From the Sunday Note, with additional thoughts–
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law?
How do you read it?”
He said in reply,
“You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live.”
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
“And who is my neighbor?” …
Luke 10:25-29, excerpted from Sunday’s Gospel
The scribe gives a standard rabbinic reply to the question of how to state the entire Law (the “Torah” or “Instruction”) by quoting together Deuteronomy 6:5 on loving God and Leviticus 19:18 on loving our neighbor. In our first reading Moses tells us this is “something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out.” Exodus 30:14
And it is tight, comprehensive, and clear—except for that one word “neighbor.” Won’t we admit that a hint of twilight within us detects the possibility of a little wiggle room there? And besides, we all have actual close-by neighbors and even family members who prove to be so exasperating … .
When we speak of Law, dispute about definitions is always possible. We are great wrigglers and nit pickers. Instead of leaving it a “legal obligation,” Jesus turns the Law into Gospel, the “good news,” that is, a personal call from his loving Father to each of us. Instead of asking whether so-and-so is someone we are obligated to help, we are to ask ourselves “if it were me lying beaten, robbed, and half-dead beside the road, how could someone show neighborly love for me? If he or she was not of my religion, or not of my race, or did not speak my language, would I want their help? Of course, I would! And that tells me what I am called to do—not check their ID or the political affiliation, but to figure out how to help.
Of course, basic clarity on what to do does not automatically make it an easy thing to do. That takes growing in relationship to Christ. And that begins with coming to terms with the foundational Christian belief, succinctly stated in our second reading this Sunday from Paul’s letter to the Colossians:
“Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” (Col. 1:15)
For further reflection:
“Image” is the English translation. If we pronounce the Greek word in Colossians, we say “icon.” God is invisible to human sight–and we read in the Old Testament that if we did see God, we would die. (Interestingly, when we die, we will see God!) But we can see Jesus, truly man/truly God, God “translated,” as it were, into human terms. Therefore: to see Jesus is to see God. To hear Jesus is to hear God. To have faith in what Jesus says, is to have faith in what God says. Faith is to believe what God says. Christian faith is to believe what Jesus says because Jesus says it!
Only: keeping in mind that, as a real human being, Jesus speaks in human language. He speaks with words, like our words in English, that have nuance, background, metaphorical applications, and are the product of a particular culture that handles various kinds of speaking in ways particular to it. Therefore: read your Bible’s footnotes!