Tonight our instructor opened with some information about the Messianic Secret. Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, He was present in their midst, and yet He repeatedly said, "Don't tell anyone". The problem was that messianic expectation was high due to events and situations, and the term was laden with false expectations and hopes; for instance, no one was looking for a suffering Messiah. The Pharisee's were looking for the new Moses, who would be radical and religious. The righteous would prevail. The Zealots, a political arm within Judaism was looking for the new David, who would rule with military might. He would be their new King. The Essenes were looking for two figures, a new David and a new Aaron to punish evil doers and punish foreigners.
Jesus did not want to be identified with these false understandings. He was not condemning sinners but was instead welcoming the lepers, prostitutes, centurions, and tax collectors. This was a radical deconstruction of Israel’s expectations. The understanding of suffering up to this time was that it was caused by something you did, and was the result of bad decisions or choices. The story of Job explores the problem of innocent suffering. He represents the suffering of Israel and helped the people of Israel understand that how one deals with suffering depends on whether one's faith is gained or lost. Suffering can sometimes be redemptive.
Little is said about the physical suffering of Jesus in the stories of the crucifixion. This is partly because the Greeks honored violence by "not displaying" it, such as in Greek tragedies. The Greek phrase Ab-Saene means off stage, which is where our word obscene comes from, and it's where the violence usually took place during the play. The core of the Passion is complete rejection. Jesus is abandoned by His people and friends, he was abandoned by the fellow revolutionaries on the cross, and He was abandoned by His own Father. This doesn't mean that God was not present, however, or that he was just a bystander. When someone died people would tear their garments, which is symbolized by the tearing of the veil from top to bottom. It's interesting to note that Jesus experienced the loss of God, and that because they are one, God knows what it is like to be abandoned by God. The ultimate human fear is to be abandoned by God.
Mark traced Jesus' genealogy back to Abraham because for Mark, the covenant between God and Abraham was the beginning of the Jewish people, and the God who began with Abraham was the God of the Gospels. Mark calls Jesus Immanuel, which means "God is with us", because for Mark one of the most basic questions was, "Is God near to us or far from us". The righteous and the non-righteous are all surprised because what they expected to be judged on didn't even come up in discussion. The key seemed to be simply to love others. Mark's original ending was abrupt as a challenge to the reader to "tell the rest of the story". Ultimately, we all must take on the life of Jesus Christ. If we take on what is holy and what is good, we will be changed for life. How we treat the poor and the marginalized is a measure of our righteousness.
Matthew felt that the Good News by its very nature must be shared or it hasn't been heard. His stories try to demonstrate that the opposite of love is not hate; the opposite of love is fear. Fear is conquered by the presence of Christ, as Jesus often said "don't be afraid", and "My Peace I give you".
Luke traced Jesus genealogy back to Adam to show that Jesus was for all people. He understood that Jesus was a Jew himself, and he is addressing to what extent saving grace was offered to non-Jews. Eating is a central theme in his stories; Jesus was born in the "house of bread" (Bethlehem), He was laid in the manger (feeding trough), and in the road to Emmaus story when the bread was broken they recognized Jesus. Table boundaries are often societal boundaries. Luke wanted everyone to understand that each of us is a descendant of Abraham, and when we have forgotten the taste of bread we have forgotten who we are. Jesus was able to take in something as terrible as the crucifixion and return love. Our challenge is also to face the cruelty of the world and yet not be conquered by it.
John's genealogy is pretty clear as well, "From the beginning was the Word", and his Gospel is the new Genesis account. When John references a particular day ("it was the first day of the week) we must go back to Genesis to understand what was happening on that day and apply that understanding to the verse. For him the Genesis stories of creation show Christ shedding light to dispel the darkness, and he believed that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. In the story of the Wedding at Cana Mary initiates Jesus ministry, but telling the servants to "Do what he tells you", even though Jesus didn't think His time had yet come. It's interesting to note that Jesus only lost two arguments in his life, both to women. Once to his mother Mary at the wedding and once to the Phoenician woman.
John's community never used the name of their founder, which suggests that there may have been two founders. From the cross Jesus said, "John behold your mother" (not Mary), and someone referred to as the Beloved Disciple. Humans are made for community, but because of something called the satanic principle, communities are often defined by who they exclude (lepers, insane, Samaritans). John deals with this problem of insiders vs outsiders in the parable of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus bent down to write (finger of judgment), and in affect was saying all are outsiders when he said, "He who is without sin". Even in death He is the source of Life, his water and blood was shed for us. The messages we find in John include "vengeance is defeating", "the risen Lord recreates through forgiveness and reconciliation", and "Word + Breath = New Life".
No comments:
Post a Comment