in the second chapter of mark, the writer tells of the beginning of jesus' conflict with the religious "fundamentalists" of his day. he describes several incidents in jesus' life. in the first, a paralyzed man is lowered through the roof of a house where jesus is surrounded by a large number of people, so many that those who have brought the man for healing can reach jesus in no other way. jesus tells the man that his sins are forgiven. then, sensing that some of the "scribes" sitting in the room are whispering about jesus having the audacity to proclaim that the man's sins are forgiven, jesus tells those gathered around them that it is as easy to say "your sins are forgiven," as it is to say, "stand up and take your mat and walk." he tells them that he has forgiven the man's sins so that the scribes will now that he has the "authority on earth to forgive sins." the story concludes with jesus telling the man to stand up, take his mat, and return home.
in the second incident, jesus calls levi, a tax collector, to follow him. the tax collector obeys jesus' instructions. later, at levi's home, jesus is eating with an assortment of "tax collectors and sinners." the pharisees who have been watching jesus, ask his disciples why jesus eats with such people. overhearing the question, jesus tells them that "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; i have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
subsequently, the pharisees want to know why jesus and his disciples are not fasting along with them and the disciples of john the baptist. jesus replies, "the wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day." he continues, according to mark, "no one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. and no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”
next, mark says that jesus and his disciples are going through some grain fields on the sabbath, and, as they walk, some of the disciples are plucking heads of grain. this is considered "work" that is forbidden on the sabbath, and the pharisees that are observing them are quick to ask jesus why he allows his disciples to violate the religious sabbath laws. jesus reminds them of the time when david and his companions ate the forbidden "bread of the presence," when they were hungry, even though only the priests are permitted to eat this bread. he goes on to say that "the sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.”
in each of these stories, mark asserts jesus' authority over that of the religious leaders and their interpretation of the law. he has the power to forgive sins; he is not made unclean by eating with those are considered unclean; he wants his disciples to enjoy their time with him, saving their fasting for the time when he is no longer among them; his good news is like a new unwashed cloth that can't be used to patch old fabric, suggesting that the "old cloth" of rules and regulations must be replaced by the "new cloth" of his teaching; he, as lord of the sabbath, is restoring the sabbath to be a time of rest rather than a chore that weighs people down with complex rules for its observance. mark portrays jesus as a leader who confronts the religious establishment, siding with ordinary people, tax collectors, and sinners, lifting the burden of religious practice that has little meaning for those on whom it is imposed.
may we, like jesus, look for meaning in life, not practicing an orthodoxy that distorts the ideals of love and compassion, the very essence of true religion. may we not set ourselves up as paragons of virtue who are above the "sinners" that surround us. may we see our common humanity, the suffering that is shared by all of us. shalom.
No comments:
Post a Comment