You have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exod. XX, 14). But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. V, 27-28).

It is also said that if a man divorce his wife, let him give her a divorce (Deut. XXIV, 1). But I say to you, Whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of fornication, gives her cause to commit adultery (Matt. V, 31-32).

Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, "Thou shalt not transgress your oaths, but thou shalt fulfill thy oaths before the Lord" (Lev. XIX, 12; Second. XXIII, 21). But I say to you, Do not swear at all... But let your word be yes, yes; no, no (Matt. V, 33-34, 37).

You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth" (Exod. XXI, 24). But I say unto you, Resist not evil (Matt. V, 38-39).

You. have heard that it is said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy" (Lev. XIX, 17). But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you. V, 43-44).

In these antitheses there is no contradiction to the ancient rules. They do not abolish, but only develop and improve the norms of the Old Testament. The same spirit of love and truth breathes in them, but has already risen from the stage of the infantile state of mankind to the tremendous height of development and perfection.

This is how the Lord looks at the mutual relationship of the Old and New Testaments. Do not think, He says, that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets: I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill (Matt. V, 17). The Russian word "fulfill" does not quite accurately convey the shade of thought. The Greek word here in Matthew means: "to complete", to give completeness, completeness. In other words, the Lord wants to say that His New Testament teaching does not violate or abolish the Mosaic Law, but completes and develops it. The Pharisees expanded the ancient law, looking for new cases of its application, entangling all life with petty, formal prescriptions, giving rise to the traditions of the elders in incredible numbers, or, as the prophet Isaiah says: it became the word of the Lord for them: precept upon precept, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, so that they will go... and they shall be caught in a net, and shall be caught (Exod. XXVIII, 13). In these attempts to regulate all the minutiae of life by immutable dead rules, formally derived from the law, they retained the letter of the law, but often violated its spirit (Mk. VII, 6-13).

Jesus Christ, on the contrary, deepens and develops the principles of the Old Testament legislation, intensifying its spiritual tension. It preserves its spirit, but often breaks its form. This is the basic and essential difference in the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Pharisees to the Old Testament.

Why did we get such a difference?

Because the Lord looks at religion immeasurably more deeply than the Pharisees. For Him, the essence of religion lies in the living union of the human soul with God, the union of love. May they all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us... That the love with which Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (Jn. XVII, 21, 26), - thus He prays to His Father. The God-loving human soul is what is most valuable to Him, and how this soul came to the love that unites it with God is, strictly speaking, a secondary question, not of essential importance. A person can cultivate this love by orthodox means, by strict observance of rites and decrees worked out by religion, which have pedagogical significance, but he can achieve the same goal in a completely peculiar way, as, for example, the holy hermits achieved, whose stay in the desert required of them a special way of life and special rules of external behavior. In Christianity, it is not so much the activity of a person that is evaluated, but the qualities of his soul, which are manifested in this activity. Saint Nicholas publicly scolded Arius and was condemned by the fathers of the Council, who saw in this act a violation of the discipline of love, but God justified His chosen one, for in this ear was expressed the ardent zeal of the saint for the faith, his great love for God and, undoubtedly, moreover, of Arius, whose blasphemous speeches had to be stopped, so that the wrath of God would not strike him. The Lord, as always, looks at the root of things. Such a root in the spiritual life is the soul; external deeds are only fruits. First of all, it is important that the root – the soul – is healthy, then the fruits will be good. Thus every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree also bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor a bad tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. VII, 17-18).

A good man brings forth good things out of the good treasure of his heart, but an evil man brings forth evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks. VI, 45).

Standing on this point of view, the Lord evaluates all the external institutions of religion, its rites, rules, and customs exclusively to their connection with the soul of man, that is, insofar as they either express the religious moods and movements of the soul, or serve as a means of its religious education. The Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath, He says (Mk. II, 27).

This means that all external forms in which religious life is manifested are good and valuable if they contribute to the spiritual development of man and help him to draw closer to God. Sincere prayers are valuable, because they serve as an expression of faith, reverence and love for God, bowing the Lord to mercy to the praying, bringing God closer to man. Church services full of symbolism and deeply touching rites are valuable, for they develop a religious feeling in a person. Works of mercy and various pious exercises are valuable, for they cultivate a well-disposed will, striving to please God.

But all these forms of religious manifestation become meaningless if they lose their connection with the living soul. Prayers are meaningless and aimless if they are uttered only with the lips and if neither the mind nor the heart participates in them. Rites become completely unnecessary if they do not educate the soul in love and obedience to God. Even works of charity and service to one's neighbor lose their value if a person does not participate in them with his soul (1 Cor. XIII, 3).