For Catholics, the season of Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, and penance. We do this in order to walk with Jesus during his 40 days of temptation, to immerse ourselves in the mystery of human suffering and to recognize it's redemptive nature, the culmination of which happens during the Easter Triduum, where Jesus is crucified and rises from the dead. Many Catholics facilitate their observance of Lent by signing up to receive email updates from priests and spiritual organizations. A friend of mine receives such reflections, and recently sent me one that affected him deeply. In it, the priest writes, "Jesus takes away the sin of the world by dramatically exposing what is the real sin of the world (ignorant attacking and killing, not purity codes)."
I think this Lenten reflection wisely identifies the essence of Jesus' moral law simply as "doing good no matter what." Remember, Jesus taught "love your God with all your heart, all your being, all your strength, and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27). It's worth noting that love of God comes before love of others, but that (at least in regards to "doing good") loving others as ourselves means loving others the same indulgent, absorbed, forgiving way in which we habitually love ourselves. If we are healthy, we aren't usually eager to punish ourselves for our little transgressions, and neither do we seek revenge or exercise spite against ourselves. According to Jesus, that means we aren't to do that to others either - essentially, as the Lenten reflection states, we must not engage in "ignorant attacking and killing."
Yet I don't know if I am comfortable with the reflection's apparent rejection of "purity codes." Jesus certainly didn't teach a specific code Himself - in fact, He sometimes seemed quite cavalier about the Mosaic Law. However, He did rebuke the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11), He did chase the money-changers out of the temple (John 2:13-16), and He did praise the faith and virtue of the centurion with the sick servant (Luke 7:1-10). I think perhaps a "purity code" or "moral law" was unnecessary for Jesus because of his Divinity. Though not exempt from temptation, Jesus as God could see it for what it was and reject it. For the rest of us flawed humans, our natural (or original) sin clouds our vision, leading us to suppress our right conscience and fall into sin. A "moral law" of rules helps keep us away from that - one may not understand why a small lie is a sin, for example, but if one follows the "moral law" - the teaching of the Church - one will nevertheless avoid sin.
It is also true that "ignorant attacking and killing" are not the only sources of sin. Many of the most damaging sins (violence against self, or the sins of pride, for example) are levied primarily against the sinner, and only indirectly affect others around him or her, however dire than indirect effect might be. "[I]gnorant attacking and killing" does not seem to include sins of lust or greed, either, when those sins are committed between consenting partners. Yet these acts conform to St. Augustine's ancient definition of sin: the separation of oneself from God. Jesus certainly countered "ignorant attacking and killing" with his love, and provided the archetypal example of "turning the other cheek," but let us not forget that in his confrontation-less acceptance of death, he was aligning His human will perfectly with God's plan. That is, of course, the first and most important part of Jesus' "moral law:" "you shall love your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul." But since humanity has committed the same sins of violence, self-hatred, pride, greed, and lust for all of its tragic existence, a codified "moral law" promulgated by the Church prohibiting things like adultery and suicide can help humans better identify and avoid subtler instances and acts of sin than the obvious crime of "ignorant attacking and killing."
One objection I have heard regarding "moral laws" is that they can become a crutch, which is to say that some people become more focused on strict observance of the "moral law" than they do on loving God, being generous or kind, or growing in faith. In fact, often an excessive focus on following some "moral law" can actually inhibit all other aspects of Christian faith. I think this is a good criticism, and it highlights the necessity of the first part of Jesus' moral law: "love your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul." To follow Jesus is an adventure, because it requires us to take risks (for example, to reject an unholy friend or speak out against an unholy but popular cause), it requires us to be bold (for example, to be kind or caring to someone we find repugnant), it even requires us to deny ourselves (for example, to work on the weekend). All of these things are an anodyne to the sterile practice of following the "law" to the exclusion of anything else. I think many Jews' refusal to do this was a source of Jesus' sometime frustration with them in the New Testament.
I think a "purity code" or "moral law" is important. It should be in the back of our mind, especially when we are confused about the right thing to do in the big and small decisions that confront us every day. Yet such a law or code is not of first importance: scripture makes quite clear that the most important aspect of Christian faith the act of loving God "with all [our] heart, all [our] being, all [our] strength, and all [our] mind." He even provided concrete examples: "Then the King shall say unto them on his right hand, come...and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me" (Matthew 25:34-36). Moreover, as the Lenten reflection states, Jesus Himself provided the perfect example of this love, this most important part of faith through His own sacrifice - and it was an example and sacrifice that only Jesus could perform: we were starved for the Word of God; strangers from His face; sick with and imprisoned by sin; and He came to us. Even as he praised the righteous for doing, He did for us Himself, even though it led unto the grave.
It is well to use the season of Lent to refocus our spiritual attention from simply "following the law" to a more engaged, dynamic exercise of faith. In doing so, however, let's not be so foolish as to forget that law - often the journey of faith begins in darkness, with only that law to guide us. As we grow to understand more, the law begins to seem unnecessary, since what it commands becomes more natural and desirable to us. Yet no spiritual journey is a straight, simple ascent. We often fall from the righteous path by simple mistakes and small sins, and must work yet harder to reorient our steps toward God. In these situations, when the love of God and our spiritual understanding seem lacking or insufficient, we have the scourge of the rules to guide us back to the right path.
