Leviticus 19:18-34 - Homiletics

We have the testimony of our Lord ( Matthew 22:9 ) and of the Apostle St. Paul ( Romans 13:9 ; Galatians 5:14 ) that to obey the injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," is to fulfill all the commandments of the second table of the Law; and for that reason St. James calls it a royal law ( James 2:8 ). Here, therefore, the Levitical Law culminates in its highest point, so far as our duties towards men are concerned. Lest the Jew should confine the idea of thy neighbour to his own kindred and race, an equal love is specifically commanded for the stranger that dwelleth with you. Not only, Thou shalt love thy Jewish neighbour as thyself, but also Thou shalt love the stranger that dwelleth among you as thyself. The force of the comparison, as thyself, may be studied in Bishop Butler's sermon 'Upon the Love of our Neighbour.'

But though the Law. culminates in the two kindred commands, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God;" "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" Christianity does not. Christianity goes beyond the highest point to which the Law soars. Not only does it name the neighbour and the stranger as those whom we are to love, but also the enemy. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven" ( Matthew 5:43-45 ). The motive in the gospel is also higher than the Law. In the Law the motive in the case of the stranger is human sympathy arising from common suffering, "for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." In the gospel it is the desire to be like God in his dealings with men, "for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" ( Matthew 5:45 ), "for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" ( Luke 6:35 , Luke 6:36 ).