Twenty-Eighth Ordinary Sunday
Theme: The Ten Commandments Are Not What You Think 十誡不是你心所想一樣
I suppose all Christians, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, know how to enumerate the Ten Commandments, though not necessarily according to their order. Catholics and Protestants differ in their numbering but after all, there are still ten Commandments in all (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13, 10:4), not nine nor twelve. For more learned believers, they are able to locate the Ten Commandments in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy (Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:5-21). There is no numbering, making it convenient for denominations to number them according to their political agenda. Indeed, it is futile to debate what the right numbering is. But have you ever wondered why, after Jesus had entered Jerusalem triumphantly and one of the scribes came forth to challenge Him, asking what the first of all the commandments was, Jesus did not give one from the Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-30) but quoted out of the 613 mitzvot, the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 instead! Never mind if you do not notice this. Today, we come face to face with the Commandments again.
In the Gospel passage today, a rich man asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17). Unlike other disciples whom Jesus called, this rich man was extraordinary in taking the initiative to explore the process of attaining/inheriting eternal life which turned out to be a novel concept for Jews. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God alone lives forever and God is called the [ever]living God (Deuteronomy 5:26, Joshua 3:10 etc.). No mortal man dared to usurp God’s position. In fact, no more than two Hebrew verses can be found to mention “ancient path/everlasting life” (Psalms 139:24, Daniel 12:2) for mortal men because God has decreed that men do not live longer than 120 years (Genesis 6:3)! The concept of eternal life probably emerged during the time of persecution under the Greek Empire and was incorporated into the Septuagint (2 Maccabees 7:36, Wisdom 3:4 etc.). The rich man was probably young, idealistic and receptive to novel ideas. He must have found traditional Judaism unfulfilling and thus attempted to pursue higher satisfaction. Offering holocausts, tithes, fasting, daily prayers and observing Sabbaths failed to soothe his desire for an ideal life … He came to Jesus.
In plaint sight, we see that the Commandments related to our obligations towards God namely, depending on your denomination, the first 3 or 4 Commandments which regulate our relationship with God, were missing. In hindsight, it is understandable because it is essential for us to build ourselves from the ground up. John writes, “Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20b). But why did Jesus put honouring parents last? Jesus was not alone. Elsewhere in the New Testament, we find Paul enumerates the Commandments too, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Romans 13:9). Paul even left out honouring parents for his Roman audience! Luke was a disciple of St. Paul and we now see why Luke, following the teaching of Paul, exchanged the order of murder and adultery! So, Jesus, Peter (Mark), John, Matthew, Paul (Luke) are wise and encourage us to build our spirituality, namely our intimate relationship with God from the ground up, namely to love our neighbour as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18) first! But still, why puts honouring parents last? Definitely they would grow old, fragile and would become needy … Not honouring them by putting the commandment last is definitely offensive to the Chinese ears! In order not to disrupt the train of thoughts in our meditation, I would quote again from the Holy Book and leave the topic for a more thorough meditation later. The Torah teaches that, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Genesis 2:24). Perhaps it is helpful that a Chinese rendition of the New Testament should arrange the order of the Commandments in a way more palatable for people living in regions under the influence of the Chinese civilization.
The spiritual explanation above is NOT yet satisfactory because Jesus did not continue to mention anything about the first few Commandments. Were those Commandments not essential for the salvation of our souls, it is impossible that they would occupy the first few positions in the Commandment list. Mark continues, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’” (Mark 10:21). At most, giving all you possess to the poor amounts to loving your neighbour. It cannot be an observance of the first few Commandments, can it? But I tell you, it can, if you still remember what we read three weeks ago! Jesus says, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (9:35, 25th Sunday). When we serve the poor, the disadvantaged and the socially marginalized, we serve Jesus, the Son of God. Similarly, when we care and love our needy brothers whom we are able to see, we are actually loving God. Jesus made Himself a Mediator between the Father and sinners, making God more accessible to men. In one stroke, Jesus makes loving a needy neighbour equivalent to loving the almighty God!
Then why did God give ten Commandments and not seven/six Commandments if doing our obligations towards fellow men would be equivalent to offering sacrifices to God, to respecting God’s name and resting on Sabbath? I speculate that the purpose of giving the Israelites the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai was more political than spiritual, namely to organize the 600,000 Hebrew slaves into one people, one nation within a short time. But it will take another elaborate meditation to explore. No, not for today. If we meditate along this line, we will miss the most crucial feature of the narrative today. I would say never mind about what Jesus demanded the rich man. Focus on His reaction towards this rich man. To repeat, Mark continues, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and …” (10:21a). Had Jesus shown such love towards the Twelve when He called them? What in this rich man did Jesus see that made Jesus love him?
Read the Greek and you will understand better. In Greek, there are three different words for love and the one here is ἀγαπάω, which is equivalent to “to show charity”, to act for the good of the other party and not for oneself. It is the same word used in the Greek version of Leviticus 19:18. Don’t forget, Jesus was able to read mind (Mark 2:8) and knew that the rich man desired more heroic endeavours. But Jesus also knew that probably the rich man would be reluctant to abandon his possessions. Jesus had charity on this pitiful rich man who was caught between the ideal of eternal life and the wisdom to forsake wealth. Indeed, the rich man was not ready to give to the poor. He did not give himself the opportunity to inherit eternal life and he denied Jesus the opportunity to multiply his possession a hundred-fold (10:30)!
Beloved brethren! Have faith in the Lord. Allow Him to multiply our meagre offerings. Amen.
God bless!
Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio
