2013-06-13
Daniel Daring 2013
articles
2012 articles
Eleventh
Sunday: I
have something to tell you
2
Samuel 12:7-10, 13; Galatians 2:16, 19-21; Luke 7:36-8:3
When
I was searching for the word pharisee, my Oxford Dictionary (2005) gave me two entries: (1) a member of an
ancient Jewish group who followed strict observance of the religious laws and
rites; and (2) someone who brags about his/her moral standards but does not care
about others. The second entry also gave a synonym - hypocrite. The Gospel of Matthew (chapter 23) is full of invectives,
calling the Pharisees “blind fools,” “blind guides,” “snakes,” and
“brood of vipers.” We tend to associate this word with someone who is
self-righteous, condemning everybody around but him/herself.
His
judgment and Her tears
In
the Gospel of Luke 7:36-50, Jesus was invited for dinner at the house of Simon,
the Pharisee. Suddenly, “a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town”
appeared on the scene. Immediately, we are taken aback by Simon’s reaction. He
pronounced judgment over Jesus and the woman: “If this man [Jesus] were a
prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is –
that she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39). Moreover, in the course of reading, we find
that Simon lacked hospitality as well. He did not give Jesus a welcoming kiss;
neither did he give “any water,” nor poured oil on Jesus’ head. Our
sympathy goes towards the woman. We are moved by the gestures that reveal her
broken heart, a heart that longs for consolation and peace: weeping, kissing and
pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet. How desperate she had to be in order to do
what she did? And we are ‘proud’ of Jesus for not rejecting her, but telling
her that life-changing phrase: “Your sins are forgiven. . . . Go in peace”
(Luke 7:48.50).
Who
is this who even forgives sins?
Jesus. Somebody said that Jesus is virtually unknown among his own followers. Before we disagree with this criticism let us consider it. Whenever I ask my students who Jesus is, they always answer with dogmatic statements: Savior, Lord, God, etc. I have yet to hear somebody to say that Jesus was a man of courage, for whom dignity of a person mattered more than all laws and rules.
We may be confessing our faith in Jesus, but it seems that we know very little about his way of life, his cultural and religious background, and the values he stood for. There are still those who hold the view that Jesus lived only to die for our sins, that He founded the Church (some even say the Roman Catholic Church), or that He was the first Christian. Such misconception and misunderstanding of Jesus prevent us from realizing a revolutionary (prophetic) character of His life, His message, and His actions. As a deeply religious Jew (not a Christian), who read the Hebrew Bible (the New Testament was not yet written by that time), and having no plans of establishing a new religion, Jesus directed His message to the Jews of His time in order to challenge the oppressive laws and values present in Jewish society.
The
encounter with the woman at the house of Simon the Pharisee was that kind of
act. One among highly problematic concepts of Jewish religion was ‘purity.’
It created a society with “sharp social boundaries” (M. Borg). By
definition, the pure were men, rich,
Jews, and healthy people. On the other hand, the impure
were women, poor, sick, Gentiles and sinners. Anybody who associated him/herself
with somebody from the impure group was
defiled by their impurity and became impure
as well. Moreover, it was
practically impossible to transfer from the impure
group to the pure one. For a
sinful woman it would require to pass through many purity rites, which were very
costly and did not guarantee that she would leave behind the stigma of being
known as sinner. To the surprise of Simon and all his guests, Jesus disregarded
the concept of purity and its customary laws. He allowed the woman to
‘defile’ Him, and instead of advising her to go through the purity rites, He
announced that she was free from her sins. What a challenging action! What a
shock to all religious leaders present at that dinner! What a relief to the
woman! Who is this one who does such things?
We,
the Pharisees
It is so comforting to know that we are followers of Jesus, and that we believe in Him. I am sure that all of us would welcome Jesus with great hospitality and cheer seeing Him being so gentle and compassionate, wouldn’t we? Or perhaps, some of us, who are more sincere, would pause for a while and dare to acknowledge that Simon, the Pharisee, lives in us.
Joan of Arc (1412-1431) was convicted of heresy and burnt at the stake in Rouen; John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719) was deposed of his priesthood; Yves Congar (1904-1995) was silenced by the Holy See during the reign of Pope Pius XII. The first two were made saints; the third one greatly influenced Catholic theology and was made a cardinal in 1994. The history of the Church abounds with such examples, so do our lives. During my teenage years I and my friends were ridiculing people from Protestant Churches and sects, such as Jehovah Witnesses, for example, by calling them ‘fake-faith believers,’ and during my theological studies, we were told that other Christian churches lack something in truth that only the Roman Catholic Church has to the full. To my big surprise and even confusion, I began to meet inspiring people among ‘fake-faith believers,’ and my pharisaic attitude was exposed.
There is a joke about a priest and a taxi driver who happened to die on the same day. Upon approaching the gate of heaven, the priest sees a long queue and is told that he has to fall in line. Then, suddenly someone passes by and is immediately ushered to heaven. The priest gets annoyed and asks: ‘Who was that guy?’ ‘Taxi driver,’ was the response. The priest could not stand that, and immediately ran to the doorkeeper. ‘How dare you keep me here standing, and allowing this sinful taxi driver to enter just like that? Don’t you know that I was serving God through my whole life and I was preaching the Gospel every day?’ The doorkeeper excused himself and went in to call Jesus. Jesus went out, embraced the priest and said: ‘I have something to tell you. When you were preaching, the congregation was always falling asleep. When this taxi driver was driving, all his passengers were praying. Who do you think deserves to enter first?’
There is nothing worst than a pharisaic attitude. A pharisee does not only consider him/herself better than others, but s/he also does not see a need for God’s forgiveness. S/he is so sure of being righteous, that God does not have any choice but to award him/her with salvation. To his/her shock, however, God says: ‘I have something to tell you. . . .’