I love the poem at the end of the post, about Mary birthing Jesus and presenting him to the world. I sent it to a friend, Sarah, who is a minister in a local Lutheran Church. She wrote me back that the church sign, which said "God loves you just the way She made you" had been vandalized. Your message was very affirming to her, and I am so grateful to have been able to share it.
Really appreciate this essay, and all the discussion. I’d like to make one distinction in your examples of rule breaking. Jesus never broke the sabbath. This point may have been made in another comment, so pardon me if I’m being repetitive. Jesus made the distinction between God’s laws and men’s unhelpful interpretations. While traditions and norms can be important and binding, if they harm people instead of helping people, we can be encouraged to break them. This wasn’t exactly your point, I know, and I don’t want to distract from your very good point arguments. However, Jesus breaking men’s “fences around Torah,” or their faulty interpretation is not the same as Jesus breaking the law God put in place—in this case, observing the sabbath. I do like your idea of wrestling with what the rules and laws may be for, and continuing to wrestle with them. We build wisdom, humility, and open-mindedness that way.
I was just thinking about the ELEVEN of your story and the TWELVE of the jury members in the Trump trial. Each at one time, ordinary, everyday citizens called to do something extraordinary. Responses to their relative decisions were mixed and fraught with accusations of corruption as well as praise for their bravery.
Diana, this is an apt comparison ~ the intention of the rule-breaking and the rule-breaker. So good. And I would say the intentional blindness of the onlookers in the case of Mr. Trump. I am inspired to watch the ELEVEN. Thank you. In all of the propaganda and campaigning of Mr. T, I never hear nor sense the wisdom of “The greater good.” It is always, “What is good for me is enough.”
When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why we have the poor, they call me a Communist.---Dorothy Day. The Law was made for [and by] mankind; [but] mankind was not made for the Law.---Jesus. In almost every society in history, when good things are done outside the law, it reveals an underlying injustice that the law has been covering up. Humankind owes its moral evolution, at least in part, to those who break the law and accept the consequences in furtherance of a greater good for all.
Thank you Diana, for adding the bit about the ELEVEN. Living in rural MN we often do not have the opportunity to view these in a Theater. I also enjoyed the panel discussion that followed. You are one of the trusted writers/historians and faithful Christians that I follow. Please try to take SOME of the summer for YOU. May God bless you and keep you healthy!!
Thank you. It is a hard time in my United Methodist Church as so many are leaving because we have decided to break rules to allow everyone to be included.
In July 1974 I was with A Christian Ministry in National Parks in the Grand Tetons. I had graduated from BSU in Indiana and was headed to Iliff School of Theology in the fall, called to Ordained Ministry in the UMC. I read this news with excitement and nievely wondered what all the push back was about, seeing how Jesus first gave the resurrection news to women.
It only took a few weeks in seminary to discover the patriarchy in hearts minds and systems. In the UMC women’s ordination was LEGAL however ministry was often difficult and culture in churches resisted seeing Gods gifts in women as well as men.
I did a sabbatical in Boston which included a class from Rev. Carter Hayward.
I look forward to the documentary- thanks for your work, Diana!
I read this article on Monday, after I preached on the passage. I said some take the view that "The rules are the rules are the rules," but Jesus says, in effect, "If the rules are harming people, break them." (That is a paraphrase, but it gets to the point.)
Thank you for the reference about Jesus and the Pharisees.
Please don’t take personally the criticism thrown at you. You yourself know your own heart, mind and scholarship behind what you have written. And you have shared an important point in your comparisons. Regardless of each personal understanding of the historical perspective of the Pharisees, and Jesus Christ’s relationship with them; it is the strength of His Words of Grace and Unconditional Love that have allowed the story of the Philadelphia 11 to be such a powerful example of stepping through, over and around the mire, to continue what God led them to begin.
So glad my husband sent me this link today. God indeed knows what we need, and through whom it is carried.
Are we sure Jesus and his disciples broke the rules? Gleaning (Leviticus 19:9), walking and eating food gleaned may not be rule breaking on the Sabbath. They are not plowing or harvesting for gain, they are not using a basket or sickle (Deut 23:24,25) Perhaps Jesus broke a rule when he misquoted 1 Samuel 21:1-6, but no one called him out on the inconsistency with what was in the scroll, if we are to trust what we have today in 1 Samuel.
Jesus didn't touch the man with the withered hand, he "saw" him and made other's aware of his circumstance and was compassionate. He didn't even speak wellness, only asked him to hold out his hand. How is a physical healing different from a spiritual healing on the Sabbath, is that work? I whose eyes? Surely not God's.
Trickery everywhere.
Mark wants us to see Jesus' authority to eat bread wherever it is - it is His bread in the Holy of Holies - and act in love at all times.
Was Jesus provoking to get the intended outcome? What do we believe.
Do we believe that we are called to celebrate the day of rest (any day we can find this rest), figure out what has to be done, what should never be done, what is negotiable and what may have changed over time? Women ordained, LBGTQ? ordained. People of color ordained. God's humankind ordained.
Oh wait, politics and religion.
Guess history lets us know Jesus broke the rules, (just listen to Jesus Christ Super Star) he died. The people roared for his crucifixion.
Guess history will let us know how many rules DJT has broken, he has been and may be convicted over and over. The people roar for his right to break all the rules, lie, rape, encourage violence and ridicule every civil authority because he is so special. Maybe there will be an opera one day. A ticket I won't need to purchase, watched it all the first time.
So grateful for this! I used a similar argument to approach my own (former) church about women in leadership positions and the LGBTQIA community. I have been heartbroken for years about what rigid dogma does to real human beings and finally had had enough of “the rules”. I was subsequently “uninvited” to remain a member of the church I had given my heart to for over 30 years— and I left gladly, feeling like an enormous weight had been lifted. I love Jesus and people over rules and selective biblical literalism.
I love the poem at the end of the post, about Mary birthing Jesus and presenting him to the world. I sent it to a friend, Sarah, who is a minister in a local Lutheran Church. She wrote me back that the church sign, which said "God loves you just the way She made you" had been vandalized. Your message was very affirming to her, and I am so grateful to have been able to share it.
Women carry so much of the world.
My father use to say " a prophet has no honor in his own land." I think of Malcolm X.
Really appreciate this essay, and all the discussion. I’d like to make one distinction in your examples of rule breaking. Jesus never broke the sabbath. This point may have been made in another comment, so pardon me if I’m being repetitive. Jesus made the distinction between God’s laws and men’s unhelpful interpretations. While traditions and norms can be important and binding, if they harm people instead of helping people, we can be encouraged to break them. This wasn’t exactly your point, I know, and I don’t want to distract from your very good point arguments. However, Jesus breaking men’s “fences around Torah,” or their faulty interpretation is not the same as Jesus breaking the law God put in place—in this case, observing the sabbath. I do like your idea of wrestling with what the rules and laws may be for, and continuing to wrestle with them. We build wisdom, humility, and open-mindedness that way.
I was just thinking about the ELEVEN of your story and the TWELVE of the jury members in the Trump trial. Each at one time, ordinary, everyday citizens called to do something extraordinary. Responses to their relative decisions were mixed and fraught with accusations of corruption as well as praise for their bravery.
Diana, this is an apt comparison ~ the intention of the rule-breaking and the rule-breaker. So good. And I would say the intentional blindness of the onlookers in the case of Mr. Trump. I am inspired to watch the ELEVEN. Thank you. In all of the propaganda and campaigning of Mr. T, I never hear nor sense the wisdom of “The greater good.” It is always, “What is good for me is enough.”
Brilliant!!! Thank you for a great lesson.
When I feed the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why we have the poor, they call me a Communist.---Dorothy Day. The Law was made for [and by] mankind; [but] mankind was not made for the Law.---Jesus. In almost every society in history, when good things are done outside the law, it reveals an underlying injustice that the law has been covering up. Humankind owes its moral evolution, at least in part, to those who break the law and accept the consequences in furtherance of a greater good for all.
Thank you Diana, for adding the bit about the ELEVEN. Living in rural MN we often do not have the opportunity to view these in a Theater. I also enjoyed the panel discussion that followed. You are one of the trusted writers/historians and faithful Christians that I follow. Please try to take SOME of the summer for YOU. May God bless you and keep you healthy!!
Thank you. It is a hard time in my United Methodist Church as so many are leaving because we have decided to break rules to allow everyone to be included.
In July 1974 I was with A Christian Ministry in National Parks in the Grand Tetons. I had graduated from BSU in Indiana and was headed to Iliff School of Theology in the fall, called to Ordained Ministry in the UMC. I read this news with excitement and nievely wondered what all the push back was about, seeing how Jesus first gave the resurrection news to women.
It only took a few weeks in seminary to discover the patriarchy in hearts minds and systems. In the UMC women’s ordination was LEGAL however ministry was often difficult and culture in churches resisted seeing Gods gifts in women as well as men.
I did a sabbatical in Boston which included a class from Rev. Carter Hayward.
I look forward to the documentary- thanks for your work, Diana!
I read this article on Monday, after I preached on the passage. I said some take the view that "The rules are the rules are the rules," but Jesus says, in effect, "If the rules are harming people, break them." (That is a paraphrase, but it gets to the point.)
Thank you for the reference about Jesus and the Pharisees.
Do you know where we can watch that documentary?
Go to their website and check out options. Or send them an email and ask.
Please don’t take personally the criticism thrown at you. You yourself know your own heart, mind and scholarship behind what you have written. And you have shared an important point in your comparisons. Regardless of each personal understanding of the historical perspective of the Pharisees, and Jesus Christ’s relationship with them; it is the strength of His Words of Grace and Unconditional Love that have allowed the story of the Philadelphia 11 to be such a powerful example of stepping through, over and around the mire, to continue what God led them to begin.
So glad my husband sent me this link today. God indeed knows what we need, and through whom it is carried.
Brilliant! Excellent analogies!
Are we sure Jesus and his disciples broke the rules? Gleaning (Leviticus 19:9), walking and eating food gleaned may not be rule breaking on the Sabbath. They are not plowing or harvesting for gain, they are not using a basket or sickle (Deut 23:24,25) Perhaps Jesus broke a rule when he misquoted 1 Samuel 21:1-6, but no one called him out on the inconsistency with what was in the scroll, if we are to trust what we have today in 1 Samuel.
Jesus didn't touch the man with the withered hand, he "saw" him and made other's aware of his circumstance and was compassionate. He didn't even speak wellness, only asked him to hold out his hand. How is a physical healing different from a spiritual healing on the Sabbath, is that work? I whose eyes? Surely not God's.
Trickery everywhere.
Mark wants us to see Jesus' authority to eat bread wherever it is - it is His bread in the Holy of Holies - and act in love at all times.
Was Jesus provoking to get the intended outcome? What do we believe.
Do we believe that we are called to celebrate the day of rest (any day we can find this rest), figure out what has to be done, what should never be done, what is negotiable and what may have changed over time? Women ordained, LBGTQ? ordained. People of color ordained. God's humankind ordained.
Oh wait, politics and religion.
Guess history lets us know Jesus broke the rules, (just listen to Jesus Christ Super Star) he died. The people roared for his crucifixion.
Guess history will let us know how many rules DJT has broken, he has been and may be convicted over and over. The people roar for his right to break all the rules, lie, rape, encourage violence and ridicule every civil authority because he is so special. Maybe there will be an opera one day. A ticket I won't need to purchase, watched it all the first time.
So grateful for this! I used a similar argument to approach my own (former) church about women in leadership positions and the LGBTQIA community. I have been heartbroken for years about what rigid dogma does to real human beings and finally had had enough of “the rules”. I was subsequently “uninvited” to remain a member of the church I had given my heart to for over 30 years— and I left gladly, feeling like an enormous weight had been lifted. I love Jesus and people over rules and selective biblical literalism.