Sunday Lectionary: All you need is love
I’m going to start trying to make these Sunday Lectionary posts a little bit shorter, both so that I get more of my weekend back and also so more people read them!
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time: October 23rd, 2011
The Readings this week focus around the “vertical” and “horizontal” dimensions of our faith, how we love God and how we love our neighbour. This finds its simplest and clearest expression in today’s Gospel passage when Jesus is asked which is the greatest of all the commandments…
“Therefore the first commandment teaches every kind of godliness. For to love God with the whole heart is the cause of every good.
The second commandment includes the righteous acts we do toward other people. The first commandment prepares the way for the second and in turn is established by the second. For the person who is grounded in the love of God clearly also loves his neighbor in all things himself.
The kind of person who fulfills these two commandments experiences all the commandments.”
– St. Cyril of Alexandria, Early Church Father, 5th Century
Reading I: Exodus 22:20-26
The book of Exodus is the second book in the Bible. It tells the story of the flight of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. After they leave Egypt, Moses leads the Children of Israel to Mount Sinai where they receive the Law of God.
In the section we hear this Sunday, we hear how God commands the Israelites to act in relation to others…
Thus says the LORD:
“You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
“If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”
Questions:
- What is the main story of the book of Exodus?
- What’s the general gist of this passage?
- Who are “alien[s]”?
- Why does God specifically mention “window[s]…orphans”?
- What does God say specifically about those who are wronged?
- How does this passage link to the Gospel?
Commentary:
“You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt”
The “alien” here means foreigner. The Israelites were foreigners themselves when they were in Egypt.
“You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.”
God highlights the plight of widows and orphans. These were the defenseless, the most vulnerable in society who had nobody to look out for them.
“If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him”
The poor are not to be exploited.
“If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”
If a cloak is all someone had to pledge for a loan, he was definitely exceedingly poor.
God commands that His people look out for their neighbour’s interests and not be selfish. As with the widows and orphans, God promises that if someone who is wronged cries out to Him, He’ll hear them.
Psalm: Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51
In the first reading we heard how the Lord hears the cry of the poor. In this week’s psalm, David praises God for being his source of protection (2 Samuel 22)….
R. (2) I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed.
Questions:
- What is the main theme of this song?
- How doe this song relate to the other readings?
Commentary:
“…my rock…”
Symbolic of stability and unfailing nature.
“…horn of my salvation…”
The horn symbolizes strength. It is God’s strength that saves David.
“…my stronghold…”
Like a mighty fortress.
“…anointed…”
David is the Lord’s anointed king. He is also “anointed” in the sense that he has God’s blessing and God’s backing, just like Cyrus did in last week’s First Reading.
Reading II: Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Last week we begin Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, the letter which Paul most likely wrote from Corinth. It is also most likely the earliest part of the New Testament which was committed to writing. In this week’s extract we hear Paul describe his life among the Thessalonians…
Brothers and sisters:
You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.
Questions:
- What does Paul describe in this section of the letter?
- Paul talks about imitation in this passage. What imitation is going on?
- Who has inspired you in your life whom you have tried to imitate?
- What is Paul referring to when he talks about the “coming wrath”?
- How does this passage relate to the rest of the Readings?
Commentary:
“You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia”
There’s a whole lot of imitation going on here:
Paul and his companions imitated Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1).
The Thessalonians imitated Paul and his companions.
All the believers in Macedonia and Achaia imitated the Thessalonians.
Note: This is a good passage to bring up with those who says that we should ignore Saints and only imitate Jesus.
The “affliction” described here will be the sort of thing described in Acts 17:5-14 at the founding of the Thessalonian church.
“Macedonia” and “Achaia” were two Roman provinces (north/south Greece):
“For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and in Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”
The example of the Thessalonian congregation is well-known and a great example to follow. Their fame was probably particularly well known because Thessalonica was an important trade route and port as well as capital of Macedonia.
Since Paul says that they “turned…from idols” it’s safe to say that at least some of this church were Gentile (since Jews wouldn’t be worshiping idols).
“…and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath”
The theme of Christ’s Second Coming will be an important topic in Paul’s letters to this church.
Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40
After besting the Pharisees and the Herodians in last week’s Gospel, the Sadduccees step up and have their turn. They come to Jesus and ask him about the status marriages after the resurrection (they themselves didn’t believe in resurrection). Jesus, true to form, comes out on top again.
After this incident with the Sadducees, we come to today’s Gospel Reading. Upon hearing about Jesus’ latest victory, the Pharisees return for another go…
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Questions:
- Who were the “Pharisees”?
- Who were the “Sadducees”?
- What does “scholar of the law” mean?
- What is Jesus’ answer to the question? What does this teach us about the Kingdom of God?
- How does Jesus’ answer relate to the Ten Commandments?
- What does it mean to love God with “all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. What might this love look like without some of those aspects?
- What does it mean to “love your neighbour as yourself”?
- How does loving God relate to loving people?
Commentary:
“Pharisees”
These were an extremely zealous Jewish group who were rigorous law-keepers. They knew and observed the law scrupulously. With this background, the scholar’s question to Jesus isn’t that surprising.
“Sadducees”
A wealthy Jewish group, fairly small in number, who mostly lived in Jerusalem. They were closely associated with the Temple and wielded considerable power. Their notable beliefs included:
1. Denial of the resurrection
2. Only held the first five books of the Bible to be authoritative
3. Rejected oral tradition
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
Rabbis counted 613 statues in the first five books of the Bible (the Books of Moses). “Which statue is the greatest?” was a common question asked of teachers. Jesus distills the 613 statues into two…
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”
This comes from Deuteronomy 6:4 and is part of the Sh’ma, which was recited every morning and evening and even today at the beginning of every synagogue service.
“…with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…”
This means that you love with everything you’ve got, your whole being.There is always the danger to love God with only part of your being. For example:
“Brain worship. It’s safe, it’s easy, and it’s 18 inches from life change…” – Mark Hall, “Lifestories”
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”
This comes from Leviticus 19:18. By combining this with Deuteronomy 6:4 Jesus is showing that love of neighbour flows from love of God:
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister – 1 John 4:20-22
We love those whom God loves and who are also made in his image and likeness.
In Luke’s Gospel the question is asked “Who is my neighbour?” and Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan.
“You shall love the Lord…You shall love your neighbour…”
These two commandments relate to the “Ten Commandments”. On the first tablet given to Moses were three laws which spoke about love of God (worship Him alone, not to take his name in vain, keep holy the Sabbath). The second tablet contained seven laws about love of neighbour (honour father and mother, not kill, not commit adultery, not steal, not bear false witness, covert your neighbour’s wife, covert your neighbour’s goods).
The commandment is simple: love! However, true love is demanding… It demands our whole heart, soul, strength and mind. In Greek there are several different words for “love”. Rather than using “phileo” (friendly affection), the word used here is “agapao”. This kind of love entails commitment and duty in devotion. Paul says that this is the greatest virtue:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” – 1 Corinthians 13:13
All you need is love… 😉
“The whole law and the prophets”
This is a shorthand to denote the entire Old Testament. It’s interesting to note that not only did Jesus’ commands summarize the Law of Moses, but the prophets as well.
“…depend on these two commandments”
Last month in our Second Reading we heard from Paul why this is the case:
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” – Romans 13:8-10