I am struck by the fact that we really don't know all that much about what Jesus actually taught in the synagogues. For example in the gospel of Mark we just know that he went and taught in the synagogue but what he actually said, we don't know. We don't have the tape, it isn't on the web, and no one has dug it up in an urn somewhere--at least not yet. The Markan narrative didn't see fit to tell us what he said, but did see fit to tell us what he did: he helped people who had needs. Jesus dealt with demons, healed lepers, and got Simon's mother's fever down, all within just a few verses of being told that he taught in the synagogue.
The needs of people are endless. The alterity of each individual is, of course, infinite. Is my life bound up in what I know, or about in how much I use what I know to benefit those around me in some tangible meaningful way that makes a difference?
As the Israelites responded to Moses at Sinai (Exod 24:7) "We will do and we will hear." (see the Hebrew text, not the English version) The commitment to follow the Torah preceded hearing it. The obligation to serve the Other precedes even knowing what it would entail. This is not a childish faith, but as Levinas says, a religion for adults. Taking up the responsibility to live for the benefit of others is one that commits "before" knowledge--it is a commitment to human beings before it is a commitment to knowledge. As Levinas would argue in his Talumudic readings, there is a great temptation to know before doing--to reverse the process--and to hold others at bay while we evaluate the information in the Torah and then make a decision on what we will do and what we won't do. Yet in the spirit of Torah, we do and then we hear.
Reading the gospel of Mark as Torah. It isn't important to know what Jesus taught before observing what he did. In the spirit of Torah, we know what did, before we hear what he taught. Before we read any kind of extensive sermon (and there is no "sermon on the Mount" in Mark) we see Jesus simply doing. As readers of this gospel, we experience "we will do, and we will hear."
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5 comments:
"Is my life bound up in what I know, or about in how much I use what I know to benefit those around me in some tangible meaningful way that makes a difference?"
I love it! Practical needs of individuals are rarely addressed outside of a context that first examines "belief" about faith. As we read what Jesus DID that should govern how act. THEN we are equipped to extrapolate meaning from the text and come to some sort of belief. Or, perhaps we should take after the Talmudic writings and record our discussion of belief and let the multi-voices speak for themselves.
NKR
You guys are rocking over here! What does Jesus' Mark actually even say? What Jesus does say in Mark is less didactic and more riddle. (Speaking of riddles Uncle, I would love to get some comments from you on a post I've got over at chajila--it's called "A Riddle") Cuz Nathan has already dropped by!! The discussion needs some Levinas. Anyway, Jesus spends more time asking questions in Mark. I'm not sure a well-developed concept like our "belief" is even at work in Jesus' Mark. However, Jesus--like you said--is fully facing his neighbors. His teaching seems to be a kind of verbal praxis that DOES something to the hearer. He questions them. I find that the way we have structured christian religion in America (at least with many evangelicals) is that we consistently refuse to make covenant with our neighbor. Rather, we make covenant to doctrine. Then after we settle "right belief" we begin to go around organizing service projects. Making covenant to our neighbor should be not only first, but final. We can only find meaning and tentative beliefs once we commit. P.S. I asked some questions of you down in your first post--have you noticed? Peace
KH
What a provocative comment Holton shared: "Making covenant to our neighbor should be not only first, but final."
I am reminded of God's covenant with humanity, with the Israelites and with all in Jesus Christ. This radical relationality permeates the entirety of scripture. What might it look like to live with our neighbor with the understanding that "I am here to seek your well-being, without pre-condition, reservation or limitation."
This is what I believe Jesus had in mind when he taught us to love our neighbor as ourself. But can we, I wonder, make it past the inevitable rough spots when our neighbor disappoints us in their treatment of us? Can we stay true to the covenant without reciprocity? That seems to me the big challenge.
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