20210716 A QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION
16 July, 2021, Friday, 15th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Exodus 11:10-12:14 © |
The institution of the Passover
Moses and Aaron worked many wonders in the presence of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he did not let the sons of Israel leave his country.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but roasted over the fire, head, feet and entrails. You must not leave any over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you are to burn. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 115(116):12-13,15-18 © |
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
The cup of salvation I will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps26:11 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 12:1-8 © |
The Son of Man is master of the sabbath
Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’
A QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EX 11:10-12:14; PS 116:12-13,15-18; MT 12:1-8]
Today there is so much division in the world, not just because of fake news or distorted information but basically because of very diverse interpretations, even over accepted legal texts or scriptures as well. Much time in the courts are spent arguing over how the laws are to be applied in specific cases and the context or the spirit of how the laws were formulated. If this is true in legal matters in the courts and in organizations, how much more when it comes to the interpretation of scripture texts and in our case, the bible. Indeed, if there are so many Christian denominations in the world today, it is simply because we all cannot agree on how the texts of the bible are to be interpreted or to be applied in particular situations.
Such challenges to the right interpretation of scriptures is not new because this was already an issue during the time of Jesus. The Pharisees, and particularly the Scribes, who were the legal experts on the Jewish scriptures because of their study, had the authority to interpret the Laws correctly and to apply them in specific situations. The Laws given by Moses were basic laws and many of them were taken from the laws familiar to the ancient world. However, these were modified to suit the people, their faith and their culture accordingly.
It is important to recognize and contextualize the scriptures. We must not be too naïve to think that God dictated the scriptures word by word to the authors of the Old and New Testaments. Whilst scripture is certainly inspired by God as the divine author and the messages are inerrant, we must not ignore the part human authors played in the composition of the scriptures. The human authors would have taken what they knew and what they were familiar with, whether it be the stories they used to bring across a message, or the rituals they created to commemorate the historical and theological events. So we must not be too naïve to think that God detailed exactly what Moses instructed the people. But this does not mean it is less inspired as well. God inspired the authors in his thoughts, examples and the events to be used to convey the theological message which is always true even with the changing times.
Indeed, when we read today’s first reading from the book of Exodus on the instructions given to celebrate the Passover, it is interesting to note that before it became a Jewish festival, it was actually a nomadic festival. The feast of the Passover was actually rooted in a primitive pre-Hebrew festival when the nomads would move from lower ground to higher ground to pasture their flock in spring. This is why the Passover is the beginning of the Spring Festival, occurring at the first full moon. Incidentally, the ancient people were worshippers of nature, moon and sun. The Egyptians worshipped the Sun God and this explains why the penultimate plague was complete darkness over the land of Egypt for three days. (Ex 11:21-29) In fact, all the nine plagues demonstrated God’s power over creation. For by the plague of blood, God defeated the gods of the Nile and the locusts defeated the gods of the harvest. This was to debunk the believe that the god of the Egyptians had power over nature when it was the God of Israel.
Significantly, the meal itself gives hint to the reason for the celebration. The centre of the Nomadic festival was the sacrifice of a first born of the flock, which was to acknowledge that the deity had power over their life and prosperity. Blood, which is a sign of life, turns away any evil spirits or destroying angels. So it was appropriate that the Hebrew Passover too was celebrated with the sacrifice of a sheep or a goat, and with the blood painted over the threshold, it also saved them from the angel of death that passed by on that fateful night.
Of course, we can give many other examples in the Old Testament of how the Israelites transformed cultural or agricultural events into religious events, whether it was with respect to the requirement of circumcision, which was then for hygiene purposes, or the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, or the Feast of Tabernacles, which were basically harvest festivals. Indeed, scholars feel that the Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread were brought together later to underscore the historical circumstances when the Hebrews left Egypt and walked with God into the desert. Although the central rituals in the Israelite religion were taken from pre-existing ancient Near Eastern rituals, we should not overlook the new theological meaning given to them. In fact, this was what Jesus did when He instituted the Last Supper; taking over a Jewish Passover celebration and transformed and modified it into a central Christian celebration of the Eucharist for all time as a memorial of our salvation. In the Exodus, this was to commemorate their deliverance from the slavery of the Egyptians, but for us today it is the deliverance from our sins. Just as the angel of death passed judgment on Pharaoh who killed all the first-born Hebrews, so the first born of the Egyptians died as a consequence. Just as the blood of the lamb saved the Hebrews, so the blood of Christ as the Lamb of God saves us from death and bring us to new life.
Once we understand that scriptures must be read within the context of the past and the context of the present, then we can appreciate why the interpretation of Jesus was very much different from that of the Pharisees and the Scribes. For the Scribes, they were simply legalists, seeking to apply the full force of the Law without consideration for the changing circumstances. They wanted to observe the letter of the law but missed out the law’s intention. For them fidelity to the Law was absolute. To ensure that the Law was kept, they extrapolated it to all possible circumstances in the lives of their people. Such laws are called scribal laws or oral tradition. This was true in the case of the Sabbath Law which was meticulously applied so that no one could break the Sabbath Law by doing work. The question then was, what counts for “work” since there are essential things that need to be done, such as cooking, saving someone who was sick or an animal that fell into the well. So in the understanding of the Scribes, what Jesus’ disciples did in picking ears of corn to eat, was considered something forbidden by the Sabbath Law even though they were hungry.
Jesus, however, went back to the spirit of the Law itself. He quoted from the writings of the Prophets. Like the disciples who were hungry, David breached the law in a state of emergency when he took the sacred loaves of bread from the tabernacle for his men to eat even though the bread was meant only for the priests of the Temple to consume. This was a case where human need took precedence over the obligation of rituals. He was not blamed or censured for breaking the law. When Ahimelech provided David the bread he was serving God’s purpose to help David flee from his enemy. Clearly, the intent of the law is to serve God, not for people to serve the law.
Secondly, Jesus cited the example of the Sabbath work of the priests in the temple. For any ritual to be performed, much work was involved in the preparations. But such work was permitted for the priests on the Sabbath because worship of God took precedence over Sabbath rules and regulations. Since priests were required to perform their duties, God made allowance for them to be exempted. (Num 28:9-10) Such priestly duties were certainly more important than violating the Sabbath Law of rest. And in a cryptic way, Jesus said, “Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple.” Who is that if not Jesus?
Finally, the true spirit of the law is the citation of Hosea’s words by the Lord. “What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.” Ethical consideration and charity take precedence over any ritual laws. What God desires of us is kindness and compassion. We cannot put prayers and sacraments before the demands of charity. This does not mean that we should not place God first in our lives. But when the situation demands it, the greatest worship of God is to make ourselves available to Christ who is present in the sick and the needy. We worship so that we can serve more effectively the needs of others. Worship leads to charity.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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