Every year my Church walks through a Gospel, beginning with Advent and ending after Easter. This year we are in the Gospel according to Luke
This mornings passage was on Luke 18, which Scott Mcknight’s commentary titles the “Two Redemption Parables.” I was struck by the ways this passage connected with this weeks reflections for the fourth week of Lent in Elizabeth Caldwell’s book Pause: Spending Lent With the Psalms. Here she reflects on Psalm 23.
First, some context for Luke 18:
It starts with Jesus speaking to his disciples. The reason he is speaking to the disciples is in order “to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” (18:1) Give up on what? Here you need to back up and read Luke 17, where Luke documents Jesus being asked by the Pharisees “when the kingdom of God would come.” This sparks a lengthy discourse by Jesus where he is speaking about what it looks like to anticipate the kingdom of God in the form of justice in the face of exile (the renewal of Israel). Jesus states,
“The coming of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here is is,’ or ‘There it is,’ becuase the kingdom of God is in your midst (17:20-21)
This notion of the Kingdom of God coming sits at the heart of the Judeo-Christian narrative. Indeed, it sits at the heart of the Gospel, anchoring our own hoped for expectation of God making right what is wrong in this world in the story of Israel. The Kingdom of God coming is Jewish language expresssing a Jewish story regarding Jewish expectations of the fullness of time- the day in which Israel’s renewal marks the inauguration of creation’s renewal- through Israel God’s glory fills the earth.
The true power of Jesus’ words then lie in this- the kingdom of God is not a time or a place, it is in fact the person and work of Jesus. This is what it means for it to be “in their midst.”
Thus we come to Jesus’ words in 18:1. Always pray. Don’t give up. This is followed by the first parable about an unjust judge who gives in to a widows persistant plea to “grant me justice” against her adversary, or enemy.
Jesus’ ensuing question to the pharisees rings sharp- “Will not God bring about justice for Israel? (18:7). Followed by a noted proclamation- “God WILL see that justice comes. However, there is a more important question than the one we find in Chapter 17. Rather than asking “when will the kingdom come”, otherwise rendered as “God’s justice,” the better question is “will the Son of Man find faith on the earth.” (18:8)
The response from the disciples is varied. Jesus singles out one in particular- those who “were confident” of their own righteousness, and in this confidence “looked down on everyone else.” (18:9).
Just a quick note to make sure the proper progression of this thought is being followed-
- the initial question is, when will the kingom of God come
- the kingom of God coming relates to “Israel’s” renewal
- the initial parable is about a widow and her adversary, inidicating that this is about Israel and exile
- The proclamation is that God will bring justice to Israel’s story
Jesus now follows up with a second parable, this time indicating that he is speaking to a more specific portion of this crowd of disciples- the ones who were confident.
Confident in what? That God will find faith on earth when the kingdom arrives.
Yes, of course God will. How do I know this? Because I am faithful. Unlike “those” people over there.
To which Jesus tells a parable about two men who went up to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee is described as the ones who fast and give and live a faithful life. The tax collector is seen as a Judean whom has sold out to Rome, hence being lumped in with the broad label “robbers, evildoers, adulterers.” He is a picture of the assimilation if the new dead tribes of Israel. Read: the faithless on earth. The exiled nations.
The Pharisee’s prayer is noted- He stood by himself (proper posture for someone concerned with purity laws, meaning they stood away from those “others” who would bring impurity while at the temple). He thanks God that he is “not like them.” By contrast, “the tax collector stood at a distance,” most likely indicating distance from the Pharisee and the temple. He could not look to God directly. Rather, he “beat his breast” and prays the words “God, have mercy on me, a sinner?
Now, what struck me reading through this passage is how quickly the tendency here is for modern readers to align themselves with the “right” person, as Scot Mcknight suggests, while acting like the person they think is in the wrong. Meaning, they use the tax collector as license to demonize the Pharisee. But, considering the progression of the passage above, look at what comes next in 18:14:
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For ALL those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted?
Here’s what’s important, in my eyes, about that. If this is indeed a passage about Israel’s renewal, and if this renewal is found in Jesus, this is a passage about how that renewal will come about. Or more specifically, it is a pssage about the nature of this kingdom that marks this renewal. These are both Judeans. The exile is about a divided and scatterd Israel in the face of Judea being the sole surviving tribe returning from exile. That scattering is directly related to Israel’s failure to be faithful to God in the face of the surrounding nations, doubting that what God promised to do (make all things new, and make right what is wrong in this world through the story of Israel) was going to come about.
Remember Jesus’ question- will I find faith on the earth. This is directed to the disciples. It would stand to follow that the seemingly correct answer would be, yes, I will be faithful. To be otherwise is to delay the expecting coming of the Kingdom, or even to throw it into question.
And yet, what is the mark of the Kingdom’s arrival? That this tax collector is being exalted in light of his unfaithfulness. This is the sign that it is in their midst. This is the sign of Israel’s renewal. This is how Israel’s renewal comes about. It comes about through Gods faithfulness. Thus, the call to pray is in response to this, not the thing that brings it about. The measure of the Pharisee only leads to us versus them, Judea versus the dead tribes of Israel. The faithful versus their enemies.
Hence why using the tax collector as license to “look down” on the Pharisees misses and muddles the point. The passage is about dismantling such notions of the Kingdom of the God. Remember when the widow asks for justice against her enemy? Taken together with this second parable, the portrait here seems to be one of dismantling the concept of the enemy. That’s how liberation will come about through Jesus’ Kingdom. What we find instead is the humility of Jesus’ way. The humility of the cross, in which we find the power of the resurrection- the arrival of the kingdom of God in their midst.
In fact, rather than the usual tendency to render passages like this to be about the saved versus the unsaved, what we get is a parable about how God’s justice sits external to our need to build it on such paradigms. This has more to do with an internal crisis and an internal conflict between two people going to the same temple to do the same thing, both in anticipation of the promised story coming to its climatic moment. It is, in some ways, about the modern theological battles waged in our modern day temples, leaving Jesus’ question ringing through the noise of such divides- will I find faith on earth? The story of Israel tells us the right answer to this question- God is faithful in Jesus in the midst of our divide. That’s what we cling to, precisely because this is what Israel’s hopes clinged to.
Caldwell brings Psalm 23 into this discussion by noting three important things about passage
- There are 55 words in the Hebrew, placing the singular phrase “you (God) are with me” at its center
- Two uses of the word Lord frame the beginning and ending of this passage, connecting God as Shepherd, or king, to God’s house/ dwelling place, or kingdom.
- The passage contrasts the pursuit of our percieved enemies with the pursuit of God’s goodness and mercy, suggesting that we don’t chase these things, these things seek us.
Caldwell cites Robert Alter’s translation, reading the phrase “even though I walk through the darkest valley” as, more accurately, “even though I walk in complete darkness.” This has more to do then with not being able to see. Hence the “leading” of the first portion of this passage.
Most important to the question at hand regarding Luke 18 is Psalm 23:5. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” In the presence. Caldwell connects this to the communion table, where enemies come together unified in Jesus. To say, as the Psalmist concludes, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord (the kingdom of God)” forever, is to say I will dwell in the presence of my enemies. This is how the kingom of God restores creation. This is how the kingdom of God proclaims justice to the earth. This is what we pray for.
Caldwell ends her reflection with a potent question- who would be on God’s guest list at your table?
The Stories of my Life 