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1 Corinthians, Language, Leviticus, Matthew, Psalms, Teaching

Notes on the readings for the Seventh Sunday After the Epiphany

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For Year A, February 19, 2017.

Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

2 Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

9-18 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God.

You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord.

You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

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In verse two, it is most important to understand that God did not tell Moses to inform all the Israelites that they were holy because God had chosen them as followers.  God is laying down the foremost law – the Commandment that says, “If you follow me, then you must be holy.  You must be a Saint, because you reflect the presence of the LORD on earth.  Because God (YAHWEH) is holy, then only priests who are as holy as God can call him or herself “God’s chosen people.”  God chooses which human beings His Holy Spirit will fill … AND … that is based on the application of God’s laws, which were given to Moses to pass on to those who were in the ‘priests-for-the-One-God’ congregation.

Verses nine through eighteen are then some of those laws that become prerequisites for Sainthood.  You shall not be a greedy human being, one who takes everything possible as a priest and hoards it to one’s self.  You only possess that which you have worked for and earned, so you do not take that which is not yours, which someone else may or may not have worked hard to acquire.  If you are poor and take some grapes or wheat from the outer edges of a rich man’s field, then that is not stealing.

The law says you do not cheat and swindle people because you know how to take advantage of people who easily trust others.  This is stealing, which furthers the greediness of what one already has taken from the earth.  This means people like Bernie Madoff and Donald Trump, who have been caught making a profit off their taking advantage of others, are not worthy of calling themselves God’s chosen people.

The aspect of lying is a strong determiner of one’s holiness, as Jesus only told the truth, because God is truth.  God exposes liars.  Dealing falsely with someone means lying to them.  The opposite of false is true.  When God told Moses, “You shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God,” the meaning is to lie to someone and “swear by God the lie is the truth.”  To make such a clam is to speak profanely, thus promoting lies in the name of holiness is the definition of “profanity,” as it is blasphemous speech.

In the laws of God, through Moses and Jesus, the use of “neighbor” has been grossly misunderstood.  In Moses’ case, he was giving laws to a cloistered group of people, all of whom were related to Jacob, descended from one of his sons.  Simply because these “relatives” were so many in number, they were strangers to a large extent, such that marriage to distant cousins was accepted (and preferred, to keep it “all in the family”).  Therefore, the prior commandments not to defraud or lie to “one another” were intended to be a condition between friends and close relatives.

That meant “Your neighbor” was one of those strangers who lived nearby.  Those became the hired hands and those stricken by infirmities (deafness and blindness).  God made it clear that you will be judged by how you treat those in the same “religion” or “race” as yourself.  A poor judgment was to be feared, at all costs, because condemnation meant being “excommunicated” from God and outcast as a regular sinful human being, not chosen by God.

Speaking of God’s judgment, Moses went on to state, “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor.”  To only render just judgment, to be impartial to those fortunes are higher or lower than yours, and to judge those of the same blood fairly and justly, one needs some very good guidance.  That comes directly from God, through the presence of His Holy Spirit.  Thus, a saintly priest for YAHWEH shall not do anything contrary to just judgment (and just judgment does not mean turned a blind eye to the sins of one’s neighbors and not calling another priest out for not doing what God wants).

To say you should not slander “among your people,” the word that translates as “slanderer” is also translatable as “talebearer.”  In modern legal definition, “slander” means: “Oral communication of false and malicious statements that damage the reputation of another.”  In general, it is “A false and malicious statement or report about someone.”  As a “talebearer” the reference is to the spreading of gossip and innuendos.  Therefore, the meaning is less in legal terms, where one’s abilities to profit off some secret dealings that people close to that person might intuit as unsavory and talk about it to others (without proof).  The meaning is wholly relative to a priest who is to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, where knowledge goes well beyond intuition.  A priest has no need to talk the secret dealings of others who also call themselves priests to YAHWEH (among your people), as God knows their sinful deeds and so do they (from guilt).  As one who is to be holy, one needs to leave the rumor mill alone; but advise others from wisdom, which will protect the innocent by holy insight, not fear from tales unproved.

When God then added, “you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor,” this can equally translate as, “you shall not stand [or act] against the life of your neighbor.” [NASB]  Whereas the word “blood” is read as meaning “life,” as “lifeblood” being spilt, leading to death, the pairing of this law with the act of slander means a priest of the One God is not to talk in ways that lead the death of another priest.  The translation of “profit” then hints at a purpose for taking a “stand,” or “acting” (via slander and tale bearing) against one’s own people (another priest).  There can be no profit for any priest going against this law, only loss in terms of spiritual reward.

When Moses was told to command, “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin,” there are translations that state “kin” as “brother.”  The broader meaning beyond a “relative” is “countrymen,” where this is another reference to the lineage of the Israelites.  They are commanded not to hate “fellows” in religion or race.  By omission, they are not commanded to not hate anyone.  Remember that the heart is the seat of God within each individual priest.  By that relationship, where all the Israelites were “kin” of God (all Sons of God via the Holy Spirit), to hate another whose heart held YAHWEH means to hate God.  That hate is forbidden.  Evil, on the other hand, whose god Satan lurks in the hearts of many men and obviously so, should be expected to feel emotions like hatred, if God’s Spirit moves one to that state.  If two of God’s priests differ on how they react to evil, God does not give a priest whose heart is not filled with hatred about evil to hate another priest whose heart is so moved to hate evil.

This means that the amendment to this law states, “You shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.”  This means that a priest whose heart does not hate evil (for reasons God has chosen, from within that priest), they are to “reprove” or “argue” the “reason” for another’s hatred, in order to bring the other away from hatred, through understanding what all hatred does to one’s spirit.  If one does not take this approach, then one is affected by the mood of a “fellow” priest, so one’s hatred of evil makes another hate evil as if it were that fellow.   Two hates do not a holy one make.  As such, a failure to address hatred by way of God-led discussion will lead one to the same guilt as projected upon another.

Finally, as far as this reading allows, God told Moses to command: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Again, vengeance and grudges are to be determined by God’s will, and many times God commanded his priest to take vengeance upon evildoers and God complained loudly against those who had promised God their faith, but turned away from God.  This means vengeance and grudges are the Lord’s, and the Lord will use His faithful to carry out His will.  Us mere priests must not start thinking we are God and ordering retribution, based on grudges, especially towards other priests (any of your people).  That becomes an extension of hatred in one’s heart directed towards one of God’s own.

This means that the “arguing” ordered before, to address hatred in another priest, must be done as an “act” of “love.”  Again, “your neighbor” is one whom a priest lives among, with that neighborhood being other priests, but those who are not necessarily blood kin or directly descended from a family’s blood.  A “neighbor” is not anyone else of a different religion or race.  In terms of Christians, who have lived in increasing melting pot nations for millennia, a neighborhood can consist of many different branches of Christianity, as well as religions that differ greatly from faith in YAHWEH or belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah.  God is not making a commandment to Moses for the Israelites to love the Ammonites, Midianites, Moabites, or Philistines.  Those enemies lived in the same lands as the Israelites would settle, but each had separate “neighborhoods.”  Therefore, Christians are not commanded to love those who hate Christians by living among them and accepting their ways.  Jesus said to love you enemies, and to do that you allow your enemies to be filled with hatred for you, but at a distance that respects their right to not be Christians.  You love by allowing others to choose to love God … or not.  You love them by letting them make that decision. Meanwhile, you are to love fellow Christians as the Christians you are.

Psalm 119:33-40

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, *

and I shall keep it to the end.

34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep your law; *

I shall keep it with all my heart.

35 Make me go in the path of your commandments, *

for that is my desire.

36 Incline my heart to your decrees *

and not to unjust gain.

37 Turn my eyes from watching what is worthless; *

give me life in your ways.

38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, *

which you make to those who fear you.

39 Turn away the reproach which I dread, *

because your judgments are good.

40 Behold, I long for your commandments; *

in your righteousness preserve my life.

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This song of praise focuses on the Mosaic Law.  David begins by asking God for His direct assistance in “teaching” the path of those laws in a real life, so David could maintain a righteous life until death.  That help from God is then explained as “understanding,” which does not come from the brain interpreting the written or oral Word, but from the Lord being loved and seated in one’s heart (a marriage to God via the Holy Spirit).

This love of God is then explained as “my desire,” which commands David to do as God wishes (like a wife obeys her husband).Thus, David sang longingly, “Incline my heart to your decrees.”  When one is completely committed to serving the Lord (like a wife to God) then one is free from worldly distractions.  All that can be seen as a worldly “gain” is just reward for service rendered, just as a husband provides for his wife or wives.  All that the world offers (beyond needs) is “worthless to watch.”

When David wrote this song that prays for God to show him the way, his prayers were answered by Jesus Christ.  To end by singing, “Behold, I long for your commandments; in your righteousness preserve my life,” the laws of Leviticus are expanded in meaning by Jesus and Paul, which is rooted in love.  From holy love comes holy wisdom, so one can then lead others to be preserved in life – eternally.

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1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written,

“He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

and again,

“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,

that they are futile.”

So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future– all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

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When Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth (who were equally filled with the Holy Spirit, from having heard the Gospel of Christ from him), “like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it,” the foundation was that onset of the Holy Spirit.  When Paul then added, “that foundation is Jesus Christ,” he said that he and every other true Christian were based in the holiness that was the same as that which made Jesus the Messiah.  ALL SAINTS are (as their underlying foundation – their cornerstone) the rebirth of Jesus Christ.  From that foundation, “each builder must choose with care how to build on it, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid.”  No one is or can be anyone other than that resurrection of Jesus, with the Christ mind.

Thus, Paul’s question, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” is rhetorical to another who is equally a Saint and filled with God’s presence.  The body of a Saint is the temple, with God’s throne seated in the heart of the Saint.  God only dwells in those who welcome God with love, believing in Jesus as the way to God.

When Paul wrote, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person,” the point is at the root of why Paul wrote letters to Christians he had touched with God’s Holy Spirit and the knowledge of Christ.  His letters warned (in a friendly compassionate manner) that the presence of the Holy Spirit is not gift from God that makes life easy and comfortable.  Because of the struggles that Saints encounter typically, some may be influenced to turn away from God, for a moment of ease; but turning away for more than an occasional minor sin will destroy that holy seat in one’s heart, evicting God from one’s being.  Without God, the promise of eternal life is destroyed.  A human being with aspirations to be a Saint cannot serve two gods.  It is one or the other: God or earth.

In relation to this choice that one makes (and to which God reciprocates), the holy gift of wisdom, coming through the Christ mind, is understood by the human brain (God’s physical gift from which mortal life is maintained).  This wisdom must always be received as insight from God and not one’s own personal powers of observation and discernment.  Without God’s influence, a human being is nothing more than a fool.  Therefore, admission of how lame one’s brain is, when compared to the Christ mind, means admitting one’s abilities to know something wise has nothing to do with a simple brain.

Paul then quoted Job (Job 5:13), where Job wrote, “He captures the wise by their own shrewdness, And the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted.”  Paul then quoted David (Psalm 94:11), whose psalm sings, “The LORD knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.”  Therefore, Paul’s holy wisdom is pointing out to the Saints of Corinth to be careful not to think you can sneak anything past God, through a cunning brain that sees how easy it is to make others think what one wants them to think.  God exposes these cheats, so they will eventually be known as fools of no value.

Those who demand beliefs and trusts be put in human beings are those who “boast about human leaders.”  We see this every day in the politics of government.  When God is seated in one’s heart center, then the only leader of merit is God.  The Christ mind will point out ALL the flaws of those who boast of human wisdom and powers of influence.  Paul was a leader to the Christians of Corinth, but they need not boast of Paul, because a Saint has the same lone leader as Paul – God.  The resurrection of one body – Jesus Christ – is the proven result of God as one’s leader within.  The only one who matters in one’s future, in the world and beyond, in life and in death, is God … not some human being who makes promises that he or she cannot deliver.

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Matthew 5:38-48

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

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When Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ this is misunderstood as Hammurabi’s Code (who ruled over what is now Iran), but is actually a reference (to Jews) to a partial law of Moses.  It is one verse of four, found in Exodus 21:22-25, which is Exodus 21:24.  That verse completely says: “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,” so Jesus was Jesus was saying part of a verse, to spur the memories of Jews who had been taught to memorize the Mosaic Law.  It was like him saying, “I say ‘eye for eye, tooth for tooth’ and you say … “(fill in the blank).”

If one is fully able to fill in the blanks before and after Jesus’ queue, one then will realize that Exodus 21:22 states, “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide.”  The initial aspect that one must grasp, which then directly relates to turning one’s cheek, is “if men struggle” and fight one another.  While verse 22 states a “whew, no harm done to the pregnant woman because her baby came out unharmed,” verse 23 says, “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life.”  This says (through implication) that if the woman dies in childbirth, or if the baby is born and dies, then death shall be the punishment to the one wrongly striking a pregnant woman – not for striking her husband and killing him in a fight.

When Jesus said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” this is the damage done to the woman and/or child, although babies are not born with teeth.  When  there is also consideration for “hand for hand and foot for foot,” with verse 25 ending with “burn for burn, bruise for bruise, and wound for wound,” the implication is a husband of a pregnant wife would be due compensation (equal justice) for injuries wrongfully inflicted on his property – the wife and baby.  This is the only place in the Holy Bible’s Old Testament where such a law is stated.  Because it deals with men quarreling (with those men known to be the segregated men of the twelve tribes of Israel (to become the descendants known as Jews), it is not a reference made by Jesus about Jews fighting Romans … or anyone other than one another, those of the same religion and race.  Therefore, Jesus, who sat on the mount by the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, spoke to his Jewish followers, disciples, and pilgrims in Galilee for the Passover and Shavuot festivals.  The Hammurabi Code is more applicable to Persians, with that transferring to anyone seeking revenge.

From this perspective that Jesus was not speaking to the whole wide world about not fighting, but only to those who had chosen YAHWEH as their God and by following Jesus to hear his Sermon on the Mount sought to be good priest serving that God, Jesus was giving an understanding of how one avoids God’s Judgment in the end by avoiding the court system, where men interpret laws wrongly on a daily basis.  To avoid having your pregnant wife injured as a result of YOUR fight with ANOTHER PRIEST FOR YAHWEH, just don’t fight at all.  Stay away from evildoers to begin with, because the same as a Jew not being allowed to fight a pagan is that touching them with a fist makes you as heathen as they are.  If you are urged to come to blows with another Jew, it takes two to tango with evil.  Stay out of the court of law entirely, such that if someone tries to sue you for the shirt off your back, then give it to him prior to having to go to court.

When Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile,” that is the story of Jacob.  He bargained with Laban for the right to marry his younger daughter Rachel, only to be given his elder daughter Leah.  Rather than take Laban into some court to settle that dispute, he repeated the bargain so he could win the woman he desired.  Jesus made that reference because a priest for the One God desires heaven for the labors; but if heaven on earth is not the reward given first – only fleeting phases of happiness – keep working for the second reward.  In this way one is begging the Lord for a handout, which makes one a spiritual beggar.  Therefore, do not turn away from those of your own kind whose hand comes out to you for a help or reward.

The saying stated by Jesus, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” is not a direct quote from Mosaic Law.  Moses did speak for God when he said “Love you neighbor as yourself,” where “neighbor” was a commandment to Levites (Leviticus 19:18), which mean the Israelites were to live among other Israelites, not to mix with those of differing customs and religions.  Thus a “neighbor” was one of the same commitment to the One God and not just anyone who lives down the street (in the non-Jewish or mixed community).

The addition now is Jesus saying, “You have heard it said, ‘hate your neighbor’,” where that was those Roman soldiers who lived close, so they could control the dominions of the Emperor of Rome.  The Jews of Jesus’ day – in particular the Zealots and rebellious Jewish cliques [those seeking a warrior Messiah from God] – were trying to convince all Jews to lay down their lives to retake Jerusalem [and Judea] for them, as the Promised Land still owed.  It was about this new message that Jesus then spoke.

When Jesus then said to those Jewish listeners, “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven,” it is vital to understand the Greek infinitive verb “agapaó,” which translates as “to love.”  “Love” is a word that everyone recognizes, but when asked to define “love,” they stammer and become limited with the meanings of that emotion.  Strong’s states “agapaó” can be used in a context that means, “I love, wish well to, take pleasure in, long for; denotes the love of reason, esteem.”  Further, their help for understanding Biblical uses of Greek words says, “With the believer, 25 /agapáō (“to love”) means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction).”  Since Jesus only spoke what God meant (and never what Jesus the man thought up), “To love one’s enemies” simply means to see your enemy as yourself.  Just as you have beliefs and faith in your God, so too do others feel devotion to their god(s).  You can then “love” you enemies by wishing your enemies well in their devotion to a different god.  You express that “love” through separation – giving your enemy the space they need to not be confronted by you and your differences.  You are “actively doing what the Lord prefers” (“loving God”) by staying focused on your love of God, rather than splitting your focus between love and hate.

Just as Jesus did not mean the world should give up fighting, because “eye for an eye, tooth for tooth” is the need for judgment for those who fight and cause injury, fighting as a part of combat training or a ritual for manhood, with all pregnant women far, far away, was a natural necessity for a nation of people.  Such preparation is due to knowing one nation means another nation that can profit from destroying that one nation.  Enemies are as natural as is fighting is, but the enemy is loved by allowing another nation to exist, without doing anything that promotes or compounds a natural dislike for differences, as sticking your tongue out and yelling, “Na, na, na, na, na.  We are better than you,” leads dislike to become hatred.

When Jesus then said good priests for the One God should “pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven,” the meaning is a good priest is not a Saint by praying for selfish things.  To pray for an enemy means you are asking God to enlighten one’s persecutors to the sins they are committing.  Resisting persecution will only cause more persecution in return.  But to accept persecution and demonstrate to the persecutors that one is willing to suffer without fighting back, means one is serving God by believing God has the power to bring strong guilt to those who bear evildoing responsibilities.  Such sacrifice is what makes one a child of heaven.

When Jesus explained that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,” one should see how “his sun” is the illumination and enlightenment of truth.  The truth is true in all cases, both to liars and the truthful – so the truth rises on evil and good.  When Jesus then said that God “sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous,” one should see “rain” as the waters of emotion, such that “tears” fall like rain on all mankind, both those who do evil and those who do good.  One’s “rain” falls like tears of sorrow, while the other’s “rain” falls like tears of joy.  These “rains” come from the prayers of the faithful for the persecutors.

When Jesus ended this segment of words by saying, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” the point was for true priests for the One God to go beyond self-serving acts and act for others.  This (we now know, from the Apostles letters) means being filled with the Holy Spirit.  From that perspective of knowledge (like that held by Jesus), Judaism goes beyond all other religions in the world.  From the abilities to withstand persecution given by the power of God, the enemies of the world can be led to the light and rain of YAHWEH.

Language, Leviticus, Teaching

Leviticus 19:1-2 and 15-18 – A test of the Law

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The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

——————–

This is s Track 2 selection that is an optional Old Testament reading for Proper 25, in the Year A Ordinary after Pentecost season.  Since this is the only time this reading will be read publicly, there is a good chance few will have ever hear these word read aloud.  The next time they can potentially be read in an Episcopal church will be Sunday, October 25, 2020.  That Sunday will be recognized as the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost.

The Episcopal Lectionary lists Leviticus 19:1-2 as officially part of this reading.  Those verse amount to “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”  The title given to this chapter by the New International Version (NIV) is “Various Laws.”  The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) calls this chapter “Ritual and Moral Holiness.”  The New American Standard Bible (NASB) separates at verse 9, calling that the beginning of “Sundry Laws.”  Little attention is placed on verses 1 and 2.

This brings to mind the directions given by a teacher on a test, which I saw posted on the Internet.  This is how I see Leviticus 19.

For the Episcopal Lectionary to choose only verses 15-18, or only four out of thirty-four (not counting verses 1-2), begs the question: Why bother?  The same question could have been asked by both students and parents, after some teacher failed all the people ready to take a test (pass or fail), who were just too eager to read instructions first.

The whole matter could be solved by simply reading Leviticus 19:1-2.  That says it all.  Nothing else needs to be said.  “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”  Do that then smile at Moses and say nothing to your neighbors.  They are all busy trying to memorize laws that should be written on their hearts and minds by God being within.

The first direction says, “You shall be holy.”  If you do not know how to be holy, then you fail the test.  Don’t waste your time reading stuff you will never  understand.  You might as well stand up and tell everyone, “I am not in the name of the Lord!”

When God then told Moses to tell His people, “I [am] the Lord your God” and “[I] am holy,” that makes an important statement that says a child of God (like Moses) must be married to God, so one’s soul has merged with God’s Holy Spirit.  That merger trumps a normal soul, which cannot be “holy” just by itself in a body of flesh, meaning the Holy Spirit is how one “shall be holy.” 

Notice also how “you shall be” is stating the “second-person masculine plural future of היה‎ (hayá)” and recognized how God knew the Israelites were nothing more than a rag-tag bunch of crowd followers that still had some learning to do.  However, they had proved some level of commitment, so God had proposed marriage through Moses; so that was certainly the expectation in the future.

If you have been keeping up with the Gospel readings that go along with this, the parable Jesus told of the wedding feast was explained as God making a new offer to those who would follow Jesus and marry God.  Those who had followed Moses kind of withered on the vine and died, in the sense that they divorced God, never really taking the steps necessary for being merged with His Holy Spirit.

Christianity began with the explosion created by the Apostles instantly being married to God, which immediately spread to three thousand more.  Then Constantine pumped the brake pedal and what we see today is a return to the days when the Israelites offspring (Jews) were still just engaged to God.  The question now is who is touching people with the Holy Spirit that is merged with their souls, so true Christians are growing like they once did?

In the story where the Episcopal priest went to Jesus and asked him, “Teacher, which is the most important law.”  Ha ha ha ha.  I meant the Pharisee.  The Episcopal priest would have already tossed everything from Leviticus 19, with the exception of those listed in the lectionary reading above.  I’m sure the Pharisee would have presented that question with the same tongue-in-cheek preconceived expectation: With so many laws, how can one be most important?

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” (Matthew 22:37)  Since Jesus only said what the Father told him to say, that is the same as saying, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”  That entails being so head over heels in love with God that you open up your soul for His Holy Spirit to penetrate and God becomes one with you. 

That means marriage to God is the most important law.  From that union, there is no need to memorize 613 laws.  With God in one’s heart, soul, and mind, the laws are etched within permanently.  Nothing needs to be looked up.  Whatever God says to do, THAT is the most important law at that time.

As for “you shall not render an unjust judgment,” then don’t do that.

As for “you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great,” then don’t do that either.

As for “with justice you shall judge your neighbor,” then certainly always do that.

As for “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor,” those are also no brainers: don’t do that.

Why?  Because you can truthfully say, “I am the Lord.”  Or, as Jesus said, “I am in the Father as the Father is within me.”  Two in one, with only the Lord speaking.

 As far as being told “you shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin,” once again – don’t do that.

When told “you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself,” by all means reprove sinners, so you will not become a sinner yourself.

Finally, when Moses had them write this down: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” the law is set: do not take vengeance or bear a grudge.  Love your neighbor as yourself!

Why?  Because when one is married to God, then one can let God say through one’s mouth, “I am the Lord.”

Jesus did that when he told the Pharisee the same secondary law, from which everything else falls.  Love God by proving it – Marry Him!  Then love your neighbor because God is within you and wants to marry more.  When the love of God is within your soul, you want to love neighbors the same as God loves you. 

You just have to be married to God so you can say that truthfully. You have to be married to God to make it the truth.  So all you who chant a confession of sins every Sunday, saying “I have not loved my neighbors as myself,” STOP THAT!!!

Of course, the problem is not knowing what to do.  The problem is not doing what is right, good, and holy. 

We allow our society to render unfair judgments all the time. 

The rich (and from middle income and up is rich to the poor) hate the poor and bow down to celebrities, no matter how young and untested they are. 

Americans judge anyone and anything, especially neighbors. 

We slander any who get in our way. 

We profit from using heritage as a way to drain the life blood out of them (financially). 

We hate our own, if they follow behind a different political leader than the ones we like. 

We hate all sinners, but then turn around and sin ourselves. 

We find it extremely hard to love anyone other than SELF.

Why?  Because there are few Saints around.  Certainly, there are no Saints preaching in organizations called churches, temples and synagogues.  There are no Good Shepherds who can truthfully say, “I am the Lord.”

We could be, if we wanted to be.  But, when it pays more to memorize civil laws and take a bar exam to get a license to start making money making the laws of the land a complete farce.  Forget about marrying God, because all one’s rich friends would stop having anything to do with one.

The Pharisees were lawyers.  They made a great living from knowing all the laws.  They just could never figure out how to do anything the Lord wanted them to do.  After 70 A.D., being a lawyer was still the way to make a good living.  Being a lawyer today means breaking all of God’s laws; so anyone who is not holy is a lawyer of self-law.

So, don’t worry.  No one will read Leviticus 19 aloud in church.  No one will preach about it if it somehow does get read aloud.  There is nothing to start feeling all guilty about.

More education is about how to keep criminals out of punishement for big money than how to keep sinner out of eternal damnation.

Carry on as usual.

Language, Matthew, Teaching

Matthew 22:34-46 – Whose son is the Christ?

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When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

——————–

This is the Gospel reading from the Episcopal Lectionary that is scheduled for public reading on Proper 25, Year A.  It will next be read aloud by a priest on Sunday, October 25, 2020.  In the numbering of the Ordinary selections, this reading will take place on the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost.  It was last read aloud in church on Sunday, October 29, 2017.

I offered an opinion on this reading, which I published on this site now, from back on October 10, 2017.  I stand behind those observations and welcome all to read that article.  What I want to do now is connect what Jesus told the Pharisees, in this inspection for blemishes (as the sacrificial lamb on display), with the Old Testament readings.  I have just recently published my views on Leviticus 19 (the Track 2 reading option), but the reading from Deuteronomy 34 (the death of Moses) also supports this Gospel selection well.

This means one must begin discerning Matthew 22:34-46 by understanding both of those readings.  For the Leviticus 19 reading (which, as a Track 2 offering, might never be chosen to read), one must firmly grasp how God told Moses to tell His people, “You must be holy, because I am holy.”  The only way to be holy is to be one with God, as was Moses and as was Jesus (and others like them).  Then, one must realize that God showed Moses all the land the Israelites would settle in (from east of Jericho), where the only way to see the whole nation of Israel [before it was a nation] was to be one with God.  From that understanding, to read that Joshua “was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him,” that was the ‘tag, you’re it’ passing on of God’s Holy Spirit, so Joshua was also one with God.

This has to be firmly grasped – AT ALL TIMES – because Christianity has fallen into the malaise of thinking it is not proper to think anyone other than Jesus can be the Christ, so everyone squats and laments all the evils in the world, while doing nothing but wait for Jesus to return.  Had God let Moses die and not allow him to pass the torch onto Joshua, then the Israelites would have stormed into Canaan demanding their land, only to be outright slaughtered for being idiots.  Likewise, if God had let Jesus die and not have allowed him to prepare the disciples to carry on his torch, nobody would be reading this article now or caring about anything divine as Christianity would have never been.

So, with that understood, let’s look at what Matthew 22:34-46 says.

This reading begins by stating, “When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees.”  Over the past few Sundays, Matthew 22 has been read and probably preached, beginning with the parable of the wedding banquet (1-14), followed by the tax to Caesar (15-22), to now this encounter with the Pharisees (34-46); but nothing has been said about the confrontation with the Sadducees.  Here’s why:

From the Episcopal Lectionary Reverse Lectionary search of Matthew.

The Episcopal Lectionary does not ever address this confrontation, as told by Matthew.  It is, however, addressed from Luke’s perspective (Luke 20:27-38), during the Ordinary after Pentecost season in Year C (Proper 27).  That means it should at least be mentioned here, so one does not start off lost, dazed and confused about what happened between Jesus and the Sadducees.

The Sadducees presented Jesus with a wild scenario about a woman who was married to seven Jewish men (one at a time), all brothers [a legal thing], with none ever having sired a male heir.  They wanted Jesus to fall into a trap about the afterlife (which they did not believe existed), asking him which man would be the husband of the wife in heaven.  Jesus sent them away whimpering, tails between their legs, by his saying, “God rules over the living, not the dead.”  Besides that being a question about heavenly marriage, it is important to know the zinger about God and truly being alive.  Knowing that helps when looking at this reading for Proper 25A.

So, when we see the Pharisees coming to Jesus to ask him what the most important law is he knew they also were up to no good.  Thus, when they asked their question, God spoke through Jesus, saying “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  That is not a law of Moses, but a reminder from God that states one’s expected way of life.  It says, “Let God tell you what is most important.”  (If you are living!)

Think about that for a moment, knowing the Sadducees had just muttered themselves back into their Temple lair after having asked some male-dominated question about who gets to claim a wife in heaven.  Imagine them asking Jesus, “Do wives even get to go to heaven, if they do nothing I tell them to do, the way I tell them to do it, here on earth?”  The audacity of thinking women must possess souls that will never go on ego trips and power quests!

In the same way Jesus told them how God is the God of the living, not of the dead, those idiots could not even feel the cold wet slap of reality hit them in the faces that said, “You are dead to God.  Wake up and live while you still have that chance!”  Waking up demands all the Jews (Sadducees and Pharisees especially) marry God.  It is best to marry one you love with all your heart, all your soul, and all you mind!

Marrying God, like the concept of marriage the Jews had, meant making all the necessary sacrifices of a bride.  To be God’s wives, they would have to accept they were as worthless as Jewish men saw women in ancient Jerusalem [a mindset that still prevails everywhere today].  Back then, a daughter had no say in who her father gave her to.  Love was never a factor in the process of engagement.  Marriage was the reality of commitment, with a wife committed to serving her husband (and vice versa); offspring were a natural expectation.  However, marrying God was such a foreign concept to the leaders of the Jews back then, the Pharisees were still planning on ruling heaven as they ruled Jerusalem.

If they wanted to get to heaven, they needed to accept the invitation to the wedding banquet, where they would marry God.  Their earthbound egos would give their souls away, where they would become the new daughter of God the Father. 

The debt their souls owed was to God, not some emperor.  To return a soul to God meant to marry Him and become His wife.  Marriage to God then meant being alive with the Holy Spirit, not dead (like was a soul sinning in a body of flesh). 

All of that meant the most important thing Jews had to do was stop thinking they were gods (that male-dominated ego speaking) and start realizing they were totally insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  To reach that point of awareness, the Jews had to “love God with all their hearts, minds, and souls.”

Now, when the reading states “the Pharisees were gathered together,” this has to be seen like some sporting match – a contest of strengths and skills, a battle of the big brains – where the last play failed miserably and it was time to regroup.  Like in a football game, they all huddled together to draw up another play in the dirt. 

That becomes a statement that yells, “Stop thinking!”  Just like you cannot know what the greatest commandment is, because as soon as you say one, you realize, “No!  Wait!  Try this one!” your Big Brain is smaller than a mustard seed, when compared to God’s omniscience.  Stop trying to outsmart God!  Gain access to the Godhead through marrying God’s Holy Spirit.

God then had Jesus ask those great brains of Jerusalem, “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?”  They immediately fell into his trap, simply because they thought they were so smart and Jesus was just a dumb rube from Nazareth.  They forgot all the times before their mouse trap plans failed, with them instead being snapped tight.  With a thud they fell into God’s snare, when they answered, “The son of David.”

They immediately gave that answer because they did not worship God.  They worshiped human power.  They had just showed Jesus a denarius with Julius Caesar’s image engraved on it, so they could have said, “The son of Caesar” and more honestly expressed their wish.  He was the ruler du jour; but they wanted to name a king that would give them the right to claim to be heirs of a kingdom.  In their pea-brains, they imagined the Kingdom of Judaism to be grander than the kingdom of heaven.  However, Jesus pointed out how flawed that idea was.

When Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord?”  The key term there is the capitalized word (in Greek) “Pneumati,” which is a statement of importance beyond normal “breath” or the “spirit” of kingly power (like a form of energy).  The capitalization says Matthew knew Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit being in David when he wrote psalms.  As such, Jesus said David was one with God, when he addressed God as “Lord.”

The element of “Lord” must be realized from the Hebrew of Psalm 110, verse 1, which Jesus quoted.  After introducing a new song written by David (in the “Spirit”), he wrote “Yahweh ladonai,” which personalizes “LORD of lords” [Yahweh adonai] to say “LORD of my lords.”  The point Jesus was making (as God speaking through him) was, “If the Messiah is expected to be the descendant of David, then why did David refer to Yahweh as LORD, and not Father?”  After all, David was the son of Jesse (not a king) and Solomon was the son of David’s sins, who reigned as his somewhat illegitimate heir (after Absalom was basically murdered by David’s general’s order).  That family tree had been reduced to a stump of rulers by the Babylonians.

Jesus [a descendant of David, by the way] then pointed out that for a son of David to be the expected Messiah, then David would himself have to be a son of God.  That totally befuddled the Pharisees, which proved their big brains were really just the brains of simpletons.  They walked away tight-lipped.

What is totally missed here is there is an answer to give.  When Jesus asked, “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” the answer is: “If David sacrificed his self-ego, giving up his title and position as king to serve God, as his Father, then he would be a son of God.”  The Pharisees never could fathom anyone ever doing that.  What would be the point of ruling the world, if you could not become worldly rich in that process – even have great domineering powers, as men, over all women?  So, they walked away muttering like the Sadducees before them, looking for their place in darkness to hide.

The answer to Jesus’ question is found in the Deuteronomy reading, after Moses died.  We read that Joshua was the son of Nun.  That statement as to Joshua’s father is the only place in the Holy Bible where the name Nun is mentioned.  The name means “Fish” [“I will make you Nunneries of men?”].  That father named his son a name that means “Yahweh Is Salvation” (Joshua).  The name Jesus means “Yahweh Will Save.”  Still, Joshua being named as a son that was not Moses says God is the Father of all who will be the Messiah that brings Salvation to the people.

The Deuteronomy reading states, “Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.”  That says the Christ (Messiah) would never be the son of a human being, but the Son of God, which happens when someone with God within him or her touches another so the hands of God are laid upon him or her too.  That Messiah (Christ) is then (like Jesus) God incarnate in the flesh.  David was the son of God, when Israel regularly battled the evil presence surrounding them; but David failed God as a son when he let his power overtake his soul.  The nation then reflected both the times of righteousness and the times of sins shown by David and all their subsequent kings [and prior judges].

Of course, we Christians all know that Jesus asked that question knowing he was the Christ of God.  We giggle as the Pharisee walked away silent [flash back to the one not wearing a wedding gown being silent when the king asked him how he got in the banquet]; but Christians end this reading with silence, just like the Pharisees.  Christians are equally befuddled, because they all think the son of God can only be Jesus, forgetting all about Joshua being filled with God’s Holy Spirit, in the same way Moses was filled with it AND in the same way Jesus was filled with it AND in the same way ALL the Apostles were filled with it AND in the same way ALL true Saints recognized by Christianity have been filled with it.

Moses was reborn as Jesus Christ before God made holy flesh named Jesus.  Moses passed Jesus Christ onto Joshua.  David was the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he was a boy shepherd.  Jesus is the model for ALL flesh that is living, made so by marriage to God.  The Christ is the Mind of God leading anyone who bows down before God totally – submitting heart, brain and soul completely to Him, through love.

God cannot be limited.  Big Brains cannot tell God how many times Jesus Christ can be resurrected in another body of flesh that has married its soul to God.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were so narrowminded they thought God worked for them, kind of like the lazy workers that showed up to the pick grapes of the landowner, but then laid in the shade all day long, still expecting to be paid wages for doing nothing.

The ones who walk away from Jesus silently just cannot fathom the entire world can be sons of God, if God so chooses.  It all depends on God finding the recipients of His Holy Spirit and His Christ Mind as worthy brides to marry (like all the above named people – Moses, Joshua, David, Jesus – plus many more unnamed).  The question asked by Jesus goes to ALL Christians today: How can anyone be the son of God, if one calls God his or her Lord?

Come out of the darkness of your lairs.  You know the answer.  The answer is SACRIFICE OF SELF-EGO.

The answer is ACCEPT GOD’S INVITATION TO MARRY HIM.

The answer is STOP THINKING YOU KNOW MORE THAN GOD AND LET GOD LEAD YOU THROUGH LIFE.

Be the wife of God (regardless of human gender).  Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  Be submissive to the Will of your most holy Husband.  Give birth to His Son in your flesh, becoming the Son of God resurrected.  Call your Lord and Master by His relationship title – Father.  Touch others with your holiness, a righteous state that can only come from God.

As far as short memory spans go, it was just two Sundays prior that Jesus ended a parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Those conditions fit the ancient scenario of Jerusalem, just as well as they fit the scenario today of a religion calling itself in the name of Christ, when there are so few of true Christians around.  Everybody is too busy taking care of self to let their egos give their flesh over to God in marriage; but that simply means they are dead of soul.  So, God is not their God.  He’s only the God of the living.