Jesus Didn’t Come to Lower the Bar

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

One of the biggest misunderstandings about Jesus is that He came to make things easier. Sometimes people imagine the Old Testament as a book of rules and Jesus as the One who came along and said, “Don’t worry about all that anymore.”

But in today’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” In other words, Jesus didn’t come to lower the bar. He came to show us what the bar was always meant to be. Think about it this way. A music teacher does not teach a student merely to hit the right notes. The goal is not technical correctness. The goal is beautiful music. The notes matter, but they point to something deeper.

The same is true of God’s commandments. The commandments were never meant to be a checklist for getting into heaven. They were always meant to teach us how to love. The problem is that many of us settle for the minimum. “Have I done enough?” or “Have I broken any major commandments?” But Jesus never asks, “What’s the minimum?” Jesus always asks, “Will you give Me your heart?”

That is why, throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes every commandment deeper. Not just murder, but anger. Not just adultery, but lust. Not just loving your neighbor, but loving your enemy. Why? Because Jesus is not interested in behavior modification alone. He wants transformation. Anyone can obey a rule while keeping their heart far from God. But Jesus wants the kind of holiness that reaches the heart. And honestly, that can be uncomfortable. Because it is easier to follow external rules than to allow God to change us internally. It’s easier to avoid wrongdoing than to become truly loving. It’s easier to appear holy than to be holy. Yet this is precisely what Jesus came to accomplish. He fulfills the Law because He fulfills its purpose. The purpose of the Law was never simply obedience. The purpose was communion with God. The purpose was becoming the kind of person who loves as God loves.

Maybe that’s the challenge for us today. Not asking, “Am I breaking God’s law?” But asking, “Am I becoming the person God created me to be?” Because Christianity is not about doing less. It is about becoming more. More patient. More forgiving. More courageous. More generous. More like Christ.

Jesus did not come to lower the standard. He came to lift us up to it through His grace. And the beautiful news is this: God never calls us to holiness without also giving us the strength to become holy.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You did not come to remove the call to holiness, but to show me what holiness truly looks like. Too often I settle for the minimum when You are inviting me to greatness. Change not only my actions but also my heart. Help me to love more deeply, forgive more freely, and follow You more completely. May Your grace accomplish in me what I cannot accomplish on my own. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko