Thursday, 7 February 2008

Tracking the trajectory

Cell group: February 6th. We talked a little about Peter's preaching then moved on to consider the reading from a different angle. We picked out the various questions put to Jesus or his disciples and considered where they were coming from - what might the question reveal about the heart and mind behind it?

In verse 16 we have the question "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?". This question was put to Jesus' disciples by the teachers of the law who were Pharisees, or by the scribes of the Pharisees (depending on which version you read). We talked about who was asking this question and why. Nowadays 'Pharisees' is perhaps seen to be synonymous with 'hypocrits' but in those days the Pharisees saw themselves to be upholders of the law, made righteous by their obedience to the finest details of the law as they understood it. They strove to maintain their holiness, believing that by keeping to the law they were made clean. Tax collectors were hated people, not only because they took money off you but because they were seen to be collaborators with the Romans. The Pharisees would not have wanted to be identified with tax collectors, nor made ritually unclean by rubbing shoulders with sinners. Jesus was breaking all conventions of what a 'holy man' would do. The question might indicate that the Pharisees were really mystified by this behaviour, or it could be that they were trying to instil doubt in the minds of Jesus' disciples, to stir up dissension and cause division. It might even be that the Pharisees were jealous - how could Jesus choose to eat with tax collectors and sinners instead of them? Why were sinners being rewarded by his presence and attention and the Pharisees slighted? We talked about this - how would we feel if Jesus came to our town and chose to go to the Mormon church or the Spiritualist church rather than ours? Jesus' answer should comfort us if ever we find ourselves feeling jealous of another's experience of spiritual blessing. It also reveals a deep truth about God's attitude to 'sin' being similar to a doctor's attitude to disease - His holiness is for the cure of sin, not to condemn the sinner.

In verse 18 we have a question put to Jesus: 'Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?"' Again we contemplated who might have been asking this question and what lay behind it. There was something different about these followers of Jesus - was this new teacher overturning the old order of fasting? It perhaps shows that Jesus and his followers were closely watched, that comparisons were being made, that people wanted to know what was behind the differences. Jesus' answer begins with a question - it must have given them something to think about!

In verse 24 the Pharisees pick on the disciples, drawing Jesus' attention to what they considered unlawful behaviour. "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" In his sermon, Peter had pointed out that OT law permitted you to eat a few heads of grain as you passed through a field of crops, but the Pharisees would have debated the finer points of law and drawn up the agreed interpretation and definitions. In Cell we talked about what could have been behind the question - what did the Pharisees hope to achieve by putting this question to Jesus about his disciples? Could it have been an attempt to undermine the unity of the group? To catch Jesus out? Or even an acknowledgment of Jesus' authority on the law and a sincere attempt to understand? Once again Jesus answers with a question, pointing the Pharisees to the example of that heroic figure, David.

In kindness to the Pharisees, we can also look at the questions and try to understand the passage and what we learn about God if we consider that God is author and perfector of our Faith, that He works in mysterious ways and that we often learn best in situations which get our interest and attention by being something out of the ordinary. What would God, in prompting the questions in this passage, have wanted to make known to every seeker of the truth who diligently searches the scriptures since?

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