The Jewishness of Jesus

In modern times, it is sometimes rather embarrassing to defend some actions of Jesus. They offend the sensibility of modern men. The rudeness of Jesus towards a Gentile woman in the district of Tyre and Sidon was one such case. (Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-30) Jesus was born a Jew. Though he is the Son of God and should be able to transcend the limitations of his humanity, his Jewishness was a reality of his human life, like his growth from a baby to an adult. To a certain extent, Jesus had to outgrow his Jewishness. How his divinity and humanity interact within the Person of the Son of God is a Christology topic. It is a hotbed of heresies and have to be handled carefully. Let me deal with an easier problem first and I will return to this issue later.

In the second reading today, we met another hard nut to crack. No translation of Romans 11:32 is satisfactory. Let me give just a few after the Greek original.
συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπείθειαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ (GNT)
Conclusit enim Deus omnes in incredulitatem, ut omnium misereatur! (Vulgate)
For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (KJV)
For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. (RSV)
因為天主把眾人都禁錮在背叛之中，是為要憐憫眾人。【思高】
因為  神將眾人都圈在不順服之中、特意要憐恤眾人 。【和合本】

The word συνέκλεισεν appears only 4 times in the New Testament and have been translated as "enclosed" (Luke 5:6), "concluded" (Romans 11:32, Galatians 3:22) and "shut up" (Galatians 3:33). Basically, it seems to suggest some kind of imprisonment. God imprisons all in some bad things so that he may have mercy on all! This is a very Jewish expression, reminds one of what God did to Pharaoh in Exodus. God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he refused to let the Israelites go so that God might punish the Egyptians by killing all their firstborns. Of course, this made sense from the perspective of the Israelites. In a pluralistic world we live nowadays, God's action is outrageous. Were the Egyptians not God's creation? Therefore, we should read this kind of Jewish expressions with suspicion. These expressions cannot be read literally.

When we try to read further back in time and search the LXX, the word συνέκλεισεν appears only once in Psalms.
καὶ οὐ συνέκλεισάς με εἰς χεῖρας ἐχϑροῦ, ἔστησας ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ τοὺς πόδας μου. (30:9 LXX)
And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.(31:8 KJV)
and hast not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; thou hast set my feet in a broad place (RSV)
Therefore, the word συνέκλεισεν is best understood as "allowed to be under the control of". God is autonomous. We are created in the image of God. Therefore, we are autonomous beings and God respects our autonomy. God did not harden Pharaoh's heart. He allowed Pharaoh to harden his heart. God does not imprison us in obedience. He allows us to disobey and go against his will. Later, he shall still forgive us and show us his mercy. This is not my ideas. It comes from John of Damascus (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Bk IV, Ch. 19)

Now, let me return to the interaction between Jesus and the Canaanite woman. Of course, her faith was great and commendable. She was an exemplar of faith for all Christians to follow. Her perseverance was admirable. However, I think Matthew had reworked and elaborated Mark's account to suit his Jewish community. Matthew's story is more elaborate in that at the beginning, the woman begged Jesus from the back and later moved to the front. In Mark, the woman simply begged Jesus without a clear indication of her location. When we make further comparison, we will find more curious things. It seems that Matthew's community was trying to deal with something inevitable: the admission of Gentiles into their community.
1) It was highly unlikely for the Canaanite woman to call Jesus, "Son of David". This was a highly charged Messianic title. If the Canaanite woman represented Gentiles who wanted to enter the Jewish Christian community, it seems that they had to accept Jesus as their Messiah as well.
2) In Mark's account, the story is completely between Jesus and the woman. In Matthew, the disciples (church leaders) came to the woman's aid (Matthew 15:23). It suggests that Matthew's community was trying to handle the issue of admitting Gentile believers.
3) Matthew states the mission of Jesus while Mark does not (15:24). This was the initial understanding of Jewish Christians in relation to Gentiles. God elected the Israelites first. They had the priority. All of Jesus' first disciples were Jews. In short, Jesus was very Jewish.
4) Agreeing with Paul, Matthew's Jesus praised the great faith of the woman while Mark's Jesus did not commend her faith. The Jews took it for granted that they were God's Chosen People. If you were born a Jew and kept all the commandments of covenant, you would be saved. Faith in Jesus in order to be saved was something new to most Jewish Christians. Paul was revolutionary in that he broke through the confines of rules and commandments and argued that faith is more essential than obedience for salvation. In Mark's community, they had no Torah and covenant. They had faith instead. Therefore, faith was taken for granted and was not mentioned.

In my previous blog, I argued that the Gentile woman was actually teasing Jesus instead of showing her humility. This peculiar reading of the story is clearer in Mark's version. The woman teased Jesus that his effort among the Jews had been futile. He had antagonized the Pharisees and fled from further confrontations. Jesus had to seek shelter in a Gentile land. In Matthew, the whole teasing undertone was drowned out by the loud voice of great faith. Remember, in Nazareth, Jesus had lamented that prophets were not welcomed in their home town. The reality of life can be harsh.

Dear Lord, help us outgrow our limitations. Amen.