Day 70 – Love Your Neighbour

We’re skipping a lot of Leviticus, as you’ll have noticed. We’re dipping into chapter 19 today, but we’ve skipped several chapters on the law, including which food to eat, rules about mildew, types of clothing, skin diseases, bodily discharges, sexual acts and the eating of animal blood. A deeper study at another time will show the wisdom behind these rules, but that’s not for now. Suffice to say, Jesus’ teaching, fulfilled in his act on the cross, takes away the requirements for much of this law (although not all).

Today we have a bit of a change of pace… and theme. Only one verse in the Old Testament today, and very familiar passages in the New Testament. Enjoy reading!

• What did God say about our neighbours in the verse we read in Leviticus today?
• Jesus makes reference to that verse in the passage from Matthew, but expands upon it. What arguments, in verses 45-47 especially, did Jesus use to explain why people should love their enemies? Do you think this was easy for people to do, and would Jesus’ message have been popular?
• Apart from loving our enemies, what instruction does Jesus also give in verse 48? Is that possible? How was Jesus an example to us?
• Who are your “enemies”? Do you ever pray for them? If not, why? Do you need to spend some time in prayer about this now? It might be quite a new thing for you to do, but I greatly encourage it.
• You’ve read the parable of the Good Samaritan before, I’m sure. Like other parables that you think you know well, did anything strike you as new or interesting as you read it through this time?
• The parable describes a “neighbour” as who?
• Jerusalem to Jericho is about 17 miles, with a drop of about 3,000 feet from one place to the other. The road between the two would have been rocky, barren and dangerous. Two silver coins (or “denarii”) would have been about two days wages, or enough to keep someone at an inn for over a month.
• Samaritans were hated and thought of as lower people, both physically and spiritually. The story Jesus told would have shocked the people listening. We’ll read about who the Samaritan people were, and how the tensions between them and the Jews came about, when our reading plan reaches the later stages of the Old Testament.
• What do you do to love your neighbours? Do you volunteer your time anywhere, or use your skills to help people? What about in situations where you don’t expect to get anything in return?
• Can you show love to someone this week by forgiving them of something?

A lot of people think that the Old Testament can almost be disregarded in the face of the New Testament. That’s a dangerous and untrue position to take. In today’s passages, and in many other examples throughout the New Testament, we see teaching building on Old Testament scripture or law. I hope you’ll see by our careful reading over the last seventy days that the Old Testament is absolutely foundational to understanding Christ.

That said, it’s important to see how Jesus clarifies Old Testament teaching too. Look at Matthew 5:43. Jesus says “you have heard it said” that you should hate your enemies. The Old Testament never said that though, even though that’s what many teachers may have taught at the time. This should encourage us to read and understood God’s Word properly, rather than what we think it says.

Today’s passages are very practical. Yesterday the challenge was to understand the unfamiliar events of the passages. Today, the challenge is different – to act on the teaching we read about. When I next see up with you, I’d like to hear how you have gone beyond just reading today, and really thought – and acted – in a way that was loving to others, especially those who you don’t always find it easy to love. Think of ways you can practically work this out. You might like to focus on the upcoming weekend away as a good opportunity.