Monday of the First Week of Lent
Leviticus. Whenever I taught the Hebrew scriptures over the years my commentary on Leviticus: a sure cure for insomnia.
But that is hardly fair, in retrospect. Today’s 1st reading comes from the section of the book called the “Holiness Code.” Here, through his prophet Moses, YHWH is prepping the Chosen People for entrance into Canaan from where they were to become a blessing to the nations. And it is rooted in the call to be holy as YHWH is holy. Here the Priestly writers/editors of the Pentateuch (the first five books) repeat most of the Ten Commandments, defining what it means to be holy under the Holy One of Israel.
As a practicing first century Jew, Jesus of Nazareth knew this code thoroughly. It was in the DNA of Jews. He sums it up with “love your neighbor as yourself.” Sometimes we forget how deeply ingrained the moral codes of the Old Testament are to Christians. (I am reminded here of the Archie Bunker quote, “the Jews ain't got nothin to do with the Bible!” And the innocent Catholic school 7th grader who asked a rabbi who was invited to the class as a guest speaker, “Do the Jews have a holy book like we Christians have the Bible?”).
In Leviticus today, the Priestly writers/editors (500 BCE) express everything in the negative with the exception of what we ought not do towards our brothers and sisters:
- No stealing or fraud.
- No irreverent use of God’s name.
- No abuse of others through exploitation or by failing to pay just wages.
- No neglect of the disabled and the weak.
- Avoiding prejudices and bias.
- No passing judgment on others beyond the bounds of justice.
- Never criticizing out of hate, but only out of a desire to help.
- No vengeance, no grudges.
Yet it is not enough just to not do these things, but rather to positively do the opposite. And they are all finally summed up in one positive injunction: you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Even here, Jesus is quoting the Book of Leviticus. Our Jewish inheritance cannot be overstated.
Archie Bunker was unintentionally right in his use of a double negative: “The Jews ain’t got nothin to do with the Bible.” In other words, the Jews got everything to do with the Bible!
—Timothy J. Cronin