When Jesus commands us to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), we know we’re listening to a very clear and demanding teaching. To do this is just very hard. But there are teachings that are even harder; not necessarily harder to do, but hard to hear, hard to grasp.
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). And this from Jesus who teaches us to even love our enemies?
“Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (Mk 10:44). And this from Jesus who came to set us free?
“You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44). How does this square with loving one’s opponents?
In our next Bible study series, we will wrestle with some of the difficult words of Jesus, guided by A. J. Levine’s 2021 book of the same title (and a series of short introductory video talks). Feedback from participants in other studies based on her books have been consistently stellar, and our conversations have been fruitful. We will meet at church on Wednesday mornings at 9:00am, beginning on February 1. If there is enough interest in an evening group, I’m willing to coordinate calendars to find the best day and time. Please use the online form to sign up or indicate your interest in an evening group. The book, in both print and e-book editions, is widely available, so please get your own copy.
In The Difficult Words of Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine shows how these difficult teachings would have sounded to the people who first heard them, how they have been understood over time, and how we might interpret them in the context of the Gospel of love and reconciliation. I look forward to getting together with you to wrestle with some of these difficult teachings!
Amy-Jill Levine (“AJ”) is Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita, Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita, and Professor of New Testament Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. An internationally renowned scholar and teacher, she is the author of numerous books including The Difficult Words of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to His Most Perplexing Teachings, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi, Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week, Light of the World: A Beginner’s Guide to Advent, Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven, and Signs and Wonders: A Beginner’s Guide to the Miracles of Jesus. She is also the coeditor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament. AJ is the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. In 2021 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. AJ describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who until 2021 taught New Testament in a Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt.