The Diocese of Southeast Florida Bible Challenge
Day 44 - Leviticus 19-21,
Psalm 37:1-18, Mark 10
“The devil is in the details,” the old expression goes. Well
in this instance, “God is in the details.” The Book of Leviticus makes it abundantly clear that God cares about every aspect of life. For faithful Jews, keeping the Law, all of the Law, is a grace, because it allows them to see and understand God in every aspect of life. The chapters from Leviticus assigned for today are from a section of the book commonly known as “the holiness code.” The sum and substance of this entire section is captured
in Leviticus 20:26, “You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have
separated you from the other peoples to be mine.” As one source notes, much of
the material was written “as protests against the practices of other people”
(e.g. witchcraft and magic - See footnote to 19:26-31 in The Oxford Annotated
Bible NRSV – Third Edition). Throughout chapters 19 and 20, there are
clear restatements of the Ten Commandments. These are amplified and expanded
into new laws to adjust to specific situations and cases that had clearly
occurred within the community of the people Israel. Within the section of
the Holiness Code assigned for today are several verses that are particularly
noteworthy. Leviticus 19:9 instructs the people not to harvest their
entire crop but to leave “gleanings” for the poor and the alien. This
indicates that the condition of the poor and the alien was to be a matter of
concern for all the people and that all the people were to offer a meaningful
response. Leviticus 19:18 contains the verse that Jesus used as part
of his “summary of the Law,” You shall love your neighbor as yourself (See
Mark 12:31). And Leviticus 19:33 – 34 should give us all pause given the
current arguments about immigration and immigration reform. It reads,
“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you
shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am
the Lord your God.”
Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that addresses the age-old conundrum, why do the
wicked seem to prosper? The answer of the psalmist? Don’t worry,
they’ll get what’s coming to them eventually. This may not seem especially
helpful or comforting to some, but it is the traditional biblical answer, and
the truth of the matter is, it is often so. Think, for example, of Saddam
Hussein or Hosni Mubarak.
Today’s assigned reading from Mark 10 offers an interesting contrast to the
Leviticus reading. The chapter contains a variety of vignettes. To
begin with, Jesus finds himself in controversy with some Pharisees over the
question of divorce. Jesus’s standard for divorce is higher than that
offered by the Pharisees, who argue that Moses allowed a man to write “a
certificate of dismissal” and to divorce his wife. This was a very low
standard. All a man had to do was to hand his wife a note that said, “You
are no longer my wife, I am no longer your husband.” That was it, they
were divorced. Jesus said it was for their “hardness of heart” that
Moses allowed this. He quotes Genesis in order to indicate God’s divine
intention for marriage from the beginning of creation. Today, many believe
that Jesus’ teaching was radical for its day because it protected women who were
often victims in divorce (a woman under Jewish Law did not have the right to
divorce her husband). As is often the case in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus
goes inside with his disciples to further clarify the teaching. ‘Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she
divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ Many believe
this saying reflects Roman law at the time Mark’s Gospel was being written,
since, again, under Jewish Law, a woman could not divorce her husband, but under
Roman law she could. Also in chapter 10 is a fascinating exchange between
Jesus and a rich man (Matthew describes him as “young,” Luke says he is a
“ruler”). The rich man kneels before Jesus and asks, “Teacher, what must I
do to inherit eternal life? Jesus lists some of the commandments, the last
six to be specific, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You
shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour
your father and mother.” The rich man answers him, ‘Teacher, I have
kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You
lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was
shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” It is
important to note that when Jesus listed some of the commandments, he left off
the first four about love of God and not worshiping false idols. If Jesus
had included these in his list, the rich man would never have been able to
respond “I have kept all of these from my birth.” His wealth was his
idol. When Jesus instructed him to sell it, he could not. Needless
to say, this begs the question of each of us, what do we hang on to as our idols
today that prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God?
The Rev. Canon Canon William H. "Chip" Stokes,
Rector, St. Paul's, Delray
Day 44 - Leviticus 19-21,
Psalm 37:1-18, Mark 10
“The devil is in the details,” the old expression goes. Well
in this instance, “God is in the details.” The Book of Leviticus makes it abundantly clear that God cares about every aspect of life. For faithful Jews, keeping the Law, all of the Law, is a grace, because it allows them to see and understand God in every aspect of life. The chapters from Leviticus assigned for today are from a section of the book commonly known as “the holiness code.” The sum and substance of this entire section is captured
in Leviticus 20:26, “You shall be holy to me; for I the Lord am holy, and I have
separated you from the other peoples to be mine.” As one source notes, much of
the material was written “as protests against the practices of other people”
(e.g. witchcraft and magic - See footnote to 19:26-31 in The Oxford Annotated
Bible NRSV – Third Edition). Throughout chapters 19 and 20, there are
clear restatements of the Ten Commandments. These are amplified and expanded
into new laws to adjust to specific situations and cases that had clearly
occurred within the community of the people Israel. Within the section of
the Holiness Code assigned for today are several verses that are particularly
noteworthy. Leviticus 19:9 instructs the people not to harvest their
entire crop but to leave “gleanings” for the poor and the alien. This
indicates that the condition of the poor and the alien was to be a matter of
concern for all the people and that all the people were to offer a meaningful
response. Leviticus 19:18 contains the verse that Jesus used as part
of his “summary of the Law,” You shall love your neighbor as yourself (See
Mark 12:31). And Leviticus 19:33 – 34 should give us all pause given the
current arguments about immigration and immigration reform. It reads,
“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you
shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am
the Lord your God.”
Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that addresses the age-old conundrum, why do the
wicked seem to prosper? The answer of the psalmist? Don’t worry,
they’ll get what’s coming to them eventually. This may not seem especially
helpful or comforting to some, but it is the traditional biblical answer, and
the truth of the matter is, it is often so. Think, for example, of Saddam
Hussein or Hosni Mubarak.
Today’s assigned reading from Mark 10 offers an interesting contrast to the
Leviticus reading. The chapter contains a variety of vignettes. To
begin with, Jesus finds himself in controversy with some Pharisees over the
question of divorce. Jesus’s standard for divorce is higher than that
offered by the Pharisees, who argue that Moses allowed a man to write “a
certificate of dismissal” and to divorce his wife. This was a very low
standard. All a man had to do was to hand his wife a note that said, “You
are no longer my wife, I am no longer your husband.” That was it, they
were divorced. Jesus said it was for their “hardness of heart” that
Moses allowed this. He quotes Genesis in order to indicate God’s divine
intention for marriage from the beginning of creation. Today, many believe
that Jesus’ teaching was radical for its day because it protected women who were
often victims in divorce (a woman under Jewish Law did not have the right to
divorce her husband). As is often the case in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus
goes inside with his disciples to further clarify the teaching. ‘Whoever
divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she
divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ Many believe
this saying reflects Roman law at the time Mark’s Gospel was being written,
since, again, under Jewish Law, a woman could not divorce her husband, but under
Roman law she could. Also in chapter 10 is a fascinating exchange between
Jesus and a rich man (Matthew describes him as “young,” Luke says he is a
“ruler”). The rich man kneels before Jesus and asks, “Teacher, what must I
do to inherit eternal life? Jesus lists some of the commandments, the last
six to be specific, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You
shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour
your father and mother.” The rich man answers him, ‘Teacher, I have
kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You
lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you
will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was
shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” It is
important to note that when Jesus listed some of the commandments, he left off
the first four about love of God and not worshiping false idols. If Jesus
had included these in his list, the rich man would never have been able to
respond “I have kept all of these from my birth.” His wealth was his
idol. When Jesus instructed him to sell it, he could not. Needless
to say, this begs the question of each of us, what do we hang on to as our idols
today that prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God?
The Rev. Canon Canon William H. "Chip" Stokes,
Rector, St. Paul's, Delray
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