27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Image and Likeness of God

“The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, ‘Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him. He said to them in reply, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They replied, ‘Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.’ But Jesus told them, ‘Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate’” (Mark 10:2-9).

Some of the Pharisees approached Jesus to “test” both his understanding of and his faithfulness to the Law of Moses. Jesus turned the question back to them, challenging them to look beyond the words of the law and instead to the underlying spirit of the law. Jesus referred to the Book of Genesis to affirm that men and women alike were created in God’s image, and therefore they both have value in God’s eyes.

The foundation of the Law is the love that God has for us: a love that begins from the moment of our creation in the image and likeness of God.

If we believe that we are created in God’s image and likeness, we must also believe in the dignity of each human person. We must be willing to reach out to others, who are just as much the image and likeness of God as we are. We must always do what is within our power to help others.

Jesus promotes an inclusive community of faith. Who are the people in the margins of your community? In what ways can you positively affect them?

Adapted from Word on the Go, a downloadable resource from RENEW International.