Jesus' exaggeration, etc.
Claire E. O'Connor claireoc@softdisk.com
Tue, 16 Dec 1997 14:42:23 -0600 (00882326543, 3496E7AF.6C93@softdisk.com)
PATSPEARS wrote:
>
>
> You say that nothing you say will "satisfy me," but you're wrong. You've
> presented a theory [namely that it was interpreted from the earliest times
> as you suggest it was]. Provide facts to support that theory and I will be
> thoroughly satisfied.
>
> But I don't see much in the NT account of Jesus' career that supports it.
> Jesus and all of his disciples were male, I don't think any one of them were
> married or had children, or perhaps they all indeed had families but
> abandoned them to join the new radical jewish sect.
>
> Jesus rebukes his own mother, saying, "Woman, what have I to do with you?"
> (JN 2:4); once, when his own "mother and brethren" sought him amongst the
> sect saying, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren. And he stretched
> forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my
> brethren" (MT 12:48-9). Its as if he's disowning his own family with a
> cold rebuke, for no apparent reason, right there in front of the crowd.
>
> To me the message is: forget your family, forget work [like fishing], forget
> clothing, forget worrying about food, forget family, pick up your cross, and
> follow me around to proclaim the end of the world.
>
> At that point, "love god" and "hate your family" would look pretty much the
> same from the abandoned family's point of view, wouldn't you think?
CLAIRE
Jesus had many women followers. Some of them are named in the Gospel of
Luke. Also, Peter was married (Jesus cured Peter's mother-in-law).
According to my theology instructory (the one who told me that Jesus was
exaggerating to make a point), family ties during the time of Jesus were
much more important than they are now. It was taken for granted that
children would abide by the wishes of their fathers (even when the
children were adults). The parable of the "Man with Two Sons" (the
"Prodigal Son") was shocking to Jesus' listeners because of the actions
of the younger son in demanding his inheritance and leaving his father.
He was treating his father as though the father were dead. That parable
does not shock us so much now, because our society does not take family
ties as seriously as the people living at the time of Jesus did.
I'll try to address your questions in more detail at a later time.
~Claire O'Connor