The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Genesis 3:9-15
One of the most frequent questions in the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation) process when we talked about scripture and salvation history was this: are the Genesis stories true? For many people coming from faith backgrounds rooted in a very fundamental view of the Bible, my answer could feel disconcerting. The Genesis creation story, which we read a piece of today, is “true” in one sense but probably not in a fundamental, factual sense. Was there a physical garden with two people named Adam and Eve, deceived by a serpent? Maybe. Probably not. But it’s still a true story, much like the fairy tale of the boy who cried wolf is true. Did that story happen exactly as is often told? Probably not. But we know the truth of it in our bones: that if you lie often enough, after a while no one will trust you. We know that’s true. Just as we know it’s true that there is a force of evil and division actively at work in our world, with repercussions. The Genesis story is an attempt to articulate how that all began.
This story shows us how easy it is to succumb to dark forces. In the gospel passage, the religious leaders will survey Jesus’ work and chalk it up to the devil. We are quick to denounce them and yet, how easy it is to go with the crowd! To hate our enemies rather than love them. To refuse the way of forgiveness which Jesus modeled from the cross. Instead of making this story about sin and paying for it, read it instead from the perspective of a God who loves us beyond measure, a God who suffers from that love every time we reject it. A God who is constantly trying to bring us back into communion.
The snake represents the cunning of evil. It slips in when and where we least expect it. It doesn’t look like much – it comes under the guise of very ordinary life. The original authors used images and metaphors to express this that spoke to their culture. I wonder if this story were being written today if perhaps social media might play a part. Maybe God tells the couple to handle the phone with care, to not let it influence their actions, to not let it become their guide and god. And then one day Eve sees a post of the top 10 ways to be happy. And just like that, she forgets all that God has told her and goes off seeking ways to do it herself. And Adam follows right alongside her. Some wily being has pulled a bait and switch and they didn’t even realize it.
I think it’s interesting to note v1 of this chapter. Both the snake and the woman complicate what God originally said in 2:16-17: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. (NAB)” The snake twists that to say “you can’t eat from any tree at all.” The woman is closer to the truth but she adds the condition that you can’t even touch the tree. Perhaps all of human history is an overcomplication of God’s directives to love.
This story gives us an important pattern in the spiritual life: sin makes us want to hide. Think about something in your life that you hide, either from friends, family, yourself, or God. What sins may lie at the root of that urge to cover something in darkness, to put it out of sight?
What images and metaphors might speak more urgently to us today of how persuasive evil can be?
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
Paul’s opponents would like to discredit him and his message by interpreting his trials and tribulations as a sign of God’s disfavor. This was a common view in that society: an easy and prosperous life indicated God’s favor, while suffering indicated God’s disfavor. Paul argues that Christ as our model teaches us that suffering is integral to the Christian life. He turns his opponents’ argument on its head and says rather than his trials indicating God’s disfavor, those trials actually indicate God’s favor. In this section, Paul will extend that from his own defense to us: we should not be discouraged by suffering in our life because that suffering tells us God is working in and through us.
Paul’s writings frequently grapple with how to live in this now-but-not-yet state. Christ has risen and overcome evil but we still live in the tension of the destruction that evil threatens.
One commentary observed that every generation is apocalyptic because humanity is ever poised on the brink of disaster. But Paul doesn’t let us get away with abandoning this world. He reminds us that God is incarnational, that the world is the context in which we come to know God and are formed into people of eternity. We must live fully in the tension of the now-but-not-yet.
V13 quotes Psalm 116:10 – the psalmist kept faith even in the midst of affliction.
Recall times in your own life when suffering felt like an abandonment by God. Did that suffering serve a purpose to form you into who you are today?
Mark 3:20-35
Today we are finally back in Ordinary Time and we’ll pick up with Mark’s gospel in a section of Jesus encountering increasing disapproval from everyone around him. Today we see that even his family disapproves and wants to censure him.
This passage follows a highly structured rhetorical/literary pattern, and it also uses Mark’s favorite technique of “sandwiching” one event in between another.
A the family of Jesus seeks him out vv20-21
B first accusation: Jesus is possessed v22
C second accusation: Jesus’ power is from Satan v22
D sayings about Satan and divided power vv23-26
C’ response to second accusation v27
B’ response to first accusation vv28-30
A’ the true family of Jesus vv31-35
Rejection by family
Mark’s audience was undergoing intense persecution. For many of them, it was very likely that their own families had turned on them and rejected them for their beliefs. They could find solace in a Jesus who was also rejected and misunderstood by his family.
In the Genesis story, when Eve is created, Adam claims her as “bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.” But when she screws up, he distances himself from her: “that” woman. Jesus’ family does the same to him in this passage: they tolerate him to a point but want to distance themselves from the dishonor he brings them.
The meaning of “brothers” of Jesus is an ongoing ecumenical debate. The Catholic church holds Mary’s perpetual divinity and calls these cousins or perhaps Joseph’s children from a prior marriage. Protestants hold that Mary went on to have other children. The original intent of the story is not to define Jesus’ biological heritage, but, rather, to show that inclusion in the kingdom is not dependent on such biology.
The passage opens in v20 with the group of “ordinary” folk who seem to recognize Jesus for who he is. This is contrasted with the people who should know who Jesus is but don’t: the religious authorities and his family.
There’s blood family and there’s family. Sometimes we’re fortunate that they overlap. Many times they do not. It’s important to see Jesus’ model here: he realizes his blood family is not going to provide what he needs at that moment, so he looks around to identify his faith family.
Accusations against Jesus
Even after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, these same charges continued to be made against him:
He was crazy, out of his mind, not in his right mind
He was possessed
He was an agent of Satan
It’s interesting that Jesus’ opponents resort to name-calling and labeling. There is a difference between naming evil and name-calling. We might find parallels in our modern context, and we might also look for a model of how Jesus handled the situation. Rather than engaging on their level with name-calling and labeling, he uses parables and imagery to point out their error and invite them into a better way.
Jesus doesn’t deny the existence of evil or a central power called Satan. He accepts this as reality. Many people today seem to want to deny the existence of Satan. Think about your own views of this and how those views and assumptions can work for or against you.
V20 tells us that Jesus comes back to his “home,” which is indicated in 2:1 to be Capernaum. In v21 his family hears about his behavior and decides to intervene. In that culture, family honor was supreme. There was no individualism like our American culture is built around. The family perceived that Jesus was disgracing them by what he was teaching and advocating and that was going to bring dishonor to them all. In their defense, they were, perhaps, justified in wanting to reign in Jesus before he caused too much damage. The verse references Jesus’ relatives. Some in the early church were apparently embarrassed enough by the notion that the Holy Family could reject and misunderstand the Holy Son that some manuscripts were altered as “the scribes and others.”
In v22 Jesus is accused of being possessed by Beelzebul. In 2 Kings 1:2, the king instructs people to go and consult Baal-Zebub. The use of the name Beelzebul here is considered to be a transliteration of that Old Testament usage. The Hebrew word means “lord of the flies,” “fly god” or “lord of the dung.” All are insulting and the insult comes from the scribes from Jerusalem, who are Jesus’ most adamant opponents in this gospel.
In v23, Jesus’ reply assumes that Satan rules over the forces of evil, which means that a defeat of Satan (through healing or exorcism) would not make sense – it would pit Satan against himself. Jesus then uses the image of a kingdom divided against itself. The audience would most likely have identified this with Herod the Great, the instigator of the massacre of the innocents at the time of Jesus’ birth. He died shortly afterward and left his kingdom to his three sons. The division proved fatal for Jewish self-rule. More immediately, the audience might recall the death of Nero and the strife caused by internal division after his death.
V28-29 should be interpreted in the context of Mark’s audience’s situation. Some people came into the church and then later, in a wave of persecution, recanted their faith. A very early question was whether these people could be forgiven. Could the community welcome back those who had denied Jesus but were now repentant? Could they even trust them again? It might be that v28 represents those who say a resounding YES while v29 represents those who say no. This is one branch of interpretation. Another view says that v28 are the historical words of Jesus, advocating unlimited forgiveness while v29 is an addition by the early church to counter a new situation. Whatever the interpretation of v29 should be, we should not be too quick to dismiss v28 which promises abundant forgiveness.
This gospel gives us a window into the challenges that Jesus faced. Where John’s gospel portrays a divine Jesus always in control, this gospel shows him through the lens of adversity. Not even his own family seemed to understand or support him. It says the family heard things about him. They heard and judged, possibly without consulting Jesus himself. How must that have made him feel? Can you relate?
Jesus seems to redefine “family” in this passage. What does it mean to be family? What light can this shed on modern controversies, particularly around marriage?
Jesus’ family basically calls him crazy. What do you think is the craziest thing Jesus did in his earthly ministry? If we are called to be followers or, as Paul puts it, “imitators” of Christ, are you equally “crazy”?
What does it mean to be the family of God?
Jesus modeled a way of dialog that did not counter labeling and name-calling with the like. How can this passage help us open up fruitful dialog in our polarized world?
Connections
Genesis explores the origins of evil and suffering and division. In the gospel, we see a stark picture of where that has brought humanity. But we also see the hope of how Jesus confronts evil, deals with it, and invites us into forgiveness. The responsorial Psalm refrain captures this, reminding us, “With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. (NAB)” Paul, too, echos this confidence, and tells us that grace overcomes the sin and division in this world. That is why we live as an Easter people!
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© 2023 Kelly Sollinger