God wants to win your heart…
13 June 2018
I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve had this gospel already this year. In my experience, something’s only worth repeating if it’s important. So what’s important in this gospel?
In the first reading, Elijah, a great Prophet, expresses something of the purpose of the Law when he asks God to answer his prayer “so that this people may know that you, YHWH, are God and are winning back their hearts.” The whole point of the Law and the Prophets is that it is God reaching out to build a relationship with humanity – he wants to win our hearts.
So when Jesus tells us that he has “not come to abolish the Law” and that “not one dot, not one little stroke will disappear from the Law,” he is not the bringer of bad news, but good news. He is letting us know that God remains thoroughly committed to his relationship with us – he’s still trying to win our hearts.
And Jesus himself, “God with us,” is the proof of that, the completion of the Law and the Prophets. In his life, death, and resurrection, he is the ultimate symbol of God’s love for us, his desire to win our hearts.