Matthew 22:34-46
Today I would like to talk a little about the Bible. Why?
- Because this is Reformation Sunday and it was Martin Luther who made it possible for the average person to read scripture in its everyday language.
- And the Church of Luther’s day did not like it one bit.
OK then…the Bible is a whole library in one volume.
- Large portions of the Bible are stories…many of which relate to God’s ongoing covenant relationship with the people of faith…which forms us as a people of God.
- The Bible is also a history book…as in Joshua and Acts.
- A hymnbook…as in Psalms.
- It is a practical manual for living…especially in books like Proverbs and James.
- It is a guide for living a godly life…as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s letters emphasize.
The Bible is also a lawbook.
- There are hundreds of laws in the Bible…from the Ten Commandments to the holiness code of Leviticus.
- To rules covering ceremonial behavior and daily conduct in a semi-nomadic society with no central government.
- Some laws…like the Ten Commandments are still revered today.
- Others…not so much.
For example…think about this law:
- If a man should suddenly die…leaving his wife childless…it is the duty of the man’s brother to marry his former sister-in-law.
- Deuteronomy…chapter 25…commands him to do this even if he has a wife already.
- Then…if a son is born from that union…the child is considered the heir of the deceased brother.
- There you go…now you can see why the pre-reformation church did not want folks reading the Bible.
- I Wonder if they banned the Bible from their libraries.
OK then…so what if the surviving brother does not want to take on a second wife? (smart guy).
- Well then…the widow has the right to go to the elders of the village and demand that they pressure him into doing it.
- If the stubborn man still does not yield to that moral persuasion…
- The widow has the right to go up to him…pull one of his sandals off his feet…
- Spit in his face and declare: “This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house!”
- Well…the book of Deuteronomy concludes: “Throughout Israel his family shall be known as ‘the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”’
- Well…should our state legislature adopt this forthwith?
Thankfully…when it comes to the Old Testament…there is some guidance from thinkers in the past who influenced the growing church.
- Thomas Aquinas (13th century) explained that there are three types of biblical laws:
- Moral…ceremonial and judicial…and that of the three…only the moral laws…including the Ten Commandments…are permanent.
- Aquinas held that the precepts of moral law were part of the law of nature.
The ceremonial laws were those dealing with forms of worshiping God and with ritual cleanliness.
- Aquinas said they were ordained to the divine worship for that time and to foreshadow the coming of Christ.
- So that when Christ arrived…those laws ceased to bind.
Judicial precepts…such as rules for how long a Hebrew slave can be kept…
- How cases of accidental manslaughter should be handled.
- And rules about who’s responsible if an ox kills someone…
- Came into existence only with the Law of Moses and were only intended to be temporary…Aquinas said.
- Most Christian denominations today draw similar conclusions.
Well…what about the New Testament?
- There is a place in First Corinthians when Paul says women ought to cover their heads in church.
- Not exactly a law…but it was a rule that Paul wanted to impose on the church.
- And for many centuries it was expected that women would cover their heads.
- That is still the case within a few Christian groups…but no longer required in most denominations.
- Biblical scholars have helped us understand how the rule was part of the cultural understanding of Paul’s time.
- Bible scholar William Barclay begins his commentary on this passage by saying:
- “This is one of those passages which have a purely local and temporary significance.”
Go figure…this can seem like the beginning of a slippery slope.
- You can see the sort of dilemma we are in.
- How’s an ordinary Christian to decide what the Bible is really saying about one ethical issue or another?
- There is an ancient rule that goes back to St. Augustine (4th century) and other leaders of the early church.
- That principle is: “Let scripture interpret scripture.”
It was this let-scripture-interpret-scripture principle that ultimately led to the tremendous change in Christian ethics in the 19th century…resulting in the abolition of slavery.
- For centuries…people in favor of slavery had pointed to the existence of that “peculiar institution” in biblical times.
- The more Christians became familiar with the overall message of the Bible.
- The great number of passages about loving and caring for one another.
- The fact that we are all created in God’s image and God’s fundamental justice…
- The more they came to conclude that the biblical evidence was much stronger against slavery than for it.
Another principle is one we see Jesus himself using…in our Gospel for today.
- A Pharisee asks him which is the greatest commandment.
- Jesus gives the textbook answer…reciting the Old Testament declaration known as the Shema:
- “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…and with all your soul…and with all your mind.”
- That would have been enough to get an “A” but Jesus goes on.
- There is a second great commandment…he says:
- “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love and obey God: the hallmark of classical Judaism.
- Yet…in elevating love of neighbor to an equally high level…Jesus is breaking new ground.
- Jesus made it so much a part of everything he said and did that his followers came to be noted for it.
- The church father Tertullian remarked on how many pagans in the Roman empire marveled at the Christians they met…saying:
- “See, how they love one another!”
This hallmark of the faith has been adapted into a principle of biblical interpretation known as “the rule of love.”
- We may ask the question then:
- “Is this interpretation consistent with love of God and love of neighbor?”
- If we truly reflect on the meaning of this greatest commandment of Jesus…
- And hold it up as a yardstick…
- It is remarkable how well it cuts through the confusion and helps us decide what the Spirit is truly saying to us.
Martin Luther said: