Politics at the dinner table: a reflection for Day 8 of Lent

 

“…the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world...” (Luke 11.49-50)

     Jesus and the disciples continue to journey towards Jerusalem.  The number of people thronging around Jesus is increasing (Lk. 11.14, 29; 12.1), and so is the tension between Jesus and the obstinate members of “his generation”.  As often happens in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gets invited to a dinner-party to participate in a type of Pharisaic “symposium”, a learned discussion over a meal (11.37; cf. 7.36; 14.1).  The conversation quickly becomes a heated debate about law-observance.  Jesus proves once again that he has an extremely low tolerance for splitting hairs over the fine points of jurisprudence…and for hypocrisy (cf. Lk. 12.1-3).  Jesus goes so far as to utter three “woes” – i.e. oracles of judgement – against the Pharisees (11.42-44).  At this point, a scribe – legal expert – protests.  Jesus then turns on the scribes and pronounces three “woes” against them (11.46-52).  (it is not stated whether anyone actually got around to enjoying the meal…).

     Jesus has a prophetic interpretation of the Mosaic Law – he understands its purpose to be that of equipping the people of God to be “a priestly kingdom, a holy nation” (Ex. 19.5-6) and a “light to the nations” (Is. 49.6; cf. Lk. 2.32; Ac. 13.47; Mt. 5.14).  Israel had been called by God to demonstrate genuine humanity to all the nations of the earth, by being a beacon of justice and love of God and neighbour (cf. Lk. 11.42; 10.25-28).  All the prophets, especially Jeremiah, had exhorted God’s people not to resist empire, not to play the “political game” of taking sides in “international conflicts” (e.g. Egypt vs. Assyria: Isaiah 30.2-3; 36.6; vs. Babylon: Jer. 37.3-10).  The prophets called Israel to trust Yahweh and not to provoke the wrath of the world powers through a misguided nationalism (cf. Lk. 19.41-44).  Isaiah had said that when Yahweh returned to rule his people after the exile in Babylon, he would come as a shepherd carrying his sheep in his arms (Is. 40.1-11; cf. 52.7).  The image of the shepherd had always served as a picture of the king of Israel, whether that king was understood to be a “son of David” or Yahweh himself (cf. Ez. 34; Ps. 23; 1 Kings 22.15-17).  Through Jesus, Yahweh is returning to establish his kingdom as a healer, while “this generation” of the people of God want a warrior.  Israel desires violent vengeance against her enemies, and Jesus knows that this is “the way that leads to death” (cf. Dt. 30.15-20; Jer. 21.8-10).

     Jesus has come to fulfill God’s purpose for Israel, so that the kingdom of God can finally be established and then spread out from Jerusalem to overtake the entire world (that’s the story of The Acts of the Apostles).  The scribes’ vision of the kingdom consists of freedom from Rome through strict (what Jesus condemns as oppressive) application of the Mosaic Law and if necessary, through violence (cf. Lk. 11.46, 52).  Jesus, like Ezekiel, knows that this course of action will only result in Yahweh’s name being profaned among the nations (cf. Ez. 36.18-23).  Jesus condemns the scribes as “those who build the tombs of the prophets whom their ancestors killed” (Lk. 11.47).  Instead of listening to the prophets’ message, Jesus’ generation had turned the prophets’ memory into nationalistic monuments.  Jesus then utters a terrifying prophecy: “…this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.” (Lk. 11.50-51).  Jesus’ generation is the generation of destiny – it will witness the culmination of God’s plan for Israel, the plan which began with the call of Abraham, through whom “all the families of the earth would be blessed” (cf. Gn. 12.1-3).  However, the dark side of this coin is that this generation will be held responsible for the murder of every messenger that Yahweh had sent to his people…beginning from the time of Abel (cf. Gn. 4)!  Even darker still, Jesus utters this prophecy knowing that the fulfillment of the divine plan involves his own murder, which will be a foretaste of the judgement of his people, which will take the form of the legions of Rome surrounding Jerusalem and closing in for the kill before “this generation” passes away (cf. Lk. 13.31-35; 20.9-19; 21.20-33).

     Spiritual blindness takes many forms (cf. Lk. 11.33-36).  It can manifest as hatred of someone we perceive as a threat, the pursuit of status or the delusional conviction that “God is on our side” and will underwrite whatever we undertake to do in his name.  Lord, have mercy.  Amen.