Proper 17 – Year C
Sermon Notes from the Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People
RCL Readings – Sirach 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14
ACNA Readings – Sirach 10:7-18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13:1-8; Luke 14:1, 7-14
Seasonal Introduction. This season is often called “Ordinary Time,” a term derived from ordinal, meaning “numbered” or “in sequence.” However, there is nothing ordinary about this time. Rather, it is a time when we may reflect on how God (starting on Trinity Sunday and ending with Christ the King Sunday) has been at work in our own lives, the lives of his people, and how he will continue to work in the days to come. Ordinary Time is a season when we are invited to perceive the mystery of God at work in our daily lives, in the ordinary, in the mundane.
Common Theme. The readings are a reminder of how terrible pride, arrogance, and insolence are while telling us to be humble, with the fear of God present in our lives, and hospitable.
Hebraic and Church Fathers Context. Josephus states, “we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: but only twenty-two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine.”[1] Many interesting and useful books have been written throughout time but only a few are part of the Canon of Scripture. Josephus mentions that the Jewish people only have twenty-two books. That isn’t to say that other books weren’t written—several are even mentioned in the Scriptures: the Book of the Wars of the Lord;[2] the Book of Jasher;[3] the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah;[4] and various books of the seers and prophets.[5] However, they are not included among those “justly believed to be divine.”
So what are the twenty-two books? The five books of Moses, the thirteen books of the prophets, and the four books of hymns and proper conduct.[6] However, twenty-four books is the more commonly accepted number of books in Scripture:[7] Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets,[8] Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra,[9] Chronicles.[10] There was a general knowledge of what was included as divine, but the divisions of the books and even the actual canon of Scripture continued to be debated.
Jewish writing didn’t stop after the time of Malachi. Some of the most important texts that Jesus and the disciples studied, referenced, and followed the example of were written after Malachi. The Septuagint included several of these books in their translation: I Maccabees, II Maccabees, Tobit, Judith, Book of Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah, along with additions to Esther and Daniel. Additionally, some versions of the Septuagint may have also included III Maccabees, IV Maccabees, I Esdras, Psalms of Solomon, the Book of Odes,[11] Prayer of Manasseh, and Psalm 151.[12]
The final arguments concerning what was Scripture and what was deuterocanonical (or simply interesting literature) didn’t concern these books but rather whether Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and even Proverbs or Ezekiel should be considered divine Scripture. The authors of the New Testament often quote deuterocanonical texts or speak on the same subject from the same or a similar position, but when the authors of the New Testament quote Scripture or state “it is written” they never quote from a deuterocanonical text.[13]
Nonetheless, while the Jewish sages excluded all but the twenty-four books we now have in the Tanakh, Christians were simultaneously examining which books should be included in the whole corpus of Scripture. Once again, it wasn’t that there were only a few books and epistles written—Paul wrote a letter to the Laodiceans as well as an early letter to the Corinthians we do not have—it was that only a few were acknowledged as divine.[14]
While the Protestant stream of Christianity rejects all “apocrypha” as divine, although some are considered useful,[15] the Orthodox Church retains those books which were in the Septuagint as Scripture rather than as apocrypha or deuterocanon.[16] All orthodox Christians—Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant—accept Athanasius’ list of texts as the Canon of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; Acts of the Apostles; James, I and II Peter, I, II, and III John, and Jude; Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, Hebrews, I and II Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; and finally the Revelation of John.
Sirach 10:12-18.[17] Psalm 111:10 states, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”[18] But what happens when we do not fear the LORD? Tertullian tells us, “Where…is God not feared except where He is not?”[19] The Scriptures continuously tell us to remember. For instance, we are to “remember the Sabbath day.” These passages continue, “for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them”[20] and “the LORD your God brought you out from [the land of Egypt] with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.”[21] We should remember that God created us and that God saves us. When we forget God and stop fearing God, pride takes over.
As the people of Israel were entering Canaan, Moses warned the people:
“Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.”[22]
Psalm 10:4 speaks of the wicked who forget about God, no longer fearing Him: “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek Him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’” Meanwhile, Hosea looks back at the history of the northern kingdom of Israel and returns directly to Deuteronomy 8 in declaring, “It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought; but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.”[23]
We know that “pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”[24] We also know that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”[25] Joshua ben Sira brings all this wisdom together when he states, “The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord; the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.”[26] God was clear in Deuteronomy what would happen to Israel if they forgot that it is God who provides all we have—if we become content with all the things God has given us and presume that it was acquired by our own hands.
As humans, we know that kingdoms fall when governments become too arrogant—full of injustice, insolence, and wealth. We can’t stand pride and arrogance. C.S. Lewis wrote:
“It is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together: you may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity—it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.”[27]
We are human, here today and gone tomorrow. It would already be foolishness to exalt ourselves over other dust and ashes, over flesh infested with worms, over mortal men and women. But our insolence is not merely against mortals — it is against the God who created dust from nothing and breathed life into it. Humans often pass judgment against the proud, but it is God who has the right, the power, and the will to overthrow the proud.[28]
The warning Moses gave against pride as we forget the God who gave us all things is one of the most important passages in Scripture that is returned to over and over—throughout the histories, the prophets, the time of Ben Sira, Jesus and the apostles, and surely is just as important today.[29] I’ve heard Deuteronomy 8 quoted back to me many times in precisely the manner we are warned not to follow: my food, my house, my job, my money. “Pride was not created for human beings.”[30]
Proverbs 25:6-7. Luke reminds us that Jesus studied Scripture from His youth, “after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.”[31] The teaching of Jesus is authoritative and powerful—for it is grounded in Scripture. His teachings were rarely new. Jesus taught and lived according to the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the many doctrines that were developed as Scripture was studied in the Second Temple period. In Luke 14, He teaches about honor, humility, and pride through a parable. But the lesson is the same as that found in Proverbs 25:6-7—we should not seek to grasp honor or respect.
Jesus also expected His fellow Israelites to know and live by Scripture for themselves. The book of Proverbs rightfully influenced later Jewish writings, as part of God’s divine revelation. Notably, Proverbs became incredibly important in the writings of Joshua Ben Sira as the book of Sirach both compliments teachings in Proverbs, such as Sirach 10:19-25 in regards to honor, and attempts (in Sirach 24) to correct false doctrine that used Proverbs 8 as a prooftext.[32] The teachings in Proverbs are often short, and sometimes taken out of context of the whole of Scripture, but they are part of Scripture. While today, Proverbs 25:6-7 is most notable as the precedent for Jesus’ teaching in Luke 14:7-14, it was and is always the teaching of God and something we should live by.
Psalm 112.[33] The first half of this poem (Psalm 111) primarily proclaims and celebrates the mighty deeds of the Lord. The actions of God give us insight into His character.[34] We know more about God through what He has done and studying them. The works of God include His calling of a people through the covenants and his protection of and provision for that people. The final verse of Psalm 111 states, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This is echoed in Proverbs 9:10 and Job 28:28 and more immediately in Psalm 112:1 as the Psalmist turns to how we fear God, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD.”
Fear, not in the sense of being scared—such a fear is inadequate—but in the sense of awesome respect for the power and authority of God. This fear leads to walking in the footsteps of God. Tertullian, in Prescription against Heretics 43, states that, if there is no fear of God (or reason to fear God) all things are permitted. But the only time there is no fear of God is in the place God does not exist and where God does not exist, there is no truth. However, where God does exist…
“... there exists ‘the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.’ Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honourable and yet thoughtful diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission (to the sacred ministry) and a safely-guarded communion, and promotion after good service, and a scrupulous submission (to authority), and a devout attendance, and a modest gait, and a united church, and God in all things.”
The fear here is not one of misery or reluctant obligation but rather one of joyful obedience. The happy, or blessed, person is one who delights greatly in the commandments of God.
Even as Psalm 111 is about the generous deeds of the Lord, Psalm 112 has much to say about the generosity of the person who fears the Lord. Psalm 112:3 notes that blessing can be in the form of riches and wealth. Prosperity can, indeed, be a blessing from God that extends from a life that honours the Lord. Honouring the Lord, however, includes the characteristic of generosity. Verse 5 says that the righteous are those who deal generously, verse 9 says they distribute freely which returns honour to both themselves and to God. Psalm 112:9 is quoted by Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:9 to encourage the believers to be generous. To fear the Lord also means to reflect His character through willful, delightful, and joyful obedience. One of those characteristics is godly generosity.
Hebrews 13:1-8. In Hebrews 12:25-29, we are told “do not refuse Him who is speaking.” We must pay attention to the voice of God and obey Him. We are also to offer worship that is “acceptable” with reverence and awe. The author of Hebrews goes directly from “our God is a consuming fire” to “let brotherly love continue.” This seems like a dramatic shift in tone to many modern cultures. Brotherly love, however, is not an arbitrary or nebulous feeling—its bounds are directly dictated by the voice of God. The author continues by telling us precisely what brotherly love looks like.
The actions of God and what God expects from us never change throughout Scripture. Love is showing hospitality and visiting those who are persecuted. From the time of Abraham through the story of Tobit (likely written between 225 and 175 BC) not only did God desire that we show hospitality but He acted on this earth—and so those who showed hospitality sometimes offered their care to angels.
God’s expectations have remained consistent throughout Scripture: love is expressed through hospitality and care for the persecuted. This is rooted in the character of God, as seen in Torah and history, and was to shape Jewish life from Abraham to the time of Jesus. The culture of hospitality can be seen from the time of the patriarchs—when Abraham welcomed three unknown guests to a rest and a meal—to the writings of the Second Temple period, when Tobit and his son Tobias cared for the poor and hungry and offered hospitality to a stranger, not realizing he was an angel. God is also at work when we show hospitality. Not only are we listening to the voice of God and showing love according to God’s definition, but if we ever entertain angels, it is because God is at work here on earth. God sends angels as messengers of both His judgment and His loving mercy.
We are told to remember those who are in prison, even as Jewish and early church tradition states that God remembered Joseph, Jeremiah, Peter, John, Paul, and Silas and visited them.[35] We might think of prison ministries when we read this today, which is a great demonstration of care. However, this was not the case Biblically—the ones who are visited are not murderers and thieves. Joseph was wrongfully imprisoned because he was obedient to God. Jeremiah was thrown into the pit because he refused to prophesy easy lies and spoke truth before the populace and kings. John the Baptist was put in prison because he declared that Herod’s marriage to Herodias was unlawful—both adulterous and incestuous.[36] The Apostles were arrested because they preached the gospel.
If we visit a thief in prison and share the love of God, it is unlikely that we will be imprisoned as a thief. But the author of Hebrews is probably not speaking of criminals but rather the persecuted and mistreated—very likely those who were put in prison because of their devotion to God. The eleven disciples of Jesus all fled when Jesus was arrested as they were terrified of being identified with Him. It was the foreigner who carried His cross, the women who stood with Jesus as He died, and the member of the sanhedrin who buried Him.[37] It’s hard to imagine in large parts of the world, but in some places, the brethren understand that we are called to remember them “as though in prison with them.” And if we go and care for them with brotherly love, it’s possible we could be put in prison beside them.
We are not only to regard the words of God, but also the leaders of the church. This is discipleship as described in the time of Jesus and the apostles—imitating the life and faith of the teacher. Never are we called to walk alone or away from the church. God does hold teachers accountable as they are charged to disciple through their examples in all aspects of their lives. Hypocrisy is unfortunately common in the church. God’s call to continue in brotherly love includes living undefiled in lust and greed—two actions that break apart communities. But God’s call is clear: show hospitality, care for the persecuted, do not be defiled by lust or greed. And if we are scared or tempted, the God who shook Mount Sinai and is a consuming fire is with us, “what can man do to me?”
Luke 14:1, 7-14. Three times, Luke tells us that Jesus ate with Pharisees.[38] On this particular Shabbat, Jesus is invited, along with a number of other guests, to an official’s house. During the meal, Jesus enters into a discussion on practical theology—as is common at Shabbat meals even to this day. First, Jesus speaks on healing during Shabbat before acting on the very theology being discussed—healing a man in need. He then elaborates on Proverbs 25:6-7 by giving a parable.
Proverbs 25:6-7 warns us, “Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here,’ than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” Jesus gives the same warning in His parable. Rather than taking a place of honor and being removed from it when someone more important comes, it is better to let the one with authority raise you to the place he believes you should be. Pride will result in shame while humility may result in honor.
The guests at this official’s house desired to sit in places of honor. We aren’t told precisely how they went about jockeying for the best seat at the feast, but we are given a similar example in Mark 10. As Jesus was traveling from the Galilee to Jerusalem He spoke of His coming death. And yet James and John approached Jesus and asked to be positioned at His right hand and at His left hand when He is glorified. When the other disciples heard their scheme, they were indignant.[39]
While the parable spoke of pride and shame, humility and honor among guests, Jesus also brought up an important doctrine regarding those with some power, authority, and riches—serve those who cannot repay you. Every guest would have recognized and verbally agreed with the doctrine Jesus broached, but it was in this setting of honor and pride that Jesus issued the halachah of the doctrine—how to live the doctrine out practically.
Jesus’ teaching is not new. Joshua ben Sira states, “If they make you master of the feast, do not exalt yourself; be among them as one of their number. Take care of them first and then sit down; when you have fulfilled all your duties, take your place.”[40] Antigonus of Socho is quoted to say, “do not be like servants who serve the master in the expectation of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without expectation of receiving a reward.”[41] But the teaching does not need to be new; rather, it only needs to remind the listener to live in accordance with the word of God.
Jesus forced the guests and the host to confront their own spoken, agreed-upon theology with the way that they were living their lives. We must not act out our lives trying to obtain greater positions or being hospitable only to our rich, easy-going, like-minded friends. God will decide who to honor and repay. We are called to give hospitality, but it is to the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind—the outcasts of society.
Hebraic Perspective. The Jewish sages made a distinction between mercy (acts of loving-kindness) and charity. Kindness (gimilut ḥasadim) is not charity; in fact, “the sages taught that acts of kindness are superior to charity in three respects: Charity is with money, acts of kindness are given with body and money. Charity is for the poor, acts of kindness are for poor and rich alike. Charity is for the living, acts of kindness can be for both the living and the dead.”[42] True kindness, חסד של אמת (ḥesed shel emet), is serving another who cannot repay your kindness. The greatest example of true kindness in rabbinic thought is to bury someone who has no one else to bury them—neither they nor their friends or relatives can repay this act of kindness.
Students of Torah note that it was God who buried Moses.[43] In fact, God continually serves those who are unable to repay His goodness. God cares for the orphan and the widow. He cares for the stranger and the foreigner as He cares for those He calls His own. God’s acts of loving-kindness aren’t done just so that we reciprocate His love.
Micah looked at the work of God and declared: “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”[44] There is no way for us to give an offering to God worthy of His kindness, nor great enough to purchase our life—“Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.”[45] But just because we cannot repay God does not mean we do nothing.
Micah continued, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” We are told to act as God acts—in justice and kindness—as we walk humbly with our God. When we act with kindness, we should be careful not to do it with an expectation of being repaid. Jesus reminded His fellow teachers that they should serve “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.”
It is important to note that the sages understood that, while charity is for the poor, acts of kindness are for both the poor and the rich.[46] However, there is a special blessing to serving those who cannot repay you. Proverbs tells us, “whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his deed”;[47] and Jesus told us, “for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”[48] Do we act on behalf of the poor only for a blessing and God’s recompense for our deeds? We should act because we see that God has given to those who cannot possibly repay Him—namely, us—and He is blessed when we do the same for others.
Endnotes
[1] Josephs, Against Apion 1.8
[2] Numbers 21:14
[3] Joshua 10:12-13; II Samuel 1:18-27. Much later texts were written with the same title, but there is no evidence that anything from the Book of Jasher has been preserved, with the possible exception of David’s lament in II Samuel 1:19-27. Additionally, even had the Book of Jasher been preserved, it would not signify that it was one of the 22 books of divine origin.
[4] I Kings 14:19, 29; I Kings 15:7, 23, 31; I Kings 16:5, 14, 20, 27; I Kings 22:39, 45; II Kings 1:18; II Kings 8:23; II Kings 10:34; II Kings 12:19; II Kings 13:8, 12; II Kings 14:15, 18, 28, ; II Kings 15:6, 11, 15, 21, 26. Such chronicles were common as seen in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian annals. Even smaller, local kingdoms kept records, as seen with the Mesha Stele in Transjordan. Sadly, many have been lost throughout history. The Chronicles of the Kings of Tyre, for instance, was considered both reliable and accurate as the Greek historian, Menander of Ephesus, translated them. Josephus referenced these foreign, Phoenician chronicles to argue the reality of Solomon building the First Temple in Jerusalem in his debate with Apion. Eusebius also makes use of the translation. Sadly, both the chronicles and the translation of the chronicles have been lost.
[5] Visions of Iddo the seer; Book of Nathan the Prophet; Book of Gad the Seer; Prophecy of Ahijah; and more. Some of these may reference books in the Scripture, for instance, the Book of Samuel the seer, Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer may be a reference to First and Second Samuel or entirely separate books we do not have as they were lost to time and decay.
[6] Josephus, Against Apion 1.8
[7] II Esdras (IV Ezra), written at the end of the First Century AD, speaks of twenty-four books that all people should read, along with an additional seventy that should be reserved for those with wisdom.
[8] Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
[9] Ezra and Nehemiah.
[10] The difference between Josephus’ count and what has become traditional—in both Judaism’s Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament—may not be as different as it seems. Books like Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings are considered to be prophetic books and, in some versions of the Septuagint, are under a single title (albeit numbered Α-Δ), rather than the two books of Samuel and Kings in Hebrew. Christianity took the Hebrew titles and the Greek Septuagint division to get I and II Samuel along with I and II Kings.
[11] Many of the Odes are drawn from biblical or deuterocanonical passages—for example, the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1–19) and the Song of the Three Children (Daniel 3:52–90, from the Greek additions to Daniel)—both of which remain in regular liturgical use today. These aren’t always included in a single text but listed individually
[12] The Dead Sea community near Qumran also had scrolls containing both deuterocanonical texts and extra-biblical literature.
[13] Hebrews 11 references II and IV Maccabees; James gives similar warning to Sirach; Paul and the Book of Wisdom
[14] Books such as the Acts of Paul and Thecla, written in the Second Century AD, were outright rejected as falsified. Other books were considered to be heretical, such as the Gospel of Thomas and Marcion’s gospel. Some books were known, studied, and even quoted (such as I Enoch), but never considered part of canon in Judaism or the early Church. And finally, some were considered to be useful but not divine, such as I Clement, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Didache—an incredibly valuable book on first and second century practices and beliefs of the early church.
[15] Such as: Third and Fourth Esdras, the Book of Tobias, the Book of Judith, additions to Esther, the Book of Wisdom, Wisdom of Ben Sirach, Baruch, the Song of the Three Children, the Story of Susanna, Of Bel and the Dragon, The Prayer of Manasseh, First and Second Maccabees.
[16] Namely: Tobit; Judith; the Septuagint additions to Esther and Daniel; I Esdras; I, II, and III Maccabees (along with IV Maccabees as an appendix); Book of Wisdom; Baruch; Prayer of Manasseh; Psalm 151. The use of deuterocanonical would not be considered accurate in an Orthodox understanding of Scripture as it would be considered canonical.
[17] ACNA includes Sirach 10:7-11
[18] See also: Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10
[19] Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics 43. See section on Psalm 112 for Tertullian’s extended statement about the fear of God.
[20] Exodus 20:8-11
[21] Deuteronomy 5:12-15
[22] Deuteronomy 8:11-20
[23] Hosea 13:4-6
[24] Proverbs 16:18
[25] Proverbs 3:34; James 4:6
[26] Sirach 10:12
[27] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 8, “The Great Sin”
[28] Psalm 18:27; Proverbs 16:18-19; Isaiah 2:11–12; Daniel 4:37; Luke 1:51–52; James 4:6
[29] Deuteronomy 6:10–12; 7:12–26; 10:12–22; 11:13–21; Judges 2:10-12; Isaiah 5:12-13; Hosea 13:5-6; Jeremiah 2:7, 19; Sirach 10:7-18; Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21; James 4:6-10
[30] Sirach 10:18
[31] Luke 2:46-47
[32] Proverbs 8 was possibly used by a minority to state that there was a female goddess in heaven alongside God, such as Sophia. Sirach 24 attempted to refute this heresy. John 1 would later make a new argument regarding Jesus.
[33] The author of Psalm 112 is unknown, however, they have beautifully crafted a double abecedary acrostic poem. Apart from the opening imperative to ‘Praise the Lord’ (Hallelujah), every sentence begins with the next successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet using all 22 Hebrew characters for the 22 line psalm. Psalm 112 can hardly be read without including its counterpart, Psalm 111.
[34] God is and will always be God, He does not change. And yet, we somehow continuously change who He is in our minds. Other times we are told that the creator God (or merciful God, or God of judgment, or some other attribute) is such in every religion and therefore what difference does it make if we follow Allah or the God of Jacob. If we want to know who God is, we must examine what He has declared—His testimony—and His deeds.
[35] Genesis 39-40; Jeremiah 37-38; Luke 3:19-20; Acts 4; Acts 12; Acts 16
[36] Leviticus 18:16; Leviticus 20:21
[37] Luke 23:50-53
[38] Luke 7:36-50; Luke 11:37-54; Luke 14:1-24
[39] Mark 10:35-41
[40] Sirach 32:1-2
[41] Pirkei Avot 1.3
[42] Sukkah 49b.10
[43] Deuteronomy 34:5-6; Sotah 14a.4
[44] Micah 6:6-7
[45] Psalm 49:7-8
[46] Love and kindness should be extended to the rich as well as to the poor just as justice should not be partial to the poor, “You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.” (Exodus 23:3) Justice should be given according to the law, not one’s own bias, “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” (Leviticus 19:15)
[47] Proverbs 19:17
[48] Luke 14:14