so give me hope in the darkness
that i will see the light
When the
rich landowner asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life, Jesus tells this man to
give everything away to the poor (who, presumably, he defrauded to build his
wealth).
Interpretations
upon this pericope abound...
(I
paraphrase)
Maybe when Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than it is for a wealthy person to enter G-d's
reign alludes to a gate in Jerusalem called "eye of the needle."
Supposedly this gate (which has absolutely no archeological evidence) required
that the camel unload everything to get through the gate.
Or
Perhaps this call to sell everything and give it to the
poor only applies to this man. Jesus' categorical demand is that people leave whatever
it is that keeps them from following.
And so
on.
While
neither of the two examples are particularly true to Jesus' words, the personal
interpretation seems to be least helpful. (Never mind that the simple act of
trying to interpret these words away is a subtle redux of the rich man’s turning away.)
For
starters, suggesting that this call to sell everything only applies to that man
forgets that in Acts (Acts 1:45) the clear depiction is that followers DID sell
everything. The second problem with this interpretation is that it ignores
Mark's categorical suspicion of that any wealth could be accrued
faithfully/honestly. Another problem with this interpretation is that misses
Mark's subverting the perennially popular theological assumption that wealth
necessarily means one is blessed by God.
Finally
the problem with any attempt to tame Jesus' words is that we don't do followers
of Jesus, ourselves or Jesus any favors with our interpretive gymnastics.
This
particular episode puts on full display Mark's trust in an apocalyptic
reversal. It is full of jabs at simplistic theology, suspicion, and solidarity.
For Mark pious words don't matter; for Mark it is about concrete acts of
justice. For Mark the piety of this person is radically undermined by his
possessions (presumably because these possessions were accrued on systematic
exploitation).
In an
election year we shouldn't ignore that for Mark concrete acts of justice does
include redistributing wealth to the poor. Regardless of how you see this
redistributing happening, through progressive taxing or personal charity; Mark does expect
wealth not to be hoarded, but used for the other.
Furthermore,
(and perhaps this is too heavy-handed) in an election year we also shouldn't
ignore Mark's suspicion of wealth. Mark is suspicious that many possesions can
only be gained through a system of exploitation. Living after a recession
caused (at least in part) by irresponsible and unethical banking practices that
(among other things) exploited the poor and vulnerable, these suspicion should prove insightful.
Yes,
Jesus' words are demanding.
But no, we don't do anyone any favors by trying to
temper these words.
When the
man first comes to Jesus he falls to his knees, a typical action by those
seeking healing...
It also says that Jesus looks on this guy with love...
While
Jesus does ask we completely divest ourselves of self-serving power, Jesus also
demonstrates this way of life in deed and word.
So then, perhaps Jesus asks us to give away our power, not because he is some kind of saddist, but for our own good/healing...
Finally, Jesus not only gives up any material possessions, he finally
gives all of himself at the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus is lives out the words asked of us.
This brings up a really great point--we often try to sugarcoat or explain away the hard truths we don't want to face. We try to ask how this needs to be reworded to conveniently rationalize our lives and actions. The real question should be how we change our lives and perspectives when we hear this sort of gospel message.
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