The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Wisdom 7:7-11
The section from the end of chp 6 through chp 11 talks about the nature of wisdom in the context of the author’s quest for wisdom. Today’s passage is a hymn of praise to Wisdom.
V7 references a prayer for wisdom which is recorded in chapter 9. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God blessed him with both wisdom and material possessions as seen in v11.
You might want to read chp 9 and adapt it as your own prayer for wisdom.
The author compares many things in his life to wisdom and finds wisdom to be superior to all of it. What things might you compare wisdom / God to and how does it rank?
Hebrews 4:12-13
Today’s reading is short, but don’t be too quick to dismiss it!
An Italian saying is ‘‘Traduttore, traditore,” “The translator is a traitor.” The translation of v12 is an excellent example of how underlying theology can influence translation. Compare this verse in a Protestant NIV translation with the Catholic NAB:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. “
Hebrews 12:12, NIV
Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
Hebrews 12:12, NAB
If your underlying theology says that Scripture is the supreme source of everything, then this action of penetrating, dividing, and judging is rightly attributed to that Scripture. That is at work in the NIV translation: the word of God / Scripture pentrates, divides, and judges. There is no pronoun in the Greek; “it” was introduced by the translators to make this verse clearer and a more explicit reference to scripture.
In the Catholic tradition, scripture is balanced by tradition and the magisterium, and there’s more of an emphasis on looking to Jesus as the final arbiter. Catholics tend to read this verse in light of John 1:1:
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
That Word – Jesus – is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. The use of “word of God” in this verse more likely refers back to v7:
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
‘Harden not your hearts.’”
I think v13 is a great connection to the gospel story. Jesus, The Word, looks at the man with love, penetrating his heart and soul, discerning what lay at the root of his question. It can be disconcerting to be looked at this way and we might often want to avoid Jesus’ penetrating gaze.
How has the Word of God (both Scripture and Jesus) been effective in your life? In what ways has it penetrated you?
Can you pray that you will be “naked and exposed” to God? What areas of your life would be uncomfortable with this type of scrutiny?
Mark 10:17-30 or 17-27
Through the end of chp 8, the primary question of the gospel has been “Who is this man?!” Peter answered that question by naming Jesus the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t deny that but he’s still got a lot of teaching to do for them and us to realize what that really means.
The gradual healing of the blind man in 8:22 is key to interpreting chps 9-10. The man can see the first time around, but he doesn’t see clearly. Neither do the disciples. They name Jesus as the Messiah but they don’t see clearly what that entails.
Chps 8-10 there will be a pattern of three actions and it will repeat three times:
- Prediction of Jesus’ passion
- An inappropriate response
- Teaching on discipleship
A couple of weeks ago, we started on the second repeat of this pattern. Jesus predicted his passion and death. The inappropriate response was silence and fear, and then Jesus begins teaching what it means to be a Messiah, which is intricately intertwined with what it means to be a disciple. One week was teaching was about institutional control, and also whoever is not against you is with you – the warning not to fracture into sectarianism or tribalism. Last week was discipleship at a more personal level – marriage and family. This week we continue that personal level by looking at possessions, but also, more broadly, the subject of our attachments.
V17 begins with Jesus setting out on the way, a technical term in Mark for discipleship and the Christian journey. This is intended to make it more widely applicable: Jesus is on the way, and the man who approaches him embodies all those who want to join Jesus on the way of discipleship.
Matthew adds the detail that he’s young and Luke calls him “a certain ruler.” Hence, this story is usually titled, “the rich young ruler.” His address to Jesus as Good Teacher was not a common form of address.
V18 seems to imply a distance between the Father and the Son that is found nowhere else in the gospels nor is it supported by Christian theology. Some scholars read this as a sort of testy reaction to the man’s address – because it wasn’t a common address, maybe it wasn’t a “proper” address. Others see it as a teaching device on Mark’s part about who Jesus really is. “Only God is good and here you are calling me good….” This may go back to the Messianic secret as seen throughout this gospel.
Whatever we make of the initial reaction, Jesus does go on to answer the question. He quotes the last five of the 10 commandments – the ones that deal with interpersonal relationships. And then he tacks on the one just before those five – honor your father and mother. He doesn’t say anything about the commandments regulating our relationship with God or keeping the Sabbath.
The man’s reply in v20 may strike us as arrogance and hubris. It was actually very common for Jews to seek such keeping of the letter of the law in its entirety. Paul claimed the same in Philippians 3:6, “As for righteousness based on the law, faultless.” If one had the time and resources, one might actually be able to keep the letter of the law.
In v21 Jesus looks at him with agape love. This man has been trying to live in a way that keeps him in right relationship with God. He really does desire to know God, but he seems to know that there is more to it, more to be done. Something is lacking and he wants to know what it is. That evokes love from God no matter how clumsily it’s done or with how much hubris it’s declared. God always loves us.
Jesus tells the man to sell everything and leave his home and family to follow Jesus on the way. Of course, we all know what this is saying: we have to sell everything we own and live in poverty, right? Well… not quite! Some people do have that call and they do respond to the gospel that way.
If we go deeper, we realize that Jesus is talking about detachment. The saints down the ages have told us that we must detach ourselves from things like material possessions – whatever gets in the way of our relationship with God.
But I think there’s more to it. I think a good question to ask of this story is – why was he sad? Was it just because he’s attached to a comfortable way of life and just can’t give that up? That’s might be part of it. Maybe.
One detail to keep in mind with this story: in that culture, wealth was an indication that one was favored by God. Another important cultural detail can be found back in 7:3-4:
The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.
Mark 7:3-4
If you were a poor person in that society and every day was literally a struggle to put a meager meal on the table, are you going to have enough time to worry about purifying yourself and everything you ate with and even the bed you slept on? Probably not. In some respects, being able to fully keep the law was a rich person’s prerogative because a poor person just didn’t have the time or money for all that – they were too busy surviving.
In v20, this man very confidently claims that he has kept the law perfectly. Now Jesus has asked him to give up the source of what allows him to do that. I would suggest he was sad, not necessarily because he didn’t want to part with his wealth (although that might have been part of it), but because, if he did what Jesus asked, he might not be able to say he was perfectly keeping the law. He was attached to doing things his own way and he wasn’t ready to let go of that.
In v23 Jesus looks around, one of Mark’s devices to indicate that Jesus is about to say something important. First Jesus says it’s hard for those attached to wealth and all that it enables to enter the kingdom. Of course, the disciples are amazed at this. Wealth was seen as an outward indication that God has favored you, but Jesus says it’s that very wealth that might keep you from the kingdom. That is amazing. Then, as if that isn’t a hard enough saying, he says it’s hard for anyone to enter the kingdom! Why? Because we all have something we’re attached to that can keep us from following Christ more perfectly, whether it be material possessions, or our own ego, or our need to control.
Jesus then illustrates this with a sort of parable – a common object lesson. I hate to break it to you, but there is no “eye of the needle” gate in Jerusalem; that was a medieval legend. Jesus is illustrating with extremes here. The largest thing his audience could identify with was a camel, and the smallest aperture they could imagine was the eye of a needle. This was a common figure of speech to say that something was impossible: you can’t put the largest thing through the smallest hole.
In v24 they were amazed and in v26 they are exceedingly astonished. This goes against everything they ever thought they knew. Wealth is a sign of God’s favor. But that can make it impossible for you to enter the kingdom. If someone supposedly favored by God can’t enter the kingdom of God then who the heck can?!
V27 is a verse that’s often pulled out of context and put to all sorts of things. Jesus’ answer is that the only ones who can be saved are those who rely utterly and completely on God for something that is humanly impossible.
And then, here comes Peter to the rescue. He assures Jesus (and maybe himself and the other disciples) that they have indeed given up everything. This from the man in whose house Jesus has stayed multiple times! What Peter is implicitly asking here: we’ve given up what we feel like is everything. What can we expect as our reward?
Jesus assures them in vv29-30 that any sacrifice in this life will be rewarded a hundred times over both in this life and in the life to come. But also in v30, he reminds them that blessings and sufferings always go hand in hand – he throws in “with persecutions.” Notice that one lectionary option is to end the reading at v27, which would avoid these harsh reminders.
V31 is “the great reversal” found throughout the gospels. Those who think they’re “first,” those who think they are already disciples, those who are not detached enough from their own sense of self and from their own way of being holy – those are the ones who will find themselves actually the opposite. Those who are detached from everything will consider themselves nothing – those are the true disciples.
This reading challenges us to ask an important question: “What is my greatest obstacle to entering the kingdom?” or “What attachments prevent me from progressing in the spiritual life?” It’s a mistake to dismiss this question because you don’t have a lot of money in the bank, or to assume that the answer is anything material at all. For many of us, the attachments will be not possessions or money, but, rather, our own sense of how spiritual we are or how far we think we’ve progressed already or how much we ourselves can do.
V30 reminds us of the incredible generosity of God just as it reminds us that there is always a price to pay for living the demands of the gospel. Suffering and blessing are inseparable.
How do you feel about Jesus’ statement that it is hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God? Does it apply to you? Why or why not?
Do you believe Jesus when he says that nothing is impossible for God? What areas of your life have you declared impossible for God?
What things have you given up in pursuit of a life of following Christ? Do you feel that you have received a hundred times more than this in return?
How do you think the gospel passage relates to the Old Testament passage from the book of Wisdom? What about to the passage from the book of Hebrews?
In what ways are you like the rich man? In what ways are you different?
Are there any possessions in your life that might stand in the way of pursuing the Gospel life wholeheartedly? What about non-material things (attitudes, habits, relationships, etc.)?
Using imaginative prayer, pray with the gospel passage this week:
- imagine that you are the person running up to Jesus and seeking eternal life. What has caused you to act so decisively in your search? How do you feel about what Jesus says to you?
- imagine that you are in the group of disciples listening to Jesus expand on what he’s told the man. What thoughts and feelings are present as you listen to Jesus’ words?
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© 2024 Kelly Sollinger