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Lectionary for Oct. 25, 2026
22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18; Psalm 1;
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46
I don’t know about y’all, but frequently I feel overwhelmed in my daily tasks. When I wake up in the morning, do I get a jump-start on my emails, do I accomplish a work task, do I wash the dishes and fold the laundry, or do I make breakfast and pack lunch for the kiddos? Or do I make myself a coffee and sit in my red, oversized chair and take a moment to pray and reflect on the day?
More often as not, I experience task paralysis and accomplish little beyond freaking out. What would help me more in the morning is to simply prioritize the day. I have the hours that I have, and the body and mind that I have. I can’t do everything, but I can do several somethings. I just need to focus on what’s first and second. This week, the lectionary texts discuss prioritizing commandments.
We start off with Leviticus, as we should. While not the first book of the Bible, it is the core of the Torah (as in, literally the middle of the first five books). In Leviticus as a chiasm, the center of the text (Chapter 16) is the “day of covering/reconciliation” (frequently rendered as the “day of atonement” in English, but that’s not quite right). In other words, what might seem at first blush like a random collection of laws and instructions are, in fact, expertly organized and categorized.
Leviticus 19 is in one of the two sections on either side of Chapter 16 that are about ritual purity and holy living in light of reconciliation with God and other humans. In this section, Leviticus gives all sorts of laws so the people of Israel will be holy because God is holy (19:2). We naturally focus on verse 18—loving your neighbor as yourself. But it is instructive to read the section that the lectionary skips. Right after the instruction to be holy because God is holy, the text commands reverence for parents and sabbath obedience (3) and forbids worshiping or making images of gods (4). So that the readers know the importance of these commandments, each verse ends with “I am the Lord your God.” With 613 commandments (and not just one collection of 10 from Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5), it’s not immediately clear from the text itself which are the most important.
It is always the right time to prioritize loving God with our whole selves, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
This, then, is the question that the Pharisees, who have seen Jesus’ mastery over Scripture (Matthew 22:34), want to ask: “Which is the most important commandment?”
Jesus went straight to Deuteronomy 6:5, rather than any of the Ten Commandments, when citing the commandment to love God as the most important. But then Jesus gave the next commandment in the ranking, which this Pharisee had not even asked about: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).
The second commandment is like the first in several ways. Both start with the same word: v’ahavtah, “and you will love.” Both also focus on love as action rather than mere feeling. Deuteronomy insists that you love God bodily, mentally and emotionally. Leviticus insists that you may rebuke your neighbor when they do the wrong thing, but you don’t hold grudges or deny them equity in justice or material aid in times of difficulty.
Jesus spent much of the rest of his ministry helping people rightly prioritize commandments. A certain version of keeping the sabbath is not more important than healing or rescuing a neighbor (Matthew 12:9-14). Giving materially to God is not more important than taking care of your neighbor (or parents, as we read in 15:3-9). Yet, we keep bumping up against prioritizations that are out of line with Jesus’. Which is more important: welcoming a foreigner and meeting her needs or complying with politically charged changes to immigrant protections? Jesus is clear about priorities (25:31-46).
Sometimes which right thing to do at which time is confusing. I don’t always know when to send the email versus when to fold the laundry. But it is always the right time to prioritize loving God with our whole selves, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Writer’s note: There are lots of different theories on how to sort Leviticus, but here is my favorite.
Chapters 1-7: Offerings
Chapters 8-10: Priests, time and sacred space
Chapters 11-15: Ritual purity and holy living
Chapter 16: Day of covering/Yom Kippur
Chapters 17-20: Ritual purity and holy living
Chapters 21-26: Priests, time and sacred space
Chapter 27: Offerings
