So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the
least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the
kingdom of heaven.

Reflection:

The Law and the Prophets are two central pillars of faith in the
Hebrew Bible. Jesus came not to displace either of them but to
reconcile and absorb both into himself, and thereby completing
them. This is evident from the scene of the Transfiguration
where Jesus is seen with Moses (for the Law) and Elijah (for the
Prophets). It is the temptation of the binary human thinking
to see them as ‘either-or’ instead of ‘both-and.’ Let us look at it
this way: No great musicians are born great; they begin by
learning the laws of music, one by one. And once they have truly
mastered them, they transcend them and compose new forms
of music. This transcendence is no negation; but such a perfect
absorption of the laws that they are able to transform them from
inside out to create loftier music. And in their doing so, the law
has served its purpose! Isn’t it the same dynamics we find in
the life of Jesus or of our many mystics?

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