DON’T LOSE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
WEDNESDAY AFTER THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 2015
Today is Mark 7:24-37. Some
days when you are reading the Bible, you just have to either accept the Big
Picture premise of the entire story…or it just does not make sense.
Today we have this
especially difficult story where Jesus appears to be mean to a non-Jewish
woman. Bishop Wright, always at his best when he is dealing with what most
people find a particularly challenging passage, unpacks today’s snippet. As I
said, Jesus seems almost mean spirited towards a non-Jewish woman. Some suggest
in her persistence and witty “come back comment” she has “one-up’d” him. This is
the kind of “Biblical interpretation” you get when you do not accept the Big
Picture story. Bishop Wright takes us back to God’s plan: Jesus first to the
Jews, then to the Gentiles. What does that mean? If means first Jesus goes to
the Cross and defeats death…fulfilling the covenant God made with Abraham so
long ago. Then, after that, the Holy Spirit is poured out and available to all
flesh. Which means, in this story, and if you look at the whole of the Gospels,
Jesus is primarily ministering to Jewish people. It is the rare moments when he
is not. He is not some mean-spirited bigot. He is simply following God’s plan.
Following the big picture,
not losing the forest for the trees, is something that is important in life and
in faith. Living, and living as a person of faith, can be a challenge. There
are many times the church, or other followers of Jesus, do things that make it
hard for you to proudly be a disciple. The key is not to lose the big picture,
to keep your eyes on not just Jesus, but on Jesus as the big story of God
reconciling the world.
Let me just drill into
that a little more. If we think Jesus’ coming will make everything perfect NOW…in
our lives and in the lives of the Church…well then we have lost the big picture
story. The big picture is God rescuing and restoring us…and his good world that
he has created. We, now rescued by Jesus, are to be the people who point others
to this final glorious point.
Dean,
ReplyDeleteYes, Jesus' primary mission is to teach and convert the Jews. But given God's ultimate plan is for the salvation of all why couldn't Jesus use the opportunity with the woman to give the non-Jews a taste of what awaits them after his resurrection. I would think God could be a bit fluid here with his plan.
Hi Helen--thanks for the comment. First off. I do think Jesus, as you say, gave the non-Jews a taste. I tend to think, and now I am in the land of speculation, that Jesus was really trying to make a point to his disciples...do they get it! We also know that Jesus, without similar debating healed a Centurion's son without this back and forth.
ReplyDeleteI find it a curious scene, as I think about it, the words of John's Gospel come to my mind where it says that "his own did not receive him" that in this instance, with Jesus not even in a place where Jews lived, So Jesus goes to a non-Jewish place, and uses an interaction with a non-Jewish woman--not to be mean to her because he does care for her concern--but rather to make a point to the Nation of Israel about what their calling has been for the ages...so in this scene, does he get both? Both being a moment to again teach his disciples...and also to heal another?