Love your neighbor as yourself
February 23, 2020
SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Lev 191-2, 17-18
Love your neighbor as yourself
Ps 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13
The Lord is kind and merciful
1 Cor 3:16-23
You are God’s temple
Mt 5:38-48
Turn the other cheek
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/022320.cfm
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Today is the last Sunday before Lent. It completes the series of teachings in the fifth chapter of Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount has been interpreting the Law of Moses, and today it looks at “Thou shalt not kill,” under two headings.
In the first of these (Matt 5:38-42), Jesus cites an idiom that appears in various places of the law: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’” (see Ex 21:23-25; Lev 24:19-20; Dt 19:21). The concern is always commission of severe crimes, such as murder, and the intent is to insist on the seriousness of the infraction. God is a just God. Such a crime is not to be tolerated. It is not clear to what extent the punishment was carried out in practice, but it made the point that the crime required the utmost deterrent.
Jesus follows this with his own interpretation. “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.” He adds some instances. “When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well.” To someone who sues for your shirt, offer your cloak as well. If they press you to go one mile, go two. Give to the one who asks. While much ink has been spilt over how literally Jesus meant these, it seems that his illustrations taught his disciples his way of handling conflict. When forced, don’t only give in, but add on. Replace retribution with generosity.
Many books have been written about nonviolence in the gospels. And this passage almost always gets plenty of attention. Here nonviolence takes the form of non-retaliation. It assumes a situation in which one has been assaulted or insulted in some way, and it speaks to how a true disciple of Jesus would respond to such a challenge. It seems extreme. But it fits with a similar theme in Matthew’s gospel, that of forgiveness. The circumstances are similar, and there too the recommendation of forgiving seventy-times-seven is more than the disciples think they can manage (Matt 18:21-35).
The second (Matt 5:45-48) gospel passage builds on the first, and introduces a new teaching of Jesus. Love your enemies. To many this also seems extreme. The scripture cited by Jesus serves as our first reading for today. However, you’ll notice the part about hating your enemies is not present in the passage from Leviticus. This seems to be a reference to the popular conclusion often taken. If you are to love your neighbor, well then, you needn’t love your enemies. So some thought.
It is also worth noticing that the context in which love of neighbor arises is that of vengeful response to hurt. “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people.” Which is to say, we are not far from the previous teaching.
Reading through the 19th chapter of Leviticus, you will notice that is sounds a lot like the Ten Commandments. It is a collection of social and cultic regulations gathered in one place. And it begins with a general injunction, as in today’s reading. “Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.” Notice that parallel in the final sentence of this series of legal interpretations of Matthew 5. In v. 48 we read, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
As Warren Carter suggests, the meaning of “perfect” is wholeness, as in wholeness of heart. In this it converges with the passage from Leviticus, for the “holy” is also seen as wholeness, without blemish or fault.
For reflection: Is Jesus teaching an impossible ideal as some say, or is it a standard for Christian behavior?
Father Beck is professor emeritus of religious studies at Loras College, Dubuque.
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