|
Jesus Out of the Box
Rev. Dr. George Byron Koch
Most “talk of God” and “love
of wisdom” (theology and philosophy) produces wide-ranging
debates, shared insights, occasional correction, and often astonishingly
bitter exchanges. Is there actually a God? Is Jesus God? Did
he ever say he was? Did he actually live? Did he say the things
the Bible says he said? Do Christians really do the things he
said they should? Does believing in Jesus get you into heaven?
Does not believing get you into hell? Is there actually a life
after this one that contains either a heaven or a hell? Did God
make the world from nothing in six days? Is the Bible original,
or just a rehash of Babylonian and other myths? What about Buddhism?
Tantra? Scientology? Darwin? Fritjof Capra? Behe? Leisure suits
and big hair?
For any of us, the questions come about
as fast as sentences can be typed, maybe faster. The answers
come too, often at odds with the mainstream culture, with others,
even with oneself. They come sometimes striding arrogantly, sometimes
sheepishly. They grow complex and endless and fetid and make
me just want to go fishing. For fish.
But instead I’m going to write
about Jesus.
I hope a bit out of the box.
Jesus had one certain kind of encounter—probably
many times—that is recited in the Bible in three places
in slightly different forms. Rather than simply quote them here,
I’ll tell the basic story in some probable historical context,
knowing that I’m conflating those that are recorded, and
that there were probably others similar to those as well.
I want to show how out-of-the-box Jesus’
teaching was, how it turned the common wisdom upside down, and
how it likely rankled and scandalized many in religious and political
power. Though I am now a Christian and a pastor, this will not
be a Christian puff piece.
The time of Jesus was a time of great
rabbis, Hillel and Shammai most notable among many. Each of these
had disciples, students, who listened to every word and tried
to live as their rabbi taught. These disciples argued with each
other about Scripture and interpretation, and how to live.
Many Christians believe that Scripture
is rightly understood just one way, and that it is important
to learn and teach that one right way. That’s how best to
understand God, they believe.
The long Jewish tradition on Scripture
is the opposite. It holds that if we do not argue, then how do
we give God a chance to reveal Himself to us? If we do not wrestle
with what is in Scripture and how it applies to our individual
lives, if we don’t disagree and dispute, how do we give
God an opening into our lives to show us what His will is and
His purpose is and His truth is—speaking to us through that
Scripture? They believe that God would much prefer to have an
argument with us than to be ignored by us.
So naturally the disciples of Hillel
and Shammai contested with each other, inside and outside of
their own groups. Rigorous and often heated debate.
One of the debated issues of the day
was which of the commandments in the Bible was the greatest.
And it is likely with this ongoing sparring underway that this
question was brought to Jesus. He too was a respected rabbi with
disciples, well-known, popular, a worker-of-miracles and maybe
even the Messiah.
Remember that the Christian-Jewish divide
had not yet occurred (and didn’t because of Jesus but rather
because of Bar Kochba one hundred years later, but that’s
another story). The circumstances are all Jewish. The debaters
are all Jewish. The traditions and Scripture are all Jewish.
So, Rabbi Jesus, which is the greatest
commandment?
His response starts off well:
The first and greatest commandment is
this, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your
mind.”
One side might have cheered for this.
There were other candidates: “Have no other gods before
me.” “Do not covet.” “Go forth and subdue
the earth.” Any of these or others could be easily argued
as foundational, first, the greatest. But Jesus picks this one,
from Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 4 Hear, O Israel!
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 5 And you shall love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your might. 6 And these words, which I am commanding
you today, shall be on your heart; 7 and you shall teach them
diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in
your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down
and when you rise up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on
your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and
on your gates.
It is a great choice. It follows the
Shema (sh-m?): “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the
LORD is one!”—which is still proclaimed by Jews worldwide
today, and it is followed by instructions to teach it to children,
and even to physically bind it to forehead and arm, and put it
on doorposts. This too is done worldwide to this day.
So Jesus chose well, and those who heard
him likely nodded appreciatively. But then he started to talk
seditiously:
And the second is like it, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments
depend all the Law and the prophets.
Now the nodding has probably stopped
and faces are getting puzzled and then red. The first makes sense.
After all, it follows the Shema. It is repeated many times in
Scripture. But the second is plucked from the middle of the book
of Leviticus, along with commands about breeding cattle, slander,
justice and false testimony—all important in their own right—but
this one is “like the first?” Blasphemy! And upon these
two, together, depend all the Law and the prophets? Scandal!
Jesus is basically saying that everything Jews believe about
God’s Law—and those who speak for him (the prophets)
—are under these two?
This is an equivalence that was more
than stunning, it was outrageous. The Source of Everything and
“be nice.” The same? And both more important than everything
else?
One of the listeners, a lawyer, doesn’t
miss a beat (remember they all knew how to argue well, and considered
it a holy endeavor). He pushes back at Jesus, “And who is
my neighbor?” You can almost hear the “who” stretched
out, and the edge in his voice.
Not trouble enough? Now comes the coup
de gr?ce: Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. The story
is perhaps overly familiar to us, and we miss its offensive punch.
A Jewish man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He is robbed
and nearly beaten to death and left at the side of the road.
A Jewish priest sees but avoids him. A Levite (also Jewish) does
the same. Then a Samaritan sees him, has compassion, bandages
him up, takes him to an inn and pays for him to stay and be cared
for until he recovers (no hospitals in those days).
Jesus then asks the lawyer: “Which
of the three proved to be a neighbor?” He answers, “The
one who showed mercy.” Jesus says, “Go and do the same.”
This was likely a moment of profound
awakening or angry recriminations for those present—because
the Samaritans were despised. They were considered ritually unclean
half-breeds who worshipped God in the wrong place and in the
wrong way. The favor was returned: the Samaritans despised the
Jews.
Pick a place on the planet today where
neighboring tribes, countries or religious groups hate each other,
where they are bitter enemies. That is the kind of example Jesus
chose for his story. It was repulsive, hideous, despicable. It
confronted and rejected all of the vocal self-righteousness about
neighbor and enemy, us and them.
Moreover, Jesus also said we are to
love our enemies and pray for them, and that it is nothing special
if we just love those who love us. Anybody can do that. But rather,
because the love of God falls on all, not just on those whom
He approves, we are to love everyone in this same way.
There is a bit more here even than this,
as pithy and out-of-the-box as it was and is already. The word
for love, in both Hebrew (bh;a’,,‘ahab in Leviticus)
and Greek (avgapa,w,,, agapao in Matthew), doesn’t just
mean “warm feelings,” though it can include that.
Rather, the idea in context is action
for the well-being of another. Charity. Care. Support. Effort.
Expenditure. Crossing the divide to bring healing, and intending
well-being and productivity even for someone who hates you.
Let’s reflect on this. Jesus was
not stupid—that’s obvious from even the most superficial
readings of his exchanges with others. He was not a Pollyanna
unable to see true evil. He clearly grew angry at people who
cheated others, and even chased some of them with a whip made
of rope. He hated hypocrisy, and sharply criticized those in
power who used their positions to cheat or burden others. There
was nothing artificially sweet about him at all.
Rather, he said what he believed he
needed to say and willingly accepted the consequences, which
in the end included being whipped and killed. A stand-up guy,
who saw what didn’t work and said so, and who saw what needed
to be different and said so.
If we apply this to Christians, we see
this: Everything Christians believe has to stand under these
two commandments. Got your theology right, but deliver it in
hurtful and bitter rhetoric? Fails the test. Got your Scripture
quotes down pat, but use them to manipulate or shame others?
Fails the test. Got your economic theory, political ambitions
and military capabilities all lined up, and use them to dominate
and take advantage of others? Fails the test. Obviously, we Christians
have failed the test again and again over the course of two thousand
years. We still are failing the test. But we still have the counsel,
the teaching, the wisdom. We could start to apply it today.
What about its application to the world,
not just the Christian subculture? What if this out-of-the-box
approach were thoughtfully (not na?vely) and methodically applied
to real current enemies, personal or regional?
For example (as one of hundreds of obvious
opportunities in the world) what if the Prime Minister of Israel
announced that his country intended not just to allow the Palestinians
land and self-government (while protecting the safety of the
Israeli people), but that Israel would now dedicate itself to
their well-being? Would give real help with construction, water,
farming, health, education? Would take action for the well-being
of others, especially those called “enemy”?
Name the conflict, the combatants, the
location, then think of a new way to a new conclusion, more than
the simple “win-win” of negotiations, more than discussing
enough to know enough to have better strategy (John Nash), more
than brilliant manipulation (Machiavelli), more than an eye for
an eye (equity, not revenge), more than The Art of War, but rather
an intentional strategy to improve an enemy’s well-being.
That revolutionary approach is implicit and explicit in what
Jesus said and did.
Consider this: In simple economic terms,
effort spent on conflict and war does not normatively add to
the net wealth of humankind (even factoring in technology advancements
and other byproducts). Effort spent to make others productive
(for their well-being) does increase the net wealth of humankind.
This love-as-action is a command that
Jesus put on a par with the command to love God, and He said
everything else must be under these two.
Regardless of who any of us believe
Jesus was (or is), this is an insight that could change the world—
if we would grasp it, and be wise and intentional about applying
it.
I pray that it may be so. (Or, said
in Hebrew and Greek: “Amen.”)
The Rev. Dr. George Byron Koch [pronounced
“coke”] was one of the first members of the Four Sigma,
Triple Nine, and Prometheus Societies. He has degrees in Physics
and Ministry, is the former CEO of Koch Systems Corporation,
and was also Senior Vice President at Oracle Corporation, where
he ran the worldwide Applications Division. He left the software
industry in 1994 to go into full-time ministry. He currently
serves as Pastor of Church of the Resurrection in West Chicago,
Illinois (www.resurrection.org). He writes extensively: two books
(one a bestseller) and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles,
including in The Wall Street Journal, University Bookman, Conference
Board magazine, and many others. His avocations include number
theory and high temperature ceramic art. More on his Web site
at www.GeorgeKoch.com.
Info@thailandweddings.com
|
