CHAPTER 22
Christ lays down some more parables and teachings. He starts off with a parable of a wedding
feast. A guy sends out his servants to
invite people to the feast, but the guest kills the servants instead. Wait – what? That came out of nowhere.
OK, I get it’s an analogy/foreshadowing for what will happen to
Christ. But part of a good parable should
be ….sounding believable. It doesn’t
really work. Stick to mustard seeds,
Jesus.
Anyhow, the man decides not to invite the people that
murdered his servants. (Good move!) Instead, he lets people in off the
street. This is a clear analogy for
what’ll happen with Christianity.
Christ comes from God to the Jews, they’ll reject him – so let anyone
follow him – even those seedy gentiles off the street. Well, one of the guys invited off the street
isn’t wearing the proper attire, and so gets kicked out again. That doesn’t seem fair. He was just some guy off the street. Well, I guess they let people go home to get
dressed. I guess it was something like
that. Still, it leads us to Christ’s
grand conclusion: “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” I think King James translates it as “Many
are called” – that’s the version I’m more familiar with.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this conclusion, but I
can see where this can lead to a dim view of human nature. Many churches have traditionally believed
that most people are doomed to the hellfire below because of their sinful
nature. That was true of the Calvinists. I believe that was true of the Middle Ages
Catholics. And this statement about
“few are chosen” serves as justification for a dim view of human nature. Combine it with the Garden of Eden and you
have most people acting as sinners, and thus not being among the chosen.
With that out of the way, Jesus now comes to one of the most
famous stories in the gospels. The
Pharisees ask him if it’s right to pay the census tax to the Romans. I’ve read about this, but forgot some of the
arguments about it. On the face it, my
own sense has always been rather straightforward – don’t worry about material
things. Give the things of the material
world to those it belongs it – Caesar, in this case. And let God worry about the big things – your soul and living a moral
life.
Yeah, but there is more going on there than that. The Pharisees are clearly trying to trap
Christ. That’s all they ever really do,
after all. If he says, “don’t pay it,”
he’ll be in trouble with the authorities.
If he says, “do pay it” he’ll look bad another way. (I don’t quite get how, I guess the Jews
didn’t like the tax. Yeah, that must be
it – after all, tax collectors are clearly among the most hated people in the
Old Testament).
Christ’s answer is very carefully done. He doesn’t just say, “Give unto
Caesar.” He asks for a coin, and then
asks whose image is on the coin. “Caesar.”
Well, since that is literally his coin, give it to him. But all else belongs to God. That’s the issue – just how much belongs to
God? Well, everything, I guess. He is God, after all. But this answer gets Christ off the hook
with authorities. He’s really good at
the careful answer when he needs to give one.
The Sadducees – not the Pharisees, but the real
heavy-hitters – now have a question for Christ. By the Torah, if a married older brother dies, his younger
brother is supposed to marry the widow.
Well, in heaven whose wife is she?
This is actually an intriguing question in general regardless of
Christ. But it is more pressing with
Christ, since he is the guy who goes on all the time about the kingdom of
heaven, and his own hard line against remarriage. Christ has his answer: there is no marriage or marry, but we’ll
all be like the angels of heaven. We’ll
all be passed all that gender stuff. That shuts up the Sadducees.
CHAPTER 23
We’re nearing the end of the parts where Christ does
teaching. Here, he denounces the
Pharisees and Sadducees to the masses.
Earlier, I wondered why Christ created so much more antagonism than John
the Baptist did. Well, it’s because he
did more antagonizing. He decries the
Pharisees and Sadducees as hypocrites.
They take the chair of Moses and have all the glory going to themselves
instead of God. Basically, it’s the
same criticism Martin Luther will later make of the Catholic Church. These so-called leaders, “tie up heavy
burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not
life a finger to move them.” (Brackets in the original). They are the enemy. They use their position to attack the
people.
There are some very strong strains of Amos here. As much as Christ focuses on God – last
chapter he said the most important commandment is to love God with all of your
heart, the first commandment – for Christ, following God isn’t just about how
you relate to God. You prove your
righteous faith in God by acting righteously towards those around you. People that use their position to hurt not
help are against God, even if their station says they are for God. As Christ says, “Whoever exalts himself will
be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” That’s a nice line. It reminds me a little of some of the lyrics
to “The Times They Are A-Changing” by Bob Dylan.
Christ trashes the so-called leaders for a ton of time, and
then shifts gears at the very end. He
starts lamenting Jerusalem. He
denounces, “Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you” –
that’s a clear reference to what will happen to Christ. OK, so he’s crucified instead of stoned and
the messiah, not just a prophet – but the theme is still the same. So what’ll happen to the old town as a
result? “Behold your house will be
abandoned, desolate.” It’s quotes like
this that make some scholars believe that the gospels were written after the
destruction of Jerusalem from 66-70 AD.
Yeah, I can see it, but I got to admit – this assumption,
while reasonable – is also iffy. Yeah,
that could be the case. But then again,
maybe it happened. Look, I don’t
believe in Jesus as Christ. I’m an
atheist. But the evidence is good that
there was a real person called Jesus and he did make his sermons to the people
of Judah. Too much came out about him
within a few decades of his death to be fictional.
And it’s also clear that after his crucifixion his apostles
kept the faith in him. That strikes me
as odd, but I can’t imagine any scenario in which Christianity survives if they
don’t keep the faith. Why would they,
though?
Here is where it gets tricky. I’ll say this: all the gospels agree (I think; I’ve only read
them once before and that was 15 years ago) that Christ foretold his death and
resurrection. He could see which way
the wind was blowing. Well, the
apostles saw something – we’ll get to that later, at the conclusion of each of
the gospels). For now, I’ll just note
that if Christ could foretell all this, why not foretell the destruction of
Jerusalem itself? That sounds like a
possibility.
Mind you, I do think that the gospels were written after the
destruction of the Temple. While it
could be something that Christ said, it could also be a part of the story
retro-fitted in to explain why Jerusalem was destroyed. Also, it can be both Columns A and B –
something Christ foretold that later writers make sure to point out after it
happens. Actually for me the best
evidence that the gospels were written after the destruction of the city is
this: there is no evidence from his letters that St. Paul is familiar with them
at all. You’d figure he’d comment on
them, right? Also, it does make sense
that the biographies would come out around then. Earlier, there wouldn’t have been much need. Initially, you still had a bunch of guys who
knew Jesus who could talk about him.
There were Christ’s brothers, and the apostles. OK, then you get St. Paul, who didn’t know
the flesh-and-blood Jesus, but had his vision.
But those guys start dying off or were killed. St. Paul and St. Peter are believed to have been killed shortly
after Rome’s fire in 64 AD, and any Christians in Jerusalem would’ve been
screwed in the rebellion. Now that the
first generation who knew Christ has passed on, better write down the stories,
in order to tell the future generations what he was like. So the gospels were probably written after
70 AD.
I’ve really gone off on a tangent here, haven’t I?
CHAPTER 24
This is a weird chapter break – Christ is still in the
middle of foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem. Well, he’s focusing on the temple, but that’s still in
Jerusalem. He says it’ll be
destroyed. Sure – he’d say that because
the leaders are the ones rejecting him.
(And, assuming this was written after Jerusalem’s destruction, the end
of the temple can be justified by the rejection of Christ. Just as the Babylonian Captivity and the end
of the first temple can be explained, so can this one. And if you can explain it, the movement can
become stronger instead of weaker).
Christ goes on to make a series of all prophecies for the
future. He warns people against false
prophets. And Christ goes on to tell
people that the believers in him are in for some hard times. “Then they will hand you over to
persecution, and they will kill you.
You will be hated by all nations because of my name. …… But the one who perseveres to the end
will be saved.” Hmmm…. I don’t know if
this was written before or after the destruction of Jerusalem itself
necessarily, but it sure sounds like this was written after the persecution of
Christians had begun. Christ is looking
at the persecuted ones square in the eye when he says this. (Or, another way of saying that is the
author of this gospel is looking persecuted Christians square in the eye when
he writes this). If Matthew is written after persecutions have begun, that
makes it incredibly likely it came after Jerusalem was destroyed. There isn’t much of a window between
them.
Anyhow, Christ continues giving them a series of bleak
foretelling, “Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days” – but
it’ll all turn out fine. The sun will darken, and the stars will fall from the
sky – and then the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Christ tells us, “This generation will not pass away until all
these things have taken place.” That’s
a rather awkward verse to deal with, as my footnotes tell me. Really, it depends on how you mean
generation. Does it mean 30 years? Does it mean as long as there are Jews? To me, it sounds like Christ is saying this
will happen soon. And that fits in with
the overall thrust of his prophecy.
After all, he did begin by telling people, “The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.” He doesn’t really talk much
about the heavens above, but about the world here. There is a definite End of Times streak to his thought. Just reading this, you wouldn’t expect the
world to survive another 2,000 years.
CHAPTER 25
Christ gives his final teachings in this chapter and ….. I
think he’s saving the least for last.
He gives parables about ten virgins, some servants, and then a king with
shepherds and goats. The main themes
are being faithful, stay awake, and do as you’re told.
A few things are interesting here. In one parable, Jesus implicitly comes out in favor of interest.
In his story of servants, a master gives his servants some money, and a few put
it in a bank and watch it grow via interest rates. Their master thanks them and now trusts it. The other servant buries it, and the money
doesn’t grow. The master calls him “You
wicked, lazy servant!” and throws him out.
For a 1,000-some years, the Catholic Church will oppose
interest rates. Usury it’s called, and
it’s a sin. You make money off of someone else without really adding anything
to it. Thus it’s for jerks. Not until the Reformation will that bit of
theology change. The key man there is
John Calvin, who argues in favor of interest rates. This particular story must be a godsend to Calvin for justifying
his views.
The last story has a really nice line in it: “For I was
hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger
and you welcomed me, naked an you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in
prison and you visited me.” That gets
to the heart of how a person is supposed to act. This strikes right to the core of the values of Christianity. Like Pope Francis said upon becoming the
pontiff, the church must focus on the central message of Jesus Christ, which is
love. I may not believe in Christ as
the messiah or God or religion in general, but I sure like the values it
embodies.
Then, after also noting those who did the opposite, Jesus
finished the chapter with this line: “And these will go off to eternal
punishment, but the righteous will go off to eternal life.” OK, so far Jesus Christ really hasn’t spoken
much about heaven and hell. (In fact,
does he ever even say “Hell” in this gospel?
I don’t think so). Jesus speaks
in elliptical ways in his parables, and talks about the kingdom of heaven, but
it’s never fully clear what that means.
Meanwhile, we know that eventually a theology of heaven and
hell, one where the good people go and another where the sinners go, emerges
with Christianity. Those are places
where your soul sits for eternity in the afterlife – but you never quite have
Christ say that. If Christ rarely talks
clearly about the afterlife (you can easily view his talk of the kingdom of
heaven as being the coming reign of God’s ways here on earth), where does our
modern Christian notions of heaven and hell come from? Well, the last line of Chapter 25 sure is
one place. Once it’s fully clear that the Second Coming won’t come any time
soon, you harken back to lines like Matthew 25:46, combine it with the talk of
heaven and God and Satan – and you have heaven and hell.
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