Sunday, September 4, 2011

Questioning Jesus

For 8/6/2011
All Scriptures are from The Message Version



Today two of Jesus' teachings which raise some interesting questions for us and teach us that we need to look closely at what he said and consider some troubling issues his words convey. Jesus has just been chastised by the Pharisees (possibly including the future Apostle Paul???) for repeated violations of the Jewish law including dietary and cleanliness laws. Jesus responds:


Matthew 15:10-11 He then called the crowd together and said, "Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."
12Later his disciples came and told him, "Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?"
13-14Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."
15Peter said, "I don't get it. Put it in plain language."
16-20Jesus replied, "You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that's neither here nor there."


· What is your picture of Jesus as he responds to the Pharisee’s questions – his emotion, his tone, his body language? Have you ever reacted, even internally, to someone who was correcting you based on their understanding of correct thinking or behavior?
· Consider the Pharisees – they believed that a specific standard of behavior and choices were needed in order to be right with God. Is it a problem that they express their feelings and reactions to practices which seems to violate these beliefs?
· Do contemporary Christians display the same behavior – do they all come from the same place theologically - when is it appropriate to voice our opinions? Do we know the mind of God or are we drawing conclusions based on our interpretations. What does this say about what it is appropriate for us to be vocal about when taking our faith public?
· What is Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees? What does he foresee will happen to them? Does it seem fair that they should be condemned because of the way in which they understood God should be worshipped?
· What does his caution about blind guides say to us about the people we should believe are credible in spiritual matters? Is a blind guide necessarily only a person or are there other kinds of blind guides? How do we choose? In the end who is responsible for the content of our spiritual lives?
· In this paraphrase Jesus makes some indelicate allusions in making his point about what emanates from us. What is his point?
· In dismissing what we swallow as irrelevant Jesus seems to be referring to dietary and hand washing laws. But does this extend to other outside influences. Can we be influenced by our culture with inappropriate attitudes and beliefs? What are some ways that we can bring balance to those things we “swallow”, what can we turn to that we can have confidence is nurturing our hearts?
· Do you think that there are elements of our religious practices that might fall into Jesus’ evaluation “that's neither here nor there" or does observing custom and tradition have spiritual value for us? What do we need to careful about in observing them to keep them from being subject to the same criticism Jesus made of the Pharisees?

The second scripture raises even more troubling questions as he encounters a woman after a time of intense teaching and healing:


Matthew 15:21-22 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
23Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."
24Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."
25Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."
26He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."
27She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."
28Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.


· What is your reaction to this story, what do you like and dislike about it?
· Being both gentile and a woman would make it inappropriate for Jesus to speak or deal with her according to Jewish religious practices. Does this seem to fly in the face of the criticism that he just made of the Pharisees? What are some possible reasons he might have fallen back so seemingly easily into this practice?
· Do you think that this story might point to the human component of Jesus’ complex presence on earth? Can you think of any other examples of human reactions or actions? Jesus agonizing prayer at Gethsemane seems to be one (Matthew 26:36-46).
· Across the Christian spectrum there are categories of people who for religious and real or perceived moral issues are condemned and given a status that Jesus gave to the woman. What does this story tell us about dealing with those we consider outsiders?
· What is the key to the woman being heard, what tactic did she use? Do you think that there is any parallel for us in approaching God with our problems?
· Jesus responded to the woman because of what he perceived to be her faith. What did she have faith in? Does it say she declared herself to be a faithful follower of Jesus or of God? What is your minimum requirement for someone to be understood as being faithful?
· What do you take away today as things you learned from these two stories? Do you leave with more questions than answers? If we look closely that is one of the purposes of scriptures - invitingt us to explore them in depth and try to apply them to our life today.


Closing Litany (from Psalm 67)
God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile!
The whole country will see how you work, all the godless nations see how you save. Let all far-flung people become happy and shout their happiness because
You judge them fair and square, you tend the far-flung peoples.
God! Let people thank and enjoy you. Let all people thank and enjoy you.
Amen


Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Matthew 16:13-20, Romans 12:1-8, Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 or Isaiah 51:1-6

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