Reflection by Frances Flatman on next Sunday's Readings :-
Jesus was continually teaching his followers about the Kingdom of God. This was especially relevant as Jews in the 1st Century CE frequently thought of the coming of the kingdom in terms of Israel’s assuming dominance over the known world, and pushing others around much as they themselves had experienced for centuries; and which gives us such an insight into modern day Israel. Jesus, as we are continuing to see to the contrary, saw it in terms of a relationship with God the creator and sustainer of the universe, and not at all in militaristic or dominant terms; small wonder then that his understanding came to be rejected by so many in Judaism who increasingly saw his values as threatening to their way of life, indeed even for many of us Christians today those values can be a real challenge, and one we still battle to live up to.
We should not however think that Jesus’ ideas came from nowhere, for as we see in the early 2nd Century BCE work of the writer of Ecclesiasticus (3:17-18.20.28-29) Sirach and recalling the belief of his grandfather in Egypt, humility was what was desirable in the great, and he took a very dim view of the proud. For this writer, study of the scriptures and growth in their understanding was more to be desired than wealth or power. No doubt for this family, growing up as Jews in Egypt at a time when that country ruled Palestine, such a manner of life may have been helpful, and we can see how values such as these played their part in shaping Jesus’ thought.
In the work of the writer to the Hebrews (12:18-19.22-24), working in Rome for a Jewish-Christian group under the reign of Nero, and suffering his attacks on Christians in the 60’s CE, this kind of thinking has been translated into a great message of support and encouragement during those tricky times; an encouragement to them not to lose heart as many were doing. Some clearly thought it safer to return to a clearer adherence to Judaism, still quite a protected faith even in Rome due to the sympathy of one of Nero’s wives. Last week we observed the writer’s attempt to keep the community together under duress, by his suggestion that their difficulties were God’s educational process, and here in today’s passage we get the ‘up’ side of the story as he reminds them precisely of what is in store for them in the Kingdom. It is only when we appreciate precisely what a class-ridden society the Roman Empire was that we can take on board the truly radical nature of Christianity which is there throughout all our Gospels. In the heavenly Jerusalem he says, ‘With the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first born son’ and a citizen of heaven, you have come to God himself’. For the great majority, as senators and equestrians only made up about 1% of the total population, status - who you were and in consequence where you were in the pecking order - affected every aspect of your lives from the clothes you could wear, the jewellery, the abilities you had to get justice, where you could sit in the theatre and amphitheatre, and so much more. It might determine whether you could be flogged by the judges as we see with Paul, or the punishments meted out to you; and for thousands the wish to edge up and away from lowly status, even to gain citizenship through various means, would have been a paramount concern, as we find with the rise of former slaves to positions of power in the Imperial court. Most never saw the Emperor, or only at a huge distance, but saw his image daily on coins and statues, and were doomed to lives of drudgery and very hard work for a meagre income. They all needed a patron, someone more powerful and wealthier to whom they could turn for support and protection. Those without a patron would be beggars and outcasts. Imagine therefore the effect of Hebrews telling you you were all in the privileged status of the ‘first born son’, due to inherit property and a life of security and luxury; for this was the status Jesus promised to all the redeemed in the Kingdom of his God and Father. Life with and in the Father would be free forever from the strangulation of status and the control of patrons. Even those crushing instructions, running right back to Moses and the Old Testament ideas of God for Jews, are to be swept away as everyone joins in kingdom life; everyone is a full inheritor of this new life in its fullness and perfection, here everyone has citizenship, no one is second class or outside. This for the writer of Hebrews warrants steadfastness and a willingness even to face persecution, for the future in store for the believer immeasurably outweighed any present terrors.
Luke’s Jesus (14:1.7-14) however saw this not simply in future terms, but as a reality to be worked for in the here and now. Most of us it’s fair to say do invite only friends and family to dine with us; and whilst we might donate to charity to feed the poor it’s the rarer person who would bring complete strangers into their homes to eat. I remarked last week that all we are reading about Jesus now is in the shadow of his journey to Jerusalem and the cross from 9:51, so appreciating the extent of the mind-shift required of every Christian is significant here. In Luke’s gospel Jesus has three critical dinner parties with Pharisees - 7:36-50; 11:37-54 and here at 14:7-14 - and all three show the Pharisees in very poor light, for they are all about their attempts to discredit Jesus; and clearly Luke, writing for his pagan-convert master quite clearly distances Christians from the Jewish elite in the aftermath of the failed Revolt. Yet the points made in each of these cases could easily apply to Romans too; indeed Jesus’ parable told in our reading illustrates to perfection Greco-Roman concerns over status, since be they dinner parties or wedding feasts, the seating arrangements for guests would have been vitally important. Wedding guests today are not seated at random, but carefully selected for the comfort of the visitors, and the tables arranged on the whole to keep everyone within viewing distance of the happy couple. In ancient times, it was your power, your money and influence which got you the best seats, and many a guest might have face acute embarrassment if the host had been too casual about seating arrangements. Indeed, as the ‘lower orders’ there at banquets at the command of their patrons knew, guests of different status were given different food and wine, as Juvenal remarked, such occasions were not ‘charity’ but ‘done to make you suffer’; to enhance and press home the disparity of status not do away with it.
No doubt then there is a jibe against the likes of Theophilus and his class here too, for Jesus’ encounters with his followers, and his two big feedings, and indeed other parables, are entirely status free; and include dining with precisely the outcasts mentioned here by Jesus, notably Lk 14:15-24. Kingdom life is meant to challenge believers in every age and society, and there are few of us today who can be comfortable with its demanding and radical requirements.
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