Leo, Bishop of Rome, was born in 391c.e and died on this day in 461 c.e. Remembered as Leo the Great, he helped the Church articulate one of its most precious convictions: Yeshua the Messiah is truly divine and truly human, one person in whom neither nature is diminished or confused. His Tome contributed decisively to the Council of Chalcedon’s confession in 451. For this, we have reason to give thanks. (vatican.va)

For Jewish disciples of Yeshua, however, gratitude comes with grief. The teacher who defended the integrity of the Messiah’s humanity could speak contemptuously of the people whose humanity he shared.

In an Epiphany sermon, Leo portrays believers from the nations as entering an inheritance forfeited by Abraham’s physical descendants. Addressing the Jew rhetorically, he declares: “you become the slave of strangers born, who enter into the lot of your heritage” (Sermon 33.3). The nations’ blessing becomes Israel’s dispossession. (newadvent.org)

His Passion preaching likewise moves from particular participants in Yeshua’s death to denunciations of “the Jews.” Although he acknowledges Jewish believers and Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness, his rhetoric encourages Christians to associate Jewish identity with blindness and guilt (Sermon 55). Elsewhere, he urges Christians to make Christian what was formerly Jewish (Sermon 90.1).

Here is a painful paradox familiar throughout Christian history. Great theological insight can coexist with profound moral and spiritual failure. A leader may defend one truth while obscuring another. Historical context helps explain such failures; it does not make their correction unnecessary.

Nor are we immune. Remembering Leo should prompt examination of our own blind spots, especially where our eloquence about divine love conceals contempt for our neighbours.

The scholarly discussion also requires care. Leo’s polemical Jews cannot simply be treated as transparent descriptions of Rome’s Jewish community. Scholars Lauras, Stökl Ben Ezra and Salzman help frame the question of inherited stereotypes, actual Jewish practices and Christian appropriation (see below for references)

But imagine Leo preaching differently. The following is an imagined post-supersessionist sermon, not his historical words:

Beloved, confess the Word made flesh, and remember whose flesh he took: born of a Jewish mother, circumcised on the eighth day, nourished by Israel’s Scriptures. You who have come from the nations, rejoice! Through Israel’s Messiah you have been brought near. Yet your welcome does not require Israel’s eviction. You do not support the root; the root supports you. Let the Magi teach you to worship the King of the Jews without despising his people. Let the cross expose the sin of all humanity, never become a weapon against the Jews.

The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Therefore honour Israel’s continuing calling, resist hatred, and bear witness to the Messiah with humility and love.As we confess his divinity and humanity without confusion or separation, let us also learn to cherish the communion of Israel and the nations without erasing their distinction.

This is our task: to receive Leo’s Christological gift while correcting his account of Israel. The Jewish identity of Yeshua belongs within the humanity Leo so vigorously defended.

Prayer — Latin

Deus fidelis, qui foedus tuum cum Israel custodis, gratias tibi agimus pro veritate de Iesu Messia per Leonem defensa. Ignosce contemptui nostro erga populum Iudaicum. Doce nos veritatem cum humilitate confiteri et Israel atque omnes gentes diligere. Per Iesum Messiam. Amen.

עברית

האל הנאמן, השומר את בריתך עם ישראל, אנו מודים לך על האמת על ישוע המשיח שעליה הגן לאו. סלח לנו על הבוז שלנו כלפי העם היהודי. למד אותנו להודות באמת בענווה ולאהוב את ישראל ואת כל העמים. בשם ישוע המשיח. אמן.

English

Faithful God, who keeps your covenant with Israel, we thank you for the truth about Yeshua the Messiah which Leo defended. Forgive our contempt for the Jewish people. Teach us to confess truth with humility and to love Israel and all nations. Through Yeshua the Messiah. Amen.

Academic references

1. Antoine Lauras, ‘S. Léon et les Juifs’, Studia Patristica, 17.1 (1982), 55–61.
2. Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, ‘Whose Fast Is It? The Ember Day of September and Yom Kippur’, in Adam H. Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed (eds), The Ways That Never Parted (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), pp. 259–82.
3. Michele Renee Salzman, ‘Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth-Century Rome’, Journal of Roman Studies, 103 (2013), 208–32, especially n. 52. (cambridge.org)
4. Bernard Green, The Soteriology of Leo the Great (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). (academic.oup.com)
5. Susan Wessel, Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of a Universal Rome (Leiden: Brill, 2008). (trs.catholic.edu)