Day 327

Ezekiel 43:1-44:31, 1 Peter 2:4-25, Psalm 132:1-18

I was thinking that Ezekiel’s comments today actually shed the parable of the Good Samaritan in a different light. The priests are told to not have anything to do with death unless it was a member of their family. So you could quite imagine that the priest in the parable was a bit worried about the fact that the injured man might die on him and his whole priestly duties might be scuppered.

But Jesus has a much stronger point, that we should treat all people as family. Jesus point of who was the neighbour was all about love, and loving our neighbour. Jesus said numerous times that he came to fulfil the law and that the old law was now defunct. Love is greater than the direction that a priest should never touch a dead body. For love of the other we should go to their aid whether they may die on us or not.

Peter urges us to love the brotherhood of believers, and indeed love is vital in the fellowship of the church. And yet we must take love so much further, we must take love beyond the fellowship of the church and model the life of Christ. At the end of the day love breaks all the rules. The priest had rules that he had to keep and yet love should have urged him to help the dying man.

Love breaks our rules as well and I wonder who God is calling you to love today.