Monday, October 21, 2019
Jesus Is (Still) Not Judge Judy (Part 2)
I previously posted - HERE - lessons learned in prayer and study on Luke 17: 1-10. There, Jesus says some - at first glance - apparently harsh words about hanging a millstone around someone’s neck and telling us we “must” do stuff. He then tells the disciples that just a tiny bit of faith can accomplish a lot when they ask him to help them. He answers by comparing us to “worthlessly” obedient slaves whose only task is to obey their master.
Rather confused and taken aback at first, I worked through that passage and was given to see that it doesn’t start by our being told we must “believe” or else! He’s pointing to the value and importance of right relationship. So, when it hits us how difficult that is, we ask for help on how to trust him on what he’s pointing us towards. He basically responds by telling us to trust him in his authority as King of all Creation. After all, this all started by talking about forgiveness and restoration to right relationship!
So, Jesus then cleanses 10 lepers. And, one comes back to praise and thank him.
Though it was actually quite important to my previous point, what I didn’t discuss there was the millstone reference in the first part of Luke 17.
The Look On My Face When Judge Judy Yells At Me Constantly
We know that the disciples spent time arguing over who was to be the greatest among them in the kingdom (Luke 22: 24-30). The reason Judge Judy irritates me is because I constantly want to ask her who the hell she thinks she is to be yelling at me all the time. *picture me beating my chest lol*
We also know that the hope of Israel for the Messiah was the overthrow of Rome to recover the rule of God in the Promised Land. That discussion from Luke 22 includes this: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them…” Jesus is telling his followers not to operate that way. When Judge Judy irritates me, I want but don’t have the authority to be able to slap her in her big mouth!
Apparently that was a very real temptation. Whether their arguing amongst themselves was a one off thing, the “snare” was always present among them (Exodus 23: 33). After all, why else did he say “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come…”!? If this is the temptation Jesus is addressing, then, per my previous point, his rather untechnical “you musts” and “worthless servants” rhetoric doesn't come out sounding so harsh and demeaning. As I mentioned, it turns out that Jesus is simply asking them to trust and obey his goodness and love. From Luke 22:
This means that the one getting a millstone hung around his neck and cast into the sea is the figure of the Roman oppressor who “Lords it over them.” This also means, however, that we can’t forget the caveat that the disciples – that’s us - are tempted to embody and enact the causing of “one of these little ones to stumble” rather than acting “as one who serves.” I become Judge Judy as soon as I slap her. In Luke 17, then, Jesus is taking the occasion of the anger of the oppressed towards the oppressor as an occasion to, in a very visceral way, teach what the Kingdom of God is like. He’s telling his Jewish disciples to forgive their Roman oppressors and their enemies. I guess I don’t get to slap that Judge Judy lady, after all. No wonder they ask him for help in the next verse!
Next thing you know, Jesus is showing great honor to a foreigner, a Samaritan who Israel hates. Why does Jesus keep challenging me like this!?
Apparently, the Kingdom of God is for EVERYONE. Not just those who are like us, not just for those who we trust, love, and identify with. And, that’s because the king of said Kingdom – that’s Jesus – is himself a good King full of love and mercy (“…you must forgive…seven times…”). “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for..”
So, when Jesus says “occasions for stumbling are BOUND to come,” he is addressing a basic identity and power dynamic among the peoples of humanity that is common to the human condition. And, he’s not only taking the side of “the little ones” but – by the end of the story, we see that he’s identifying himself as one of them while, at the same time, commanding his “worthless servants” to do the same! He reveals that it's impossible for the people of God to play the role of abuser within the basic fabric of reality to which human relationships are bound. In the end, he also enacts the command he gave us to offer forgiveness to our abusive enemies for whom it's better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around their necks than to enact the power struggle to which they tempt us.
What he's doing is giving us a picture of what his "steadfast love" looks like. It doesn't look like Judge Judy and her demanding aggressiveness, despite what my bones cry out at times. And, it is "steadfast," precisely because "occasions for stumbling are bound to come." Judge Judy is our inevitable occasion for stumbling rather than the image of the way God actually works. God is not a demanding judge. That's precisely why it would be better for the figures of demanding judges to have millstones around their neck in the sea. They put us on the path of death rather than of life.
Rather confused and taken aback at first, I worked through that passage and was given to see that it doesn’t start by our being told we must “believe” or else! He’s pointing to the value and importance of right relationship. So, when it hits us how difficult that is, we ask for help on how to trust him on what he’s pointing us towards. He basically responds by telling us to trust him in his authority as King of all Creation. After all, this all started by talking about forgiveness and restoration to right relationship!
So, Jesus then cleanses 10 lepers. And, one comes back to praise and thank him.
Though it was actually quite important to my previous point, what I didn’t discuss there was the millstone reference in the first part of Luke 17.
Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! 2 It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. – verses 1 &2In my previous post, I noted briefly that Jesus “is talking about healing restoration of right relationships in love” in verses 1-5. This is true, of course. But, what I didn’t note was the power dynamics at play in the background, which Jesus here brings to the foreground and addresses. There’s a new judge in town. And, he’s the figure head of enemy love rather than of harsh gavel slamming. There's no place for Judge Judy's abusiveness in the kingdom of God.
The Look On My Face When Judge Judy Yells At Me Constantly
We also know that the hope of Israel for the Messiah was the overthrow of Rome to recover the rule of God in the Promised Land. That discussion from Luke 22 includes this: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them…” Jesus is telling his followers not to operate that way. When Judge Judy irritates me, I want but don’t have the authority to be able to slap her in her big mouth!
Apparently that was a very real temptation. Whether their arguing amongst themselves was a one off thing, the “snare” was always present among them (Exodus 23: 33). After all, why else did he say “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come…”!? If this is the temptation Jesus is addressing, then, per my previous point, his rather untechnical “you musts” and “worthless servants” rhetoric doesn't come out sounding so harsh and demeaning. As I mentioned, it turns out that Jesus is simply asking them to trust and obey his goodness and love. From Luke 22:
27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.So, apparently God’s “rule” looks like self-sacrificial service and graceful forgiveness rather than my slapping Judge Judy the “Gentile who lords it over me.”
28 “You are those who have stood by me in my trials; 29 and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
This means that the one getting a millstone hung around his neck and cast into the sea is the figure of the Roman oppressor who “Lords it over them.” This also means, however, that we can’t forget the caveat that the disciples – that’s us - are tempted to embody and enact the causing of “one of these little ones to stumble” rather than acting “as one who serves.” I become Judge Judy as soon as I slap her. In Luke 17, then, Jesus is taking the occasion of the anger of the oppressed towards the oppressor as an occasion to, in a very visceral way, teach what the Kingdom of God is like. He’s telling his Jewish disciples to forgive their Roman oppressors and their enemies. I guess I don’t get to slap that Judge Judy lady, after all. No wonder they ask him for help in the next verse!
Next thing you know, Jesus is showing great honor to a foreigner, a Samaritan who Israel hates. Why does Jesus keep challenging me like this!?
18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”This “foreigner” is praised for having the faith the disciples are asking for help increasing. It’s as if Jesus points an Alt-right guy out to ANTIFA and says, “See, this is how it’s done!” Those inferior and impure little Samaritans! "Just cuz that one Nazi guy didn’t slap Judge Judy!?" I didn’t either!...yet…
Apparently, the Kingdom of God is for EVERYONE. Not just those who are like us, not just for those who we trust, love, and identify with. And, that’s because the king of said Kingdom – that’s Jesus – is himself a good King full of love and mercy (“…you must forgive…seven times…”). “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for..”
So, when Jesus says “occasions for stumbling are BOUND to come,” he is addressing a basic identity and power dynamic among the peoples of humanity that is common to the human condition. And, he’s not only taking the side of “the little ones” but – by the end of the story, we see that he’s identifying himself as one of them while, at the same time, commanding his “worthless servants” to do the same! He reveals that it's impossible for the people of God to play the role of abuser within the basic fabric of reality to which human relationships are bound. In the end, he also enacts the command he gave us to offer forgiveness to our abusive enemies for whom it's better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around their necks than to enact the power struggle to which they tempt us.
What he's doing is giving us a picture of what his "steadfast love" looks like. It doesn't look like Judge Judy and her demanding aggressiveness, despite what my bones cry out at times. And, it is "steadfast," precisely because "occasions for stumbling are bound to come." Judge Judy is our inevitable occasion for stumbling rather than the image of the way God actually works. God is not a demanding judge. That's precisely why it would be better for the figures of demanding judges to have millstones around their neck in the sea. They put us on the path of death rather than of life.
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