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- 1. HOPE TO SRI LANKAN SUFFERING COMMUNIT(Y) IES: AN EXEGETICAL ENQUIRY ON A MARKAN TEXT (Originally under the title “Truth of the Gospel and Christian Leadership: A Human Rights Perspective”) *(This is originally one of my seven biblical reflections written very briefly and was published by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the NCCSL in 1992 and this article particularly was developed further. This also was published in ‘Sri Lanka Journal of Theological Reflection’ (TCL) in 2005. Since these articles were meant for the laity and workers who meet with people at their grass root level, was not supported with foot notes. The following foot notes were found while I was at the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana of USA while on an inter-cultural program/ visiting research scholar: Jan-May 2008) Text: Mark 1:40-45 Muthiah Selvarajah B.D, M.Th, Lecturer: New Testament E-mail: smuthiah_cts@yahoo.com The above text shows a man suffering to his maximum and he is one among thousands of such people of great misfortune. Jesus had to take a lot of risk to save people of this nature. The Jewish religious leaders like the Pharisees, scribes and the Sadducees would be the main sect of people who would oppose the work of Jesus. Jesus’ work for the reign of God and the opposition upstaged particularly by religious leaders of his time were all recorded in the four Gospels. Comments on these conflicts that are biblical may not be seen as anti-semitism. The commitment of the Pharisees toward the law is fairly serious but they are mostly bound to religious observances. However, the Law of Moses that was how it was known during the biblical times can never be confined to mere religious observances. Futher to this, the interpretation that was prevailing among the Hebrew people during the Bublical time was known as the Oral Law that over took and do outwit the written Law. Jesus was critical of oral law mainly because it conveyed traditions and observances that was too shallow in values. Jesus differed drastically and intolerant to the existing oral law for most of the time it stood against the good life and witness of the people of Israel. The sick were neglected and healing them on a Sabbath day was not received as a holy act. Men afflicted of leprosy were driven to the periphery and any person sick with the issue of blood was isolated with no mercy. The people who were differently able (handicapped) were not permitted to enter the temple and women who were morally traffict were ruthlessly adjudicated leaving out men who cause such immoral problem. Human weakness is a common feature in any society and Hebrew people are no different to this. However, this is not an excuse to permit such evils to prevail and Jesus is our driving force to act upon such social evils. But for Jesus he totally stood for the reign of God and for the values of God that would vouch for the integrity of people especially of the marginalized. Generally, what the people of Israel failed to realize was that God was working even before the law was introduced, and therefore it is very important to know that God would act very freely without limiting God’ self to the law. Jesus’ this particular understanding of God made him feel free to minister to the needy especially to the peasants, the underprivileged, the oppressed and the marginalized without binding himself to any condition or religious tradition that may prevent him from doing justice. It was this attitude of Jesus that earned him all the bitter conflicts with the religious leaders. The Hebrew people were originally semi-nomads or tribal people under individual clan leaders until they came under the guidance of the modern religious leaders like the Sadducees, Pharisees and the scribes. The Sadducees were politically motivated leaders. The Chief Priest would hail from the sect of the Sadducees and gradually it became a political appointment made by the Roman authorities. These leaders were solely responsible for the spiritual orientation of the people and by this they gained total control over them especially related to their social and 1
- 2. religious aspect of life. The interpretation given to the law that was known as the Oral Law gradually reduced the Hebrews to mere traditional observances and Jerusalem temple cult. The above chosen biblical text would better witness to the declining religious status of Israel.This becomes clear in Jesus’ dealing with a man who had been ailing of leprosy. During the biblical period leprosy was counted to be more than a sickness. The details of the disease and its implications are discussed at length in two chapters in Leviticus 13-14. It was a concern of purity and pollution and therefore if someone is suspected of suffering of leprosy s/he is supposed to verify by referring it to a priest according to the requirement of the law. If the priest is not too sure to ascertain then he would isolate the suspected person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest would call the person for further examination and if it is found to be positive; the priest would declare that the person afflicted with leprosy to be “unclean” (Lev.14).1 The person who was declared to be unclean will face the following consequences. 1. He would be unable to remain with his family.2 The Israelites were living in the expectation of a Messiah and they believed that at his coming he would gather together all the families of Israel unto him. Therefore it was believed that a person afflicted with leprosy may defile the sanctity of the chosen family. Hence a person with leprosy would be segregated and left at the verge of loosing the family sustenance. It was a denial of social and civic rights of a person. But for the Jews it was only a religious obligation. *From then and now it can be evidently seen that many religious obligations are kept up at the expense of human values for life. 2. Such persons with leprosy cannot live in Jerusalem the holy city of the Israelites! Since they believed it to be the capital city of the expected Messiah, they tried through all means to preserve the city from being defiled. Thus a person with leprosy was not permitted to remain in the city. *To the present socio-political context, this is an act of denying civil rights to a person. 3. The Jerusalem temple according to the scriptures was believed to be the house of the Father (God) (Is.57:6; Jer.7:11). Hence they held the faith that it would also become the house of the coming Messiah! According to the Jews, a person with leprosy is liable to defile the temple and thus s/he with leprosy they prohibited from entering the temple.3 *It was a denial of religious rights to the person concerned. In the above text, the person who was stricken with leprosy therefore was in utter dereliction when he saw Jesus. What hope he could place in Jesus who was also hailing from the same society which had rejected him? No one believed Jesus to be the Messiah while he was alive. Even his disciples were not aware of the person of Jesus until they became the living witnesses to 1 The determination of the disease’s active or inactive state belonged to the priest, who exercised his function not as a physician (no treatment is prescribed) but as a judge and interpreter of the law, whose favorable decision was required before purification rites permitting reentry into the community could be initiated. When a case was doubtful, a period of quarantine was imposed, lasting in some cases a week (vv.21, 26) or at most a fortnight (vv 4ff. 31ff.). During the time of his uncleanness the diseased person had to remain outside the city, giving notice of his condition to the unsuspecting through the customary signs indicative of his state: torn garments, long, flowing hair, covered beard (Ezek 24:17), and the repeated cry “Unclean!” see Ronald J, Faley, T.O.R, LEVITICUS (The new Jerome Biblical Commentary., Edt., R.E.Brown & others., New Delhi,: Rekha Printers Private Limited, 1990) 69. 2 He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. Such persons were not only isolated from family and friends but were excluded also from public worship, see Douglas R.A. Hare, MARK, (Louisville, Kentucky,: Westminister John Knox Press, 1999) 34. 3 Rabbinic refinement of the biblical legislation imposed many practical difficulties. Lepers were allowed to live unhampered wherever they chose, except in Jerusalem and cities which had been walled from antiquity, see William L. Lane, the Gospel According to Mark, (Grand Rapids, Michigan,: William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975) 85. 2
- 3. his resurrection. Jesus himself was not very keen of it for many reasons. Then what could have made this man to dare to turn to Jesus. What was the difference that he found in Jesus compared to the religious leaders of his time. It could have been the wide spread news of Jesus’ attitude towards the marginalized, the socially outcasts, the forsaken and the rejected. Jesus himself said that he prefers mercy to sacrifice (Matt.9:13). Mercy based on justice and not on charity. *Mercy here means to recognize the pains and sufferings of others and to find remedy rather than passing a judgment on them. “For the son of man also came not to be served but to serve” (MK 10.45a). This he did at a great risk. When the man with leprosy pleaded to make him clean, it was recorded that Jesus was moved with compassion.4 Compassion may mean sharing in the sufferings of others. The Greek form used for compassion/pity also means chief intestines and that shows the depth of Jesus’ feelings towards this man whom society had totally rejected. The Hebrew society that was bound to the law was too legalistic to fulfill its human and social responsibilities. Jesus having moved in him stretched out his hand and touched him (this may be translated as held/embraced) irrespective of the demands of the law.5 The law says the one who touches an ‘unclean’ would be unclean too and therefore the one who touches a so called unclean had to stay away from the society for one full day until evening or for seven days whichever was suitable. Thereafter he should enter with due purification (Lev.14). For Jesus it was not leprosy but hypocrisy was to be condemned. Furthermore the Realm of God does not deprive the rights of the innocents but rather restores them. So Jesus stretched out his hand and held/embraced him and made him whole. After this Jesus asked him to show himself to a priest, since it was only by showing to a priest that a man healed of leprosy could enter the society.6 Thus Jesus restored to him his lost dignity and rights. 1. This act of Jesus removed the social segregation and made him to join his family. 2. This was also an act where his civil rights were restored politically. As a citizen of Israel he won his lost rights. This made him possible to enter the city of Jerusalem. 3. This very act of Jesus removed the religious taboos and isolation placed on him. This freed him to enjoy his religious rights and thereby enter the temple. 4 Deeply moved with compassion: this translates the participle splanchnistheis, which is one of the most disputed textual readings in MK. The root of the verb (the noun is splachnon) designates the seat of affective feeling and emotion (our “guts”), and is often translated “heart”. Some western manuscripts read orgistheis (“being angered”), and on the principle of lectio defficillior potior (the more difficult reading is to be preferred) many translate “being angered”. The argument is that copyist (embarrassed at the anger of Jesus) would more likely change “anger” to compassion than vice versa, see John R. Donahue., S.J. and Daniel J. Harrington., S.J. (ed), The Gospel of Mark; Sacra Pagina Series Vol. 2, (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2002) 89. *Please reflect on Sri Lankan situation on religious perspective. 5 Jesus exhibits not only his willingness to heal, but also his willingness to risk ceremonial uncleanness himself by touching the man (“Leprosy and Cleansing” TBC). Elmer A. Martens and William M.Swartley (ed), MARK; “Believers Church Bible Commentary” (Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Waterloo, Ontario: Herald Press, 2001) 51. 6 Surely this does not represent Jesus’ own concern to stay within religious boundaries. After all, he has just conventionally defiled himself by touching the leper. Jesus might be showing his concern for the cleansed man by sending him to the priest, thus encouraging him to be certified clean so that further social cantact is officially authorized. (ibid. , 52 ) . 3
- 4. This shows that the saving act of Jesus ensures life in fullness materially and spiritually. Body with life in it, soul the seat of spirituality and the mind that reasons out are not separate entities as if they stand against each other but a unified and wholesome factor before God. Jesus and his mission have to be understood in wholesome. Any effort of compartmentalizing the life into segments like body and soul finds no support biblically. Also any effort of degrading or uprooting a human person from his/her community would bring harmful result in living the gospel. A gospel preached free of God’s justice and human dignity may distort the truth of the gospel. Making disciples to Jesus cannot be substituted by the act of increasing the members in the church numerically. In his mission of establishing a new realm of God (Kingdom of God); the blood that Jesus shed was very costly. We cannot abuse it by limiting it to a mere abstract world of spirituality or material world either. It is to enact the justice of God and to work for the glory and growth of God’s Realm that we are called to discipleship. The quality of Christian leadership is identified only by adopting a costly discipleship by following the foot prints of Jesus. For the Sri Lankans/Asians; political identity, religious identity and family union are part and parcel of life. 1. POLITICAL IDENTITY: The cry for political freedom has taken many dimensions in Sri Lanka. Arms struggle of the youths is just one of it. ‘What we call today terrorism is only an outcome of a root cause. Leaving aside the root cause and trying to deal with the outcome may further aggravate the problem.’7 However, killing in any form has no place in the gospel. At present, we have been exposed to a time frame where legalism and traditionalism can do little to solve the political unrest between people who belong to various ethnic identities. What is needed is a revolutionary leap like that of Jesus to remove the curse of hypocrisy in order to heal the age old ethnic unrest (political leprosy) in Sri Lanka. 2. VALIDITY OF FAMILY UNION: Beyond words the internal war that continued for nearly three decades has brought sizable damages to the phenomena of family union of our country.8 Family life in Sri Lanka has been ruined so badly whose members have been scattered locally and overseas numerously. Family members whether they live in locally or abroad, they have not met each other for many years. The Sri Lankan people have become refugees locally, and political asylum seekers outside the country. Tamils and Muslims are uprooted very largely. The Sinhala families affected of the war and those who got caught to blasts at various places leading to the loss of bread winners or caring mothers are irreplaceable. 3. RELIGIOUS IDENTITY: The religious state of the people of Sri Lanka is under deeper crisis. War has stamped its prints everywhere. The ruined places of worship in the Northern Province (where Tamil minority live largely) and the Eastern Province (Tamil and Muslim minority live in largely) stand a monument to this fact. In the past few Buddhist temples also came under attack. This situation at present has taken a different turn with some clergy of all religions getting killed for known and unknown reasons. Religious compulsions are at a great force in the peace negotiations. They at times bring positive compulsions and at times bring negative pressure to the country and on those who are engaged in negotiations. A sober approach of the religious institutions may bring a better climate to the present situation.9 7 Fr. Paul Casperz, article published in Senkol (Septer) official magazine of NCCSL in December 1993. 8 The internal war between the Government forces and the Tamil militants is believed to be ended by May 17, 2009. 9 4
- 5. Jesus healing the man with leprosy, said to him, ‘Go, show yourself to the priest at the temple’. This Jesus said because a person who is healed takes with him a pair of birds and a twig of hyssop and an earthen vessel to the priest (Lev.14). The priest receives these from the one who was healed and he would kill one of the birds and mixing its blood in water in the clay vessel and using the hyssop would sprinkle it upon the healed one and declare him ‘clean’.10 And soak the other bird in blood and water in the clay vessel and would let it fly free. The way the bird would be set free the healed person was made free in the society. This is an ideal model of Jesus that he set up for the new realm of God! It was a model to pronounce freedom and to affirm life at all levels on the God given earth. This should be a serious pointer to any religious institution that deals with life of people. It demands to commit for the new realm of God that has emerged with righteousness (justice) and equality. This has become a past event now and political negotiation between the present Government and concerned minority sects have not begun in a way that is worth mentioning. 10 Jesus’ concern was to restore this man physically, spiritually, and socially. – By extension, the principle would apply to the healing of interpersonal, social, and international disorders as well. , see Lamar Williamson, JR., Mark, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1983) 61. 5
- 6. Jesus healing the man with leprosy, said to him, ‘Go, show yourself to the priest at the temple’. This Jesus said because a person who is healed takes with him a pair of birds and a twig of hyssop and an earthen vessel to the priest (Lev.14). The priest receives these from the one who was healed and he would kill one of the birds and mixing its blood in water in the clay vessel and using the hyssop would sprinkle it upon the healed one and declare him ‘clean’.10 And soak the other bird in blood and water in the clay vessel and would let it fly free. The way the bird would be set free the healed person was made free in the society. This is an ideal model of Jesus that he set up for the new realm of God! It was a model to pronounce freedom and to affirm life at all levels on the God given earth. This should be a serious pointer to any religious institution that deals with life of people. It demands to commit for the new realm of God that has emerged with righteousness (justice) and equality. This has become a past event now and political negotiation between the present Government and concerned minority sects have not begun in a way that is worth mentioning. 10 Jesus’ concern was to restore this man physically, spiritually, and socially. – By extension, the principle would apply to the healing of interpersonal, social, and international disorders as well. , see Lamar Williamson, JR., Mark, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1983) 61. 5