society has accepted the notion that to be really free and maximize pleasure you have to do away with “the rules.” Our readings today give us a very different picture. The biblical view has always been that God’s law is a blessing. Following the law leads to life.
Jesus did not come to do away with the law. He actually tells us just the opposite. Jesus completely fulfilled the law and he wants us to follow the law. However, Jesus also did more than the law required and wants us to do the same.
In today’s gospel story of the Good Samaritan, we see how a priest and Levite went by without helping the victim. They were actually fulfilling the law. The law excused them from helping out due to fear that the man was dead. The Samaritan hero goes beyond what the law would require. The description is even one of extravagant help to the poor victim. What would you do? Do you normally try to get by with with “bare minimum” or even break “the rules” when you think you can get away with it?
Jesus did not do the bare minimum. We are meant to see ourselves as the victim fallen half-dead in the ditch going down to Jericho. Like the Good Samaritan, Jesus comes to rescue us, even extravagantly so. St. Paul tells us in the 2nd reading that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” Jesus reveals to us that our God loves us. He loves us enough to give us his fatherly instructions for our happiness. Following God’s law ultimately leads to our happiness, true freedom, and eternal life.