GOP Gospel: On Defilement II

Day 20 of my Lent project. For background, please read this.

A reading from the Gospel according to the GOP:

While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he performed all the ritual acts of ablution without prompting, for the people had given bad reports of him. "Teacher," the Pharisee said to him, "You hold so faithfully to every aspect of the Law, as though it were written on your heart." Jesus answered him, "Truly the path to goodness is in the ordinances of the Lord: 'When I think of your ways, I turn my feet to your decrees; I hurry and do not delay to keep your commandments.'* Blessed are you Pharisees! For in keeping so assiduously to the letter of the law, you are well advanced on the road to perfection, as the outward observance cannot help but purify the inner soul. By living in such righteousness you are a beacon to all."

One of the lawyers answered him, "Teacher, what about us? For we also live by the law; indeed our lives revolve around it no less, for we both follow it and guide others in the following of it." And Jesus answered them, "Blessed also are you lawyers! For just as the prophets were intermediaries through whom the Word of God came down to the people, so you communicate the word of the prophets from their time to this, and keep the people in the right ways. By your scholarship, you bring understanding to those who lack scholarship, and through your judgments, you compel righteousness even among those who are not inclined to righteousness, and set the people on the path to salvation. Through faithfulness to the Law in small matters, the large matters of justice and peace will follow. Oh that everyone were so assiduous about the Lord's commandments as you lawyers and Pharisees! For then this would be a most righteous nation, and the judgment of the Lord would not fall upon it."

*Psalm 119:59-60. Psalm 119 is the longest of the Psalms and is one long rapture on the Law. Reading it in translation is a bit of a slog, but in Hebrew it's structured so that in each seven-line stanza, every line starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and the stanzas progress through the entire alphabet. It's one of those instances where, no matter how accurate the translation of the words, the point of the writing is completely lost.

( Luke 11:37-52 )

( Discussion )