Jesus and Leviticus 19

Jesus interprets Leviticus 19 very well, I believe in Matthew 5:43-48. This is my own translation of this text. 
You have heard it said, “Love your countrymen”,and detest the one who hates
you. But, I say to you, love the one who hates you, speak well of those who
speak ill of you, do good to those who detest you and pray for those who falsely
accuse you and slander you. so that you may be sons of your father in heaven,
for he causes the sun to rise on the evil ones and the good ones, and rain on the
just ones and the unjust ones. for if you love the lover of you, what reward do
you have? Even the tax collecters do the same, don’t they?and if you greet your
brother alone, what more are you doing? Don’t even the the other nations do
that? So be Perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5: 43-48
You have heard it said, “Love your countrymen”,and detest the one who hates
you.

A few things right out. First, you’ll notice that I have opted for the word
countrymen instead of the word neighbor. Now this does have significance. For
Jesus is doing two things. One, presenting the teachings of the Pharisees, and
two, presenting his own teaching on the matter. Now, I chose the word
countrymen for a purpose. To the Jews, the commandment “Love your
neighbor” referred not to the Gentiles and especially not to the Sammaratins.

To the Jews, the word neighbor referred to ones own nation. I.E. Other Jews.
Now, this is important. Because they are quoting a scripture here. “Love your
countrymen.” This is found in Leviticus 19:18. Now I find it very interesting,
that just a few verses earlier, Jesus teaches about retaliation. And in the context
of Leviticus 19, verses 17 and 18 speak directly to the issue of retaliation. A while ago My Pastor, Dave Bucy spoke about how the commandment found in Leviticus 24:20
“eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.” was not a commandment to get even, but
rather, if you do decide to “get even” make sure that the punishment fits the
crime. If a person hits you, do not be like Lamech, and kill them. Rather, if they
gouge out your eye, gouge out theirs, and ONLY that one eye, and nothing else.
It was a law of limitation. But here, we see in Leviticus 19:17-18 the proper
response to a disagreement. The one that the Torah actually encourages, and not
just allows. “You shall not hate your brother… You shall not take vengeance or
bear a grudge” so Jesus begins to teach the better way.

But what does it mean to be a neighbor? And this is where the rub comes. What does
it mean to be a brother? A Scribe in Luke’s gospel asked that question, and Jesus,
through a parable, says that everybody is your neighbor. Everybody is your brother.
But, I say to you, love the one who hates you, speak well of those who speak ill
of you, do good to those who detest you and pray for those who falsely accuse
you and slander you.

According to the Pharisaic interpretation of Leviticus 19:18, your neighbor was
limited to those who treated you good. So, they felt that if God commanded us
to love our neighbor, then God, implicitly declared the opposite to be true. That
is, Hate your enemy. However, when they did this, they completely ignored the
surrounding context where it says not to hold a grudge.

Jesus gives a better way. Love people, whether or not they love you. Speak
good of people, whether or not they speak good of you. Now this is a hard thing
to do. If somebody gets under my collar, I have a hard time saying two good
words about them, much less love them. Yet, this is what God tells us to do.

Love our neighbors, as yourselves. So that you may be sons of your father in heaven,

Jesus says that acting in this way is actually a reflection of God’s character.
When we act this way, people will look at us and say “wow, they truly are sons
of God.” When does God act this way though? Jesus gives an example from
nature.

For he causes the sun to rise on the evil ones and the good ones, and rain on the
just and the unjust.

My Father growing up taught me that this meant that God rains on the just and
the unjust. And the rain meant trials and tribulations. He thought that this was
like Job’s situation. That God pours out troubles on everybody. Now, that is
true, God is just to pour out his wrath on everybody, but that is not what Jesus
is getting at. In ancient times, rain was seen as a blessing, and not a curse. And
Jesus says about God, the sun comes up, and the rain falls, on both the
righteous and the unrighteous. God does not discriminate on who he shows love
to. He provides for the elect, and for the damned. He, in his sovereignty,
upholds the universe by the very word of his power, and yet he condescends to
the needs of fallen men who do not deserve the rain to fall, or the sun to shine.
Those whom are worthy of nothing but his wrath, God provides for every day.
Every time the sun shines, it shines on a world that is in enmity with God. It
shines on a world that has rebelled against the true source of light. When it
rains, it rains on a world that hoards its food instead of shares it. When it raints
it rains on a world that wastes the resources that God is providing. Yet God
does not stop pouring our lavish blessings on this pathetic little rock. And when
we receive the Holy Spirit, and God begins to change us from the inside out, he
begins to shape us into his image again. That fallen lump of clay begins to show
the light of the Almighty God who provides unselfishly. And we give of
ourselves the way that God gave. We give of ourselves a sacrificial offering.
We give money to the homeless man, even though we know that he may just
buy more booze. We trust people even though they have betrayed us countless
times. We love those who have abused us. We pity those who would seek to see
us harmed. And how do we give? Where do these resources come from? They
come from the Spirit who is alive in us, the very infinite Spirit that John
identifies as Love.

For if you love the lover of you, what reward do you have? Even the tax
collecters do the same, don’t they? And if you greet your brother alone, what
more are you doing? Don’t even the the other nations do that?

Jesus is speaking to Jews, and by extension, everybody who is of the seed of
faith. He is providing an ethic for the Kingdom. In Jesus Christ, God has started
a New Nation. A nation whose citizens are not unified by language, or race,
they are not unified by a flag or a constitution. They are not unified by a socio-
economical status. Rather, they are unified by God’s saving work through the
Messiah, Jesus.

So be Perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect.

What a charge. What a hard thing to hear from Jesus. He tells us to be Perfect. Will
Jesus really give us a command that is impossible to live up to? Dave Norris gives a
good example in his book Big Ideas. A Farmer tills a field. He is going to grow a field
of corn. He has worked a long time pulling the weeds out, aerating, and fertilizing.
He hears the truck from around the corner, and he goes outside to pick up the seed
that is being delivered to him. The truck’s tailgate comes down, and he sees the seed.
“Perfect!” the man exclaims. The man plants the seeds, and comes out in about 8
days, and he sees little shoots pushing up out of the ground. “Perfect!” the man says.
And goes back into his home. After a few more weeks, the corn grows higher, and it’s
up to the farmers waist now. There is not corn on it, but the farmer looks at it. It is
not yet time for harvest, and no money could possibly be made from this little crop,
but it is appropriately grown, and appropriately mature so the man clasps his hands
together and declares “Perfect!”After a few more weeks, the corn is now taller than
this man, and there is actually a few ears of corn coming out of the plant, but it’s not
quite harvest time. The man rubs his hands together after looking at the stock and
announces “Perfect.” The Corn is now ready to harvest. There is so much corn that
the stalks are starting to bend from the weight of it, and it has truly reached it’s
perfection. It is fully grown, and fully mature.

Living the kingdom ethic is not something that happens over night. But we do have an
upward call in Christ Jesus. We are constantly growing. Constantly being conformed
into the image of Christ. Constantly being perfected, but at each stage of
development, God looks at his children, and examines their fruit, and hopefully he
exclaims “Perfect!”