Once again I find myself behind in the Bible Blogging. Once again I'm issuing a sincere apology. Once again I'm blaming the crazy schedule of Grey Gardens. The show is over now, but I'm in rehearsals for Picasso at the Lapin Agile, so who knows when I'll get behind again. If it's any consolation, I have been keeping up with my readings. There's a longish section of Act Two I'm not in, so that became reading time. You wouldn't believe the onslaught of "You're reading the Bible?!?" heard in the dressing rooms. Especially at a Catholic University.
But enough about me...
Leviticus continues to baffle me. I don't get it. I get bored. It seems so archaic. Why do I need to know this stuff? Is anyone else grossed out? I'll admit that once I get through all the text, I do find some of the ceremonies quite interesting, but I still don't completely get it. I find it hard to reconcile the idea of things being "unclean". If I'm understanding the text correctly, "unclean" has little to do with sanitary and more to do with holiness. How is something God created "unclean"? I can see from a anthropological standpoint how things that would lead to sickness or disease would be discouraged by the religious leaders in order to sustain the community. For example, in his HBO special Live on Broadway, Robin Williams has a bit where the Israelites ask Moses why they must be circumcised, and he answers, "We're a nomadic people. You don't want sand in there." Even though it's a joke, I imagine there is some truth to that. I had a college professor explain the shellfish conundrum by noting that shellfish go against the natural order set forth by God in Genesis. He created the animals that swim to live in the water, the animals that fly to live in the air, and the animals that crawl to live on the land. But a shrimp crawls in the water. That's contrary to God's orderly creation and therefore is unclean. Ok. I kinda see that. Kinda.
Anyway, I don't understand Leviticus.
I think Jesus directly addresses this confusion in Mark 7:14. The Pharisees are attacking Jesus and his followers for not washing their hands before eating. (I'll admit, I might do the same, but less on religious grounds and more on the grossness factor.) Jesus says,
"Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."I don't think Jesus is talking about poop here. Although that, too, can defile. I think Jesus wants his followers to know that how we live our lives matters more to God that what we eat. Or how we eat. All those crazy rules in Leviticus seem less important now. Jesus further explains the parable by saying,
"whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer...For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come...they defile a person"
Coming Up:
Monday - Leviticus 16-18,
Psalm 36, Mark 9
Tuesday - Leviticus 19-21,
Psalm 37:1-18, Mark 10
Wednesday - Leviticus 22-24,
Psalm 37:19-42, Mark 11
Thursday - Leviticus 25-27,
Psalm 38, Mark 12
Friday - Catch up,
Psalm 39, Mark 13
Saturday - Numbers 1-3,
Psalm 40, Mark 14
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