Episode
Hiding in Plain Sight
- Podcast
- Grace for All
- Published
- May 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 311
- Processing state
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- https://graceforall.captivate.fm/episode/hiding-in-plain-sight
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Summary
Leviticus 19:18 (NRSV) You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Picture a lawyer — sharp, well-trained, an expert in the Torah — approaching Jesus with what he thinks is a test question. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He probably expected Jesus to wade into the theological debates of the day, maybe pick a side in some ongoing rabbinic argument. What he got instead was Jesus reaching straight into the lawyer's own Bible and pulling out a verse from Leviticus. Leviticus. The book of priestly codes, purity laws, and detailed instructions for grain offerings. Not exactly where you'd go looking for the heart of the gospel. But there it is, tucked into chapter 19 between commands about paying workers fairly and not cursing the deaf: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." In its original context, that command had a specific audience in view. The verse itself makes this clear — "any of your people." Leviticus 19:18 is addressed to the community of Israel, about how they treat each other. It's a profound command, but it has a fence around it. Leviticus even circles back, just sixteen verses later, to say that same love should extend to the outsider and the stranger — which tells you something. You don't need to add that verse unless the original one had limits. So the fence was real. And people are remarkably creative when it comes to finding the edges of a command they'd rather not keep. In Matthew 22, when Jesus calls this the second greatest commandment — alongside loving God — he's already signaling that something larger is at stake. But it's in Luke 10 where the full weight lands. A legal expert asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jes…