THE 30th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS FOR

THE 30th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, 29th OCTOBER, 2017, CYCLE A

Exodus 22:20-26; Psalm 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Matthew 22:34-40

 

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Today our readings focus on the most important aspect of what it is to be fully human:  love of God and love of neighbour, making a fitting prelude to the coming celebrations of All Saints and All souls, which remember and honour those who truly loved God and neighbour.  In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus answers the scribe’s question by saying that “the whole law and the prophets” depend on the commands to love God “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “your neighbour as yourself”.  Jesus, Jewish teacher that he is, is quoting here from Deuteronomy 6:4 and Leviticus 19:18.  He’s not unique in summarizing God’s law by these two central commands: his contemporary, the great rabbi Hillel, when challenged by a prospective convert to recite the whole Torah standing on one foot, replied, “What you hate for yourself, do not do to your neighbour.  This is the whole law.  The rest is commentary.” 

 

Our reading from Exodus speaks of how placing themselves in the situation of others should determine the Israelites’ actions:  “You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt.”  Significantly, the Hebrew word for “stranger”  here is “ger” , which is the term applied to the resident non-Israelite who could no longer count on the protection of his former tribe or community.  The “ger”, mentioned 33 times in the Torah, was to be given every consideration.  Again and again, the Israelites were reminded that they themselves had been strangers in Egypt. 

 

Those whom Paul is addressing in his Letter to the Thessalonians, written less than twenty years after the death of Jesus, were probably all gentiles, coming from the poor, non-elite of their society.  Their new faith in Christ meant that they had to abandon their traditional gods in favour of the one God, but that would have set them at odds against the rest of the society in which they lived, where kinship, politics, economics and religion were inextricably interrelated.  This meant that they would have been ostracized, even stoned in the streets: “…in spite of the great opposition all round you ….you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God”. Paul encourages them to persevere and discover mutual strength in their new identity, at the same time calling them to treat outsiders well: “May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race …” (1 Thess 3:12).

 

In the Bible, love of God is often expressed as gratitude and remembrance for what God has done rather than what we do for God.  That is clearly the essence of Psalm 18, which begins, almost impetuously, with the words, “I love you, Lord, my strength”.  The form of the Hebrew verb used for “love” – “raham”, is an Aramaic usage that appears only here in the Hebrew Bible.  It is, strikingly, better translated as “I am impassioned of you, Lord, my strength!”  The passionate love of God – and neighbour – is key to our readings today and is our privileged calling.

 

This week’s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by

Sr Margaret Shepherd, NDS, London, UK

margaretashepherd@gmail.com

[Copyright © 2017]

 

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PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.  Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

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Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

1983-2017

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

gill@batkol.info Website: www.batkol.info

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