This evenings antiphon is: “O Leader of the House of Israel, given we the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power.”  It’s always important to remember that scripture is made of two laws: the old law and the new law.  The old law is what was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, as we read in the antiphon; however, the new law is Jesus Christ.  

    What did the old law teach us?  The old law taught us that we were broken and needed healing.  When we look at laws and how they come to be made, very quickly we find out that laws are only created once we realize a certain action is harmful to ourselves and others.  For example, in recent years we have had some talk among law makers regarding drones and their use.  The government never needed to create laws about drones because they never existed before; however, now that they do exist, and people are using them for a variety of things, the government now needs to think about laws that will protect people from possible harm and privacy violations.  The laws are being created as people use their drones to spy on others and fly them into spaces they shouldn’t be.  Law follows actions and tells us what actions are allowed and which are not.  

    Moses receives the law from God in response to how people have been living their lives since creation.  Since Cain and Able, murder and pride have become common place; the community Noah came from refused to believe in and worship God; Joseph’s eleven brothers don’t listen to their father, Jacob, and they covet their brother Joseph; Joseph himself covets the brothers relationship and lets his own jealousy take over.  Original sin took off in humanity like any good song on the radio.  Because of this, God gave Moses the old law so that we could be protected from sinning.  The Israelites had in writing what they should and shouldn’t do.  

    Now, enter Jesus, the new law and the Way the Truth and the Life.  Jesus gives us one law: love God above all things and love your neighbor as yourself.  Christ doesn’t come and say, “Thou shalt not,” but instead says, “blessed are those who.”  Jesus gives a positive Divine Law of love and shows us what it means to love.  It’s because Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life that makes him the leader of the House of David.  Let’s look to Jesus as the new law who comes to save and to teach us how to love.  The hardest part is to actually love others as He loves us.