“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. These familiar words were part of a recent Year-of-the-Bible reading,
words found in the third book of the Bible, the book of Leviticus, chapter 24,
verse 20. They are words we know well. They are words that seem to give us
permission to avenge ourselves when we feel ourselves wronged.
But in our very first week of reading, we heard Jesus’ words to us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for
eye and tooth for tooth’. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If
anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”
(Matthew 5:38-39) Jesus appears to be rejecting the Leviticus text and telling
us that we cannot seek to avenge ourselves to right a wrong of any kind.
So what are we to do? How are we to reconcile two biblical texts that seem
to be in conflict with one another? And, truth be told, most of us would
probably admit to preferring the Levitical text over Jesus’ teaching. When
someone wrongs us, we want payback!
This is why we read the Bible and this is why we study the Bible. This is
why we do things like Year-of-the-Bible. For as much as we’d like to reduce the
Bible to a set of rules, with everything easy and clear, the Bible can often
confound us and confuse us. Understanding the Bible takes work, and it takes
God’s help through the Holy Spirit.
The Year-of-the-Bible structure is helpful. It gives us Old and New
Testament together, side by side, so we can compare texts. And then we are
given a bit of a Psalm and Proverb to form a frame around the Testament texts. So
we read, for example, “The wise store up
knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin” in Proverbs (10:14) as a
reminder that God calls us to learn, with the Spirit guiding us.
Lent should be a time of learning, a time of study, a time of reflection
and introspection. We should look afresh
at texts, reading the words and learning the context, always digging deeper. It
is one thing to read the rules in Leviticus, but why, for example, did God insist
that we were not to eat lobster, scallops, clams and shrimp? And why now do eat
with great enthusiasm marine creatures that have neither “fins nor scales”? What
actions may we take when we feel ourselves wronged? Are we really to “turn the
other cheek” to everyone, or can we be selective?
Make March a time of study, of reflection, and of opening yourself to the
guidance of the Holy Spirit. Make Lent a time of transformation, the Spirit
refreshing you like a spring breeze and teaching you as you grow in grace and
wisdom as a disciple of our Risen Lord.
Allelulia!
Pastor Skip
