JESUS GAVE THE NEW

10.2.5
LAW OF FREEDOM

This chapter presents the following key learning points:

• Jesus gave a New Law to empower his followers to live as
God called. This law consists of four elements:
– Jesus shares with all who believe in him the Holy Spirit
who can change the human heart
– Jesus gives the gift of charity, the power of divine love,
through Baptism
– Jesus presented the Sermon on the Mount as the basic
way Christians need to think and behave
– Jesus revealed two great commandments which are
about changing peoples’ hearts to live God’s laws.
• Jesus calls all people to experience happiness and true freedom.

Jesus gave a New Law to empower his followers

to live as God called
The earliest Christians recognised Jesus as the promised Messiah. He was both fully human
and fully divine. He loved in perfect ways and always did what is good.

The secret to the perfection of Jesus was the perfect love in his heart for both God the Father
and the rest of the human race. From within his heart he lived all God’s laws perfectly – both
natural and revealed.

Jesus gave a New Law as part of the New Covenant, to fulfil the Law and the Covenant of
Moses. This New Law would empower his followers to live as God called them to live.

The New Law consisted of

four elements:
• sharing with all who believe in
Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who can
change the human heart
• the power of divine love, infused
by the Holy Spirit and received
through Baptism and nourished
by the Eucharist. This love is called
charity.
• the Sermon on the Mount
• the two great commandments
of Jesus.

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The Holy Spirit
Jesus promised his followers the Holy
Spirit. This promise was first fulfilled
at Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit is received into

people’s hearts today in many ways,
especially through the sacraments
of Baptism and Confirmation. To
the extent that they respond to the
Spirit’s guidance, believers find the
Spirit changing their hearts. Their
hearts become more like the heart
of Jesus as they inwardly experience
the Spirit stirring thoughts or feelings
that:
• inspire, or urge them to love God
and their neighbours, as Jesus did
• guide them in how to love like
Jesus in the situations of daily life
• cause their consciences to help
them see when they are in danger
of not loving or doing good
• move their consciences to
recognise past actions that are
wrong
• strengthen them to resist
The same Spirit who comforted Christ in Gethsemane can console us,
temptations to break God’s 2000 (oil on panel) by Wang, Elizabeth (Contemporary Artist)
commandments and to live
as Jesus did.

The early Christians realised that they could:

‘… begin living a new life.’ (Romans 6:4)

as they experienced the Holy Spirit inspiring, guiding, challenging and strengthening them.

They were able to leave behind the ‘old life’ of selfishness, resentments, and temptation to do
wrong and grow in love and God-like goodness.

As they drew on the guidance and power of the Spirit they found it easier to keep God’s
commandments and laws and to experience the kind of freedom that would bring them
lasting happiness. They saw that not to draw on the Spirit’s guidance and power, would
make it more difficult to keep God’s laws. People would lack the necessary freedom that
brings lasting happiness.

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Charity: the power of divine love
Jesus shares the Holy Spirit with his followers today through Baptism. Through this sacrament,
the Holy Spirit, the personified love of God, gives the believer the gift of charity.

‘ … the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been
given to us.’ (Romans 5:5)

Charity is divine love. It empowers Christians to love God and others as Jesus does. Christians
develop the gift of charity by praying daily, by worshipping God, and receiving Holy Communion
and by trying to live daily as Jesus taught. As this divine power grows within them, Christians
find themselves empowered:
• to love God above all else
• to love others for God’s sake.

In Class Work
1. Explain the Christian understanding of charity.
2. What does it empower Christians to do in their lives?
3. How can Christians develop the gift of charity?

Charity gradually frees people to keep God’s laws

– natural and revealed. Their hearts are freed from
everything that attracts them away from the ways of
God. As the baptismal gift of charity grows, Christians
develop into people of virtue. As selfishness and self-
centredness decline, they become persons of faith
and hope.

These virtues enable people to find themselves

growing in their ability to believe in themselves
as well as in God. They learn to overcome crises
rather than give in to despair. Personal prejudices
decline as does the inclination to panic and to rush
prematurely into decisions they might later regret.

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People change as charity grows within them. St Paul describes many of these changes:

Love is always patient and kind; love is never jealous; love is not boastful or conceited,
it is never rude and never seeks its own advantage, it does not take offence or store
up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but finds its joy in the truth. It is
always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes.
Love never comes to an end. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

St Paul was describing the love (charity) that the Holy Spirit gives as a share in God’s very own
love which our human love in some ways reflects. People often choose these words for their
wedding ceremonies.

The gift of Charity empowers all who nourish it to develop:

• strong friendships based on sharing this God-given love
• self-giving in the way that Jesus was self-giving
• forgiveness even of the greatest hurt.

Charity has empowered Christians since the earliest times to follow their call to love as Jesus
did. Many live lovingly as husband and wife and are good parents to their children. Others are
empowered to live as unmarried people. Some respond to the call to give their lives to serve
as priests and religious. At various times, many of these people are able to work for others in
need through organisations such as the St Vincent de Paul Society, Young Vinnies, the Catholic
Women’s League and the Legion of Mary.

The Eucharist nourishes charity

Charity requires spiritual nourishment if it is to develop within a Christian. This is achieved
through daily prayer, but especially through the Eucharist, which gives strength to love like
Jesus in everyday life.

Many Christians today do not grow in charity as much as they could because they do not
receive the Eucharist regularly enough. Though they received the gift of charity through
Baptism, it remains underdeveloped because they suffer ‘spiritual malnutrition’.

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The Sermon on the Mount
Charity can change hearts. The
Sermon on the Mount presents
the basic ways Christians need
to think and behave for this to
happen.

In the Sermon on the Mount,

the Gospel of Matthew presents
Jesus teaching his followers how
to develop the New Law in their
lives (Matthew 5-7).

The New Law requires a

transformation of the heart, The Sermon on the Mount, from the Sistine Chapel,
c.1481-83 (fresco) by Rosselli, Cosimo (1439-1507)
drawing on the divine power
of love to grow inwardly more
loving towards others and to express this in loving behaviour. It does not mean, for instance,
behaving politely while secretly thinking nasty thoughts about others.

In Class Work
Divide the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) amongst groups in the class. Each
group is to summarise their section for the rest of the class.

The Beatitudes of Jesus

In the Gospel of Matthew, the first sermon of Jesus was the Sermon on the Mount. It began
with what are called the Beatitudes (or blessings).

The Beatitudes identify attitudes of Jesus. As baptised people develop these attitudes, they
become more alert to the guidance of the Holy Spirit within them. Without these attitudes,
it is hard for people to be alert to the Spirit.

One thing many people do not realise is that the Holy Spirit works normally in gentle and
peaceful ways in people. The Spirit is never dominating or violent.

To recognise the Holy Spirit’s inward guidance and strengthening it is necessary to deal
appropriately with emotions, attitudes and ways of thinking that can otherwise take over
our lives.

The key to living the Sermon on the Mount is to develop the attitudes of Jesus. These are the
attitudes which change a Christian’s heart so that the inspiration, guidance, correction and
strengthening of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism and further developed in
Confirmation grow within them.

The Beatitudes identify specific ways of behaving that lead to this.

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The first of the Beatitudes is:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.’ (Matthew 5:3)

Behaving in ways that are ‘poor in spirit’ means people accepting their dependence on
God for all their needs and for their every breath. This is easiest to develop for those who are
defenceless, oppressed, lonely or who are materially poor.

The opposite behaviour involves the desire to acquire wealth, possessions or power, and to
make them, not God, the basis of one’s life, or the tendency to associate only with the popular,
the powerful or ‘those who have made it’ in life.

The second Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are the gentle: they shall have the earth as inheritance.’ (Matthew 5:4)

This calls people to be unassuming and undemanding. It is the opposite from people being
suspicious and impatient, or becoming angry when things fail to go their way.

The third Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted.’ (Matthew 5:5)

In this context, to ‘mourn’ is to be sad about life’s tragedies, sin and death. This Beatitude
encourages people to yearn for God as the basic value of their lives, and to accept the closeness
with God that Jesus offers. As they do so, ‘they shall be comforted’.

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The fourth Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill.’
(Matthew 5:6)

This Beatitude calls people to accept God’s personal guidance, especially through prayer and
worship. It also calls for a searching attitude to understand more fully all that God has taught,
and a sincere effort to put into practice all that God commands.

For young people, this Beatitude is particularly relevant when considering questions relating to
identity, career and other future decisions, for true answers to these questions require taking
into account all God has taught.

The fifth Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them.’ (Matthew 5:7)

People who are merciful are those who forgive readily and love others in need – even if they are
enemies (Matthew 6:12, 14-15; 9:13; 25:31-46; 5:44-47). Their hearts develop in ways that make it
possible to truly experience God’s mercy.

The sixth Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God.’ (Matthew 5:8)

This Beatitude calls Christians to make God’s will, and the fulfilment of that will, the primary
purpose of their life and to try as sincerely as they can to live as Jesus taught. It also calls them
to repent when they fail, and to ask God’s help for their renewed efforts. Their reward will be
direct and personal experiences of God.

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The seventh Beatitude is:

‘Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God.’

(Matthew 5:9)

In this Beatitude, Jesus wants his followers to love and to do what they can to provide for the
needs of others. They should try to heal tensions between others, to resolve differences and to
restore relationships. It is the opposite of stirring tensions and discord within the family, among
friends or in the wider community.

The last two Beatitudes are:

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of
Heaven is theirs.’ (Matthew 5:10)

‘Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of
calumny against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will
be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’ (Matthew 5:11-12)

These Beatitudes highlight how, when people remain faithful to God, they receive all the
spiritual guidance and power needed to live as God wants – even if they have to endure
suffering in order to follow God’s will.

The key to living the Sermon on the Mount is to develop the attitudes of Jesus. These are the
attitudes which change a Christian’s heart so that the inspiration, guidance, correction and
strengthening of the Holy Spirit grows within them.

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 Journal Activity
Spend time reflecting on and writing about some practical examples of when you
might need the Holy Spirit’s:
• inspiration because Christian teachings are hard to live. Which teachings are the
most difficult to live today?
• guidance because it is not always easy to see how Christian teachings should be
lived. What are some examples of complex issues today that are hard to relate to
Christ’s teachings?
• correction because you have not lived as Jesus called. Which Christian teachings do
people generally tend to ignore today?
• strengthening in the face of temptations and peer and social pressures, to break
God’s laws, and to do wrong. Which temptations and pressures are the most
difficult to face today?

These attitudes lead to true and long lasting happiness – or ‘beatitude’. This is why they are
referred to as ‘the Beatitudes’.

The works of Mercy

God cannot be outdone in generosity.
Jesus told his listeners on the mountain
that people who are merciful shall
have God’s mercy shown to them
(Matthew 5:7). Elsewhere he said that
when people give to those in need
they shall be rewarded abundantly
(Luke 6:36-38). Based on the parable
of the Last Judgement (Matthew 25:31-
46) the Church has developed a list of
works of mercy, acts of charity by which
Christians can come to the aid of those
in need. The corporal (bodily) works
of mercy consist especially in feeding
the hungry, sheltering the homeless,
clothing the naked, visiting the sick
and imprisoned and burying the dead
(Catechism 2447).

The Spiritual gift of Right Judgement

has been linked to the beatitude of
mercy. This gift can be applied to the
spiritual works of mercy which consist
of instructing, advising, consoling,
comforting, forgiving and bearing
wrongs patiently.

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 Jesus’ two great commandments
God taught the people of Israel how to behave in God-like ways by revealing the Ten
Commandments. They forbade behaviour that would damage a person’s capacity to relate
closely with God and helped the people to:

‘Be holy, for I, Yahweh your God, am holy ...’ (Leviticus 19:2)

Jesus revealed two commandments which he called the greatest. These commandments are:

‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
strength and with all your mind ...’ (Luke 10:27)

‘You must love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:39)

These commandments empower a person

to live the Ten Commandments by changing
their heart. As the love for God and others
grows in their hearts, people express this in
actions that keep the Ten Commandments.

The focus of the two great commandments

of Jesus is not simply upon external legal
observance. They are about changing a
person’s heart so that they are empowered to
live God’s laws in imitation of Jesus.

These commandments
empower a person to live the
Ten Commandments by
changing their heart.

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Jesus’ first great commandment
Christians who strive to love God as Jesus
described, find charity gradually changing their
attitudes towards God. They are empowered
increasingly to keep the first three of the Ten
Commandments.

Jesus’ second great commandment

In the same way, as Christians strive to love their
neighbours as themselves, charity gradually
changes them from within so that they are better
able to keep the remaining seven of the Ten
Commandments.

Christians grows in freedom to live the moral

life Jesus taught. They are helped to overcome
their human weaknesses and frailties, as well as
temptations to sin. This is why Jesus said, using
the Old Testament image of a ‘yoke’ to refer to When we repent of our sins Jesus Christ looks
on us with tenderness, 1995 (oil on panel),
his commandments: Wang, Elizabeth (Contemporary Artist)

‘Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’ (Matthew 11:30)

For your information...

A yoke was a piece of timber worn across the shoulders in order to carry heavy loads
such as buckets of water at each end. A roughly made yoke could be uncomfortable.
The ‘yoke of the law’ was a term used by Jewish teachers when speaking of the burden
imposed by the Torah and religious observances.

To deepen his followers’ understanding of how to apply the two great commandments to daily
life, Jesus also gave specific ways in which he wanted his followers to live them. The following
relate to the first great commandment:
• to pray (Luke 11:1-4)
• to celebrate the Eucharist (Luke 22:19-20)
• to teach his message to the whole world by word and example (Matthew 28:19-20)
• to baptise all who believe (Matthew 28:19)
• to pray that more will work to spread the message (Matthew 9:37)
• to love enemies (Matthew 5:38-48).

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...love your neighbour
as yourself.
Matthew 11:30

Jesus also helped his followers to understand better the second great commandment by
forbidding behaviours that disobey it:
• the deliberate harbouring of anger and grudges (Matthew 5:21-26; Luke 12:57-59)
• false oaths or perjury (Matthew 5:33-37)
• retaliation and vengeance against others (Matthew 5:38-42)
• showing generosity for the wrong motives (Matthew 6:1-4)
• prayer for the wrong motives (Matthew 6:5-6)
• the accumulation of too many possessions (Matthew 6: 19-34)
• the judgement of people (not actions) (Matthew 7:1-5)
• the neglect of personal talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
• the failure to respond to those in need (Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31).

Jesus also reinforced Old Testament laws against sexual immorality. He forbade:
• lustful behaviour (Matthew 5:28)
• adultery (Matthew 5:32)
• remarriage after divorce (Mark 10:1-12)
• sex outside marriage (or fornication) (Matthew 15:19).

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Jesus calls all people to experience happiness and true freedom
When Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations he was promoting true freedom
for all people. This involves encouraging people to live the Beatitudes and his two great
commandments. To the extent that people do so, they experience the happiness and true
freedom in life that God wills for them.

As people live the Beatitudes and the ‘greatest and first’ commandment, people have
experiences of God’s closeness. They experience God’s closeness and guidance in their daily
decisions and problems. They grow in inner spiritual strength – and become freer to love
others and to keep the laws of Jesus.

If all people were to live the second commandment of Jesus and his laws, society would
become more peaceful. Many of the sufferings people take for granted today such as family
break-up, exploitation in its various forms and neglect of the needy, would be avoided.

Christians need to keep thinking about what society would be like if all people lived as Jesus
taught. They need to recognise that much human suffering can be the result of people not
living as Jesus taught. As they do live as Jesus taught, Christians will recognise opportunities
to improve society. They will bring to it God’s love and the freedom from inner and external
pressures that God wants every human being to have.

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 God calls all people to grow in inner spiritual strength by living the
laws of Jesus, his two great commandments and the Beatitudes. As
they do so, people become freer to love others and they experience
the true freedom that is God’s will for them.

Imagine that instead of operating the way it currently does,

Australian society is modelled on the Beatitudes and the
commandments of Jesus.

What laws would be passed through Parliament that would enable

Australians to live the laws of Jesus?

How would the lives of Australians be different?

In what ways would people begin to ‘experience true freedom’?

In Class Work
Your class has just formed a new political party based on the commandments and
Beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5:3-10). Decide on a name for your party and prepare
a speech outlining the election promises and policies with which you will go to the
next election.

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