Leviticus is the third book of the Torah and is mostly concerned with laws and the worship of God at his sanctuary. The book gets its name from the priests who were of the Tribe of Levi. It is part of the Priestly writings and is dated to the time of the Exile (587-539 BCE) and after the Exile.

Today’s reading is part of the “Holiness Code” written after the Exile that comprises Chapters 17 to 26. The opening verses call for the people of Israel (and us) to be “holy” – which is understood as being “separate” (that is, not OF this world and its values, even though we are IN this world).

The next part of the reading sounds very much like the Ten Commandments, but sets up higher standards: not leaving food and drink for the poor is tantamount to stealing; one needs to care for the handicapped; taking vengeance and bearing a grudge are wrong. The reading concludes with the verse quoted by Jesus of Nazareth as the Second Great Commandment.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was Hellenistic and emphasized reason and secular wisdom. In addition to Paul, other Jesus Followers also taught in Corinth, sometimes in ways inconsistent with Paul’s understandings of what it means to be a Jesus Follower. This led to contentions among the Corinthians.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s argument to the Corinthians that they should be unified. He asserts that he laid the foundation for their faith and this foundation is Jesus the Christ (v. 11). He tells the Corinthians that they are “God’s temple” – even though the Temple in Jerusalem was in full operation during all of Paul’s life. (The Jerusalem Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE). Today’s reading concludes with Paul’s continuing attack on the “wisdom/values of the world” and his affirmation that these values are “foolishness to God.” The final verse describes the “Cosmic Christ” that draws all to itself and to God.

After the righteous King Josiah was killed in battle in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had hapless kings from 609 until 586 BCE when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Judean leaders to Babylon. Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for Yahweh) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

The Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah and the First Century. Many sections in “poetry style” are attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were added later. Indeed, parts of Jeremiah are word-for-word the same as 2 Kings, a book written by the Deuteronomists (authors of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). The consistent Deuteronomic themes in the prose style parts are that Yahweh controls Judea’s fate and if Judeans and their kings do not worship Yahweh faithfully, they will be scattered. Yahweh’s power is such, however, that a “remnant” will return from Babylon to Judea.

Today’s reading is in prose style and attacks the kings and priests (the “shepherds”). It holds up the promise that Yahweh will raise up for “David” (Judea) a righteous king who will enable Israel to live in safety and righteousness.

Colossians 1:11-20

Colossae was a town in what is now western Turkey. A Jesus Follower community was founded there by Paul’s associate, Epaphras (1:7). The letter is short (four chapters) and expresses concern about practices that are inconsistent with Paul’s understanding of being a Jesus Follower. Scholars debate whether it was written by Paul or by his disciples in the decade after Paul’s death in 64 CE.

In today’s reading, the author adopts an apocalyptic theme in contrasting light and darkness (vv. 12-13). He expresses the theme that believers are redeemed and receive forgiveness of sin in the Christ (v. 14). “Redemption” conveys the sense of being bought back, the way something already owned is redeemed from a pawn shop. He describes Jesus of Nazareth as the “image” (or symbol or manifestation) of the invisible God (v.15) and describes the Cosmic Christ as the unifying force for all created things, the one who brings life to us even though we encounter our own deaths, and the force that reconciles all things in the God of Love.