Episode 3249: Origen and the Gospel of Matthew - Part 3

Theological Depth
Origen presents the Beatitudes as a progression:
1. Humility (poverty of spirit) opens the way.
2. Sorrow for sin (mourning) purifies.
3. Meekness tames the passions.
4. Hunger for righteousness directs the soul.
5. Mercy extends God’s love outward.
6. Purity of heart unites us inwardly with God.
7. Peacemaking extends God’s order into the world.
8. Persecution crowns the journey with conformity to Christ.
This is why Origen calls them steps up the mountain of holiness. To hear them is to be invited to climb with Christ not remaining on the plain, but ascending toward God.
Practical Application for Today
• The Beatitudes are not just for monks or saints in heaven; they are the daily program for every Christian.
• Origen challenges us to stop treating them as slogans and start treating them as a way of life.
• They form the antidote to modern vices:
o Pride → Poverty of spirit
o Pleasure → Mourning for sin
o Anger → Meekness
o Greed → Hunger for righteousness
o Harshness → Mercy
o Lust → Purity of heart
o Division → Peacemaking
o Fear → Courage in persecution
In short, for Origen, the Beatitudes are the charter of the New Law, the interior law of love given by Christ the New Moses. They are both a path and a promise: a path of transformation here, and a promise of blessedness in eternity.
6. Fulfillment of the Old Covenant
At Matthew 5:17, Christ says, “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.” Origen insists all Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, must be seen through Christ as its completion. Shadows—like lambs, manna, sacrificial laws—point toward Him. Matthew makes little sense apart from His light. For Origen, Christ is both the meaning and the meaning-maker.
The Key Text: Matthew 5:17
Christ declares:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
This verse is central to understanding not only Matthew’s Gospel but the entire New Testament. For Origen, these words are the interpretive key that unlocks the Scriptures. They show us that the Old Covenant is not discarded but completed, not erased but perfected, not meaningless but meaningful only in Christ.
Origen’s Vision of Fulfillment
Origen teaches that all Scripture — every command, prophecy, and ritual — is ultimately about Christ. The Old Covenant is a shadow, a sign pointing toward the reality found in Him. Without Christ, the Old Testament is incomplete; with Christ, it bursts into full light.
Examples he emphasizes:
• The Paschal Lamb: Every lamb slain in sacrifice prefigures Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
• The Manna in the Desert: This miraculous bread foreshadows the true Bread from Heaven, the Eucharist.
• The Temple Sacrifices: Bulls and goats could not take away sin (Hebrews 10:4), but they prepared Israel for the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
• The Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel point forward to the Messiah; in Christ, their promises are fulfilled.
Origen writes:
“If you understand the Law spiritually, it is Christ. If you read the Prophets, they are all fulfilled in Him. What they announced in shadow, He reveals in light.” (Commentary on Matthew, Book 12)
Theological Depth: Christ as the Meaning and the Meaning-Maker
Origen goes further: Christ is not only the fulfillment of the Old Covenant but also its Author. He is the eternal Word who inspired the Law and the Prophets in the first place.
• He is the Logos through whom the Father spoke to Moses on Sinai.
• He is the Spirit behind the Psalms, giving voice to David’s prayers.
• He is the Wisdom revealed in Proverbs and the Prophets.
Thus, Christ is both the meaning of Scripture (the One to whom it points) and the meaning-maker (the One who inspired it). For Origen, to read Scripture without Christ is like trying to read a letter without understanding the language.
Catholic Tradition
The Catholic Church has always affirmed this continuity:
• Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1964):
“The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. ‘The Law is a pedagogy and a prophecy of things to come.’ It prophesies and presages the work of liberation from sin which will be fulfilled in Christ.”
• St. Augustine:
“The New is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed in the New.” (Quaestiones in Heptateuchum)
• St. Thomas Aquinas:
“All the ceremonial precepts of the Old Law were ordained to the foreshadowing of Christ.” (Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 101, a. 2)
The Church Fathers and Doctors echo Origen’s insight: Christ is the hermeneutical key the lens through which we must read the Old Testament.
Spiritual Application
• Do we read the Old Testament with Christ in mind? When we hear the story of the Exodus, do we see it as our own spiritual journey, fulfilled in Christ’s Cross and Resurrection?
• Do we understand the sacraments as fulfillment of the old signs? Baptism is the new crossing of the Red Sea; the Eucharist is the new manna; Confirmation is the new anointing.
• Do we live as people of fulfillment? Or do we cling to shadows external observances, empty rituals without letting Christ Himself transform us?
Conclusion
For Origen, Matthew 5:17 is not simply a statement about the Law but about the whole drama of salvation. Christ did not come to erase Israel’s story but to bring it to perfection. Every lamb, every prophecy, every line of the Law is a whisper of His name.
In Origen’s words:
“Without Christ, the Law is an unfinished melody. With Christ, the harmony is complete.”
7. Application for Today
Lessons for us:
1. Read Scripture as one story—not a test of law versus prophecy.
2. See Christ in every page—from Abraham to the Beatitudes.
3. Live Matthew not as a rule book but as spiritual formation.
4. Let the Beatitudes become your pilgrimage toward Christ.
Challenge for the week: Pick one Beatitude. Meditate on it as Origen would say: “How is Christ forming that virtue in me?” Live it, don’t just recite it.
8. Closing
“In summary, Origen teaches us to see Matthew as Israel’s story brought full Christ is the fulfillment, the New Moses, the heart-written Law.
Let us pray:
O Christ, Giver of the Law written on hearts, teach us to climb Thy mountain with humble hearts. May Thy Beatitudes mold our souls until we see Thee in glory. Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’