Devotion for October 12 (LCMS Daily Lectionary)

Above:  Jesus Healing the Man with a Withered Hand

Image in the Public Domain

Deuteronomy and Matthew, Part XI:  Compassion

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2017

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2018

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Deuteronomy 11:1-25

Psalm 104 (Morning)

Psalms 118 and 111 (Evening)

Matthew 12:1-21

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Deuteronomy 11:1-25 impresses upon the audience the importance of obeying the Law of Moses–prosperity and peace for obedience and the opposite for disobedience.  That formula strikes me as being false and simplistic, for many (including in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament) have suffered for keeping God’s ways and calling scofflaws to account.  But I digress.

Part of the Law of Moses was keeping the Sabbath.  At the time of Jesus schools of Palestinian Judaism offered varying interpretations of how rigorously to observe that day.  But all understood the proper observance of the Sabbath to be a distinctive marker of being an observant Jew.  Deuteronomy 23:23-25 allowed for the poor and the hungry to glean food from the fields of others on that day, for eating was necessary and compassion was part of the Sabbath formula.

For I desire goodness, not sacrifice;

Obedience to God, rather than burnt offerings.

–Hosea 6:6, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

Jesus, an observant Jew, quoted that passage in response to criticism in Matthew 12.  Since when was it wrong to perform a good deed on the Sabbath?  It was lawful, according to strict interpretations of Sabbath laws, to save human lives and to rescue livestock on that day.  So was not human life more valuable than sheep life?  Besides, the man with the withered hand had suffered enough, had he not?

Every day is a good day to live compassionately.  May theological orthodoxy, whether or not combined with identity politics, stand in the way of performing compassionate deeds.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 2, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SIGISMUND OF BURGUNDY, KING; SAINT CLOTILDA, FRANKISH QUEEN; AND SAINT CLODOALD, FRANKISH PRINCE AND ABBOT

THE FEAST OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF JAMES LEWIS MILLIGAN, HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARCULF OF NANTEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

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http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/deuteronomy-and-matthew-part-xi-compassion/

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