OT – Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25
D 6:4-9 is called The Shema.
Shema is the transliteration of the Hebrew word that means “Hear” as in Hear, O Israel. These 6 verses are the faith statement of Judaism. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he was quoting this verse. In every orthodox Jewish household, all doorposts have a Mezuzah like the image above placed in it with a tiny scroll imprinted with The Shema.
In Night by Elie Weisel which is the story of his imprisonment with his father in the Nazi death camps, Weisel tells of how his family left his home when they were being deported by the Germans. His devout mother began to pull the mezuzah off the door frame and his father said “Leave it. God is not greater than Hitler.” To which his mother said, “Oh, not in front of the children, not in front of the children.” Nothing is more important to a Jewish mother and father than passing along The Shema, according to my rabbi friends.
I found this lovely YouTube of The Shema being sung. If your email does not display it, click here.
Luke 7:11-35
Knowing what we know about dead bodies and cleanliness from Leviticus and Numbers, what should Jesus have done once he touched that coffin?
He should have been unclean for a week. He should have gone and taken a bath, had all his clothing cleaned, and made sacrifice in the Temple for accidentally breaking the law against dead bodies.
That is not what the scripture says. It says he went on curing many with diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits to the crowds.
In truth, there is a great deal of wisdom in the not touching of the dead. Decomposition of bodies is minefield of bacteria, fungus and germs. And that is the case whether or not the person died of a disease that can be spread by contact.
Granted, the Jews took it to another level with their mikvahs, but it is a good bit better than the ‘cities of the dead’ that the Egyptian mummification factories were producing.
I guess that because Jesus was divine, he did not get sick. But the Pharisees did not believe that he was divine, only that he was gruesomely ‘sinning’ and not making atonement for his sins. Flouting social customs, once again.
Proverbs 11:29-31
The Message (MSG)
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
common sense tells you it's a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it,
what's in store for the bad!
Friends come and go but your family (good or bad!) is in your life forever. Ann Landers wrote a daily advice column when I was growing up and at one point she wrote that most of her letters boiled down to “we just can’t get along with one another.” But that is whole lot different than exploiting or abusing. Those seem to be really strong words. The Message says it is stupid. I would say, ungodly. Moses would probably answer "Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you.” D 6:18
I wonder how many people living in the promised land died so the Hebrews could occupy it. Maybe I don't want to know.
ReplyDeleteA few things from some old notes of mine:
Deuteronomy is quoted over 80 times in the NT and is is all but 6 books. Must be pretty important.
Before now the people had been told to obey God, but this is the 1st time they were told to LOVE God with all their heart and soul and strenth. Also, this is the first time they were told to impart these truths to their children.
Both of these things I need to do a better job at.
I have never really considered this before but Jesus was actually trying to make the Pharisees mad at him. That is why he continually and openly broke their laws, rules and customs. Part of what he was doing was preparing the Pharisees for their role in his death. I believe that is why he started off telling the people he healed to be silent and then later performed healings right in front of the Pharisees. He told the disciples exactly who he was but told them to tell no one. He told the people of his hometown exactly who he was and they ran him out. But the Pharisees, he slowly and methodically heated them up to the boiling point.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't need them to overact until the time was right. He spent 3 years thumbing his nose at them until they were so mad that they were willing to lie to the Romans to have him killed.
This is almost the same as God hardening the heart of Pharaoh for God's own purposes.