Jesus joins us in our brokenness, indeed embraces us although little and unimportant, even to the point of tasting death. (Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 22 [27] Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; and Mark 10:2-16. )
If you are celebrating St Francis this week you may like to read this blog.
Our texts are quite challenging this week, not only technically, but also because of the topics. Many of us feel uncomfortable hearing divorce taught on because we either know what it means to be divorced, or what it means to be in a less than healthy and happy marriage or other committed relationship, or we yearn for such a relationship. And at first read Jesus’ response may not seem very comforting!
Firstly we should note that Jesus is responding to a rhetorical question posed by the Pharisees not a pastoral question by someone struggling with a difficult marriage or relationship issues and considering the way forward. His response therefore is both about debate with someone interested in the principle and also an opportunity to point to the highest ideal. Jesus seems to be letting his questioners know that he is fully aware of the law that allows for divorce but then, by referring to the Genesis text, reminding them of the spiritual basis of marriage and of the high ideal of marriage as union.
Marriage as a metaphor is used in Scripture as description of the soul’s relationship with the divine (think of Song of Songs and some of the parables in which Jesus appears as the Bridegroom). Marriage among mortals is often described in terms of alliances and lineage. (We can also note that marriage was also frequently not about an exclusive relationship between two people but could involve many wives, concubines, handmaidens.) So Jesus seems to be referring to marriage at it’s most ideal as union. Like the similar teaching in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus says: “You have heard it said ... but I say ...” (Matthew 5) Jesus is going beyond the law to the ideal, which no one can truly keep. Not wrong but impossible. And I suspect that is the purpose – to remind us of how desirable the ideal is and of how poorly we are able to actually live. In the eyes of the law, against the standard of ideals, we all fall frequently short. Yet Jesus seems not so much concerned with morals and legalism as he is with brokenness, with our hurt and struggle, with all that keeps us from participating fully and joyfully in the ideal.
If the text ended with the demanding teaching on divorce it would be very difficult indeed for those of us who are divorced, and especially for those of us who have married a second time. Indeed the highest standard of relationship would be difficult for all. But the text does not end here. Rather Jesus responds to the disciples who are trying to manage the people trying to bring their children to Jesus and insists not only that the little ones be allowed to come but that we all need to be like the little ones. Not so much cute and treasured but the unimportant and vulnerable, the unseen and unheard ones, the dependent and overlooked.
Jesus welcomes us, embraces us, in our brokenness. And even more than welcoming us Jesus joins us in our humanity. For as the author of Hebrews puts it: “... we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9) Jesus joined us in our humanity to the point of tasting death. Jesus has not only great compassion for our flawed and failing nature but has joined us in our predicament. We are not required to hear this as Jesus dying to appease a wrathful God but rather that Jesus joined us in our humanity to the point, and beyond, of dying.
Over the next few weeks as we make our way through Hebrews we will need to wrestle with the issues of the superiority of Jesus over Judaism (which risks anti-Semitism) and the redemptive nature of suffering. (* For a in depth discussion of the issues in Hebrews follow the link to John T Squires blog) For this week it may be enough to say that Jesus, who was present from the beginning, joined humanity for the purpose of bringing everyone in, gathering everyone to God. And just as death wasn’t the end of Jesus neither is suffering and destruction in our life, in our world (just as it wasn’t the end when the Temple was destroyed about the time Hebrews was being written). And in a world suffering so much, destroying one another and the very planet we live on, this is desperately needed good news.
Even so, come Lord Jesus Christ, come gather us in with all who are broken and make us whole in you.
This is my work informed by all I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful to:
Eric Fistler and Robb McCoy at Pulpit Fiction Podcast https://pulpitfiction.libsyn.com/
John T Squires “The ‘word of exhortation’ that exults Jesus as superior (Hebrews 1)”
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