Law Versus Love
"It doesn't matter if you follow the law as long as you love."
"Don't get so caught up in the rules; it's love that matters."
"Just be a good person."
All of these statements I hear time and time again in one form or another. I hear them from many well-meaning people, Catholics as well as non-Catholics. Although I know that Jesus told love us that the greatest commandments were to love God and neighbor, there has always been this sense in me that something is wrong with these statements. Why did Jesus go through all of those teachings in the Sermon on the Mount if they weren't important? Did Jesus really say that external actions didn't matter? Quite the contrary, Jesus came "not to destroy, but to fulfill" the law (Matthew 5:17; Douay-Rheims version).
What is this love that we must have? Is it just a matter of feeling nice feelings or thinking nice thoughts about someone, or does it require some actions to back it up? How do we know that someone is a good person? Too many times I hear that love is all that matters without any explanation of just what it is they are talking about.
So often obeying the law and loving are treated as though there were a dichotomy between the two. I have never thought this to be so. What I propose is that not only is it possible to do both, it is also necessary.
External and Internal Obedience
Jesus didn't teach us that external conformity to a law was unnecessary. Rather, he taught that it was insufficient. If external obedience were sufficient, then gunpoint evangelization would be a virtuous thing rather than the grievous sin that it is. In other words, Jesus did not lower the bar; he raised it.
For example, Jesus said "You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22). Shall we assume that it is okay to kill our brother as long as we are not angry with him? Also, Jesus said "You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28). Shall we say that it is okay to commit adultery as long as we don't look at the woman lustfully? In both cases, the old law stands but is now required to be internalized.
What is Love?
Almost anyone who has heard of Christ knows of his commands to love God and neighbor. Not as many understand how we love God and neighbor. We read in John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commandments." (see also John 14:21,23-24, 15:10) St. John writes in an epistle "And by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. He who saith that he knoweth him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But he that keepeth his word, in him in very deed the charity of God is perfected; and by this we know that we are in him." (1 John 2:3-5).
Both the Gospel of John and the first letter of John go on to say that the one commandment is to love one another (John 15:12; 1 John 2:7-10). This means far more than to think nice thoughts or feel nice feelings about each other. Read John 15:13-14 where Jesus says "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do the things that I command you." (notice that "things" is plural).
If we love God, we will not worship idols, use his name and vain, nor will we forget the Sabbath day. Furthermore, if we love our neighbor, we will not steal from him, kill him, bear false witness against him, commit adultery against him, nor covet anything of his. We will honor our father and mother out of love for them. However, such commandments are a minimum standard, not an ideal. The ideal is to lay down our lives, be it actual death or some small part of our lives given to a needy neighbor.
Those Pharisees
So, what shall we say of the Pharisees? If obedience is important, why are they condemned? It is not so much their obedience but their hypocrisy that is condemned. We read in Matthew 23:3 about them "All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not." In other words, they did not practice what they preached.
When the Pharisees insist on the law, they are either insisting on something they themselves do not observe or on man-made traditions they added to the law. In fact, one problem that Jesus noted was actually a case of disobedience, saying "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said 'Honour thy father and mother; and: He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death.' But you say: Whosoever shall say to father or mother: 'The gift whatsoever proceedeth from me, shall profit thee [God].' And he shall not honour his father or his mother: and you have made void the commandment of God for your tradition." (Matthew 15:2-6)
To Sum It Up
To state the premise of this essay in other words, it is possible to obey God's law without any love of God, but it is impossible to love God without obeying his law. The law is the minimum. We must obey it, but love compels us to do more.