Exodus 23 Mercy, Generosity and Ethics

Matthew records an event in which Jesus cures two blind men outside the City of Jericho on the way to Jerusalem. A quick review of the "cup that Jesus must drink, and that His disciples must drink as well," as Jesus and those following Him is grounded in those who will experience the resurrection must share in the cup of wrath of God for the sins of men. We shift into the two blind beggars outside of Jericho and them calling out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" We turn to Chrysostom, Origen and Augustine to gain a deeper understanding than just Jesus performing another miracle. We look at 2 Sam 5-6 to gain a further insight into what Jesus is doing and why?

God doesn't give the Israelites the Ten Commandments, the ten Words, and then just leave them to their own devices to figure out how to properly worship him. Moses, when demanding that Pharaoh release God's first born son so that they may worship him, Moses tells Pharaoh, we do not know what the Lord will require of us to worship him. God will and always has directed in specific detail how it is we are to worship Him. In this Chapter, God gives Moses the "blueprint" of the structure in which this right worship will take place, a place where sacrifice to the Lord will take place. The Fathers, Pope Gregory the Great, Venerable Bede and Origen give us insight to this tabernacle as the model for proper places of worship for us even today.

Jesus foretells, in detail, this third time he discloses to His disciples his death. After this the mother of the Sons of Zebedee ask for James and John to sit at the right and left hands of Jesus in his kingdom. We break this out what it means to drink this chalice. We take a look back in the Old Testament to see how Jesus prophecy of his death was foretold long ago; and not just that he would be cut off, but rather how he would be mocked, scourged and crucified. What is the response of the disciples this time?

Moses goes up the mountain to speak with God for forty days. During these forty days, God begins giving Moses the instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant and the other appurtenances in order to properly worship God, i.e. "right worship." We look initially to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible and also "A Catholic Introduction to the Bible, The Old Testament" by Dr. Bergsma and Pitre. We learn how God uses those things that are familiar with the Israelites, and Moses particularly and directs it to the worship of God. We expose the faulty hypothesis of Julius Wellhausen that Moses didn't write the Pentateuch, but rather that it was written after the exile into Babylon. We look briefly at the archeological evidence that actually show how this construction of the Ark and the lampstands are familiar things in that time period. God takes these familiar things and sanctifies it and directs it to right worship.

Who are the Laborers in the vineyard? Who is the Master of the vineyard? Who are the workers who worked all day? Why did they get the same as the ones who worked only one hour? Did the Master act unjustly? What happened to the workers after they got paid? We look to Dr. Edward Sri, Curtis Mitch and St. Jerome to gain some insight.

God and the Israelites enter into a covenantal relationship through agreeing to all the words (the ten commandments) and the ordinances. Once they agreed, the first born sons of Israel offered burnt offerings and sacrifices and threw blood onto the altar and on the book and on the people. Then the 70 elders of Israel have a meal with the Lord. The covenant is one of mercy or birith, Hb. So when we read in the Psalms, "his mercy endures forever," we can understand that God's covenant endures forever. We see in the entirety of this chapter, the foreshadowing of the one and eternal sacrifice. We turn to Haydock and Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to gain further insight.

The rich young man greats Jesus by calling Him, "Good Teacher." Jesus asks the question, why do you call me "good?" The young man asks Jesus "what must I do to enter the kingdom?" Notice Jesus does not dispel the young man's understanding that one must do, i.e. requiring some effort or work on our part, to enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather answers his question by first instructing him to keep the commandments. But, the rich young man knows that even though he has done this, he is still lacking something. Jesus looks at him in love and asks him to give up the very thing in the world that is most dear to him. Jesus then turns to his disciples and answers Peter's noting that "we have given up everything, what is our reward?" Jesus explains that they will be the judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. How is this realized, or has it been? Where is this, can we see it? We look to Venerable Bede and St. John Chrysostom to gain insight. We also look to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible to gain additional insight.

Chapter 23 of Exodus continues the Ordinances that are to govern how we are to act in juridicial proceedings. We can see the basic tenets in Ethics in these verses. We see in this chapter the proper manner in which to approach an enemy, not holding malice, being hatred in one's heart, against them. The Israelites are cautioned against making covenants with the pagans in the land that the Israelites are to conquer. Within the culture of the general peoples around them, the Israelites will create a nation based on law and not the whims of anyone who may gain power. These ordinances are conceived by authority, not power.

Jesus gives us the teaching of priestly celibacy as foretold in Isaiah, those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. So marriage and holy orders are know as the sacraments of social order. Jesus then refers to the children who he wishes to allow the Apostles to come to Him. Who brought the children to Jesus? We look ahead to Acts 8 and 10 and see that "the whole household" was baptised. Under the covenant with Abraham, male children were circumcised on the eighth day after birth. If such is so, why would God incarnate not wish the little ones to not be baptised into the new and everlasting covenant?

We see the foundation of common law, that which is used in much of the world as a means of maintaining order in society. We discuss common law and statutory or civil code and how those two structures were developed. We see the ten commandments and how they are administered in the day to day living within the community. We see oaths in front of a judge, i.e. making statements "under oath." The basis of law and justice in our modern world are rooted here in these few chapters of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy