Saturday 09 January 2016

Psalm: Psalm 6:1-9

  Background

The version of Mark's Gospel that we have today was put togetherafter Jesus' death by the early Church at a time when questionswere live about whether or not the new things that were happeningamongst the followers of Jesus could be contained within the Jewishtradition. In verse 22 the concern is for the new and vitalexperience of the followers of Jesus? - how can that liberatingexperience be celebrated with integrity if it is forced into theold ways? In verse 21 the concern is more for the Jewish tradition- how can the faith community maintain its integrity unless the newconverts conform to the basics of Jewish practice?

The setting of verse 20 seems to be in the period after Jesus'death once the "bridegroom" has been taken away. At such a time ofmourning the mood would not be to feast but to fast. However, Markis really setting up a contrast between those associated with theold traditions (the Pharisees and John the Baptist) and Jesus'disciples. The implication is that to be in Jesus' presence is tobe in the time of fulfilment and celebration. In the next passagethe point will be made again in relation to the Sabbath - not now aday for abstaining so much as the day of healing and restoration(Mark 2:27).

How the early Christians resolved the questions about whether ornot Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to Christianity needed to adoptJewish practices is detailed in the Acts of the Apostles (eg Acts15). Still, difficult questions persist about how Christianityshould engage the continuing Jewish tradition. Can God really haveabandoned his promised loving faithfulness to the people of Israel?Does the Church replace the covenant between God and Israel? Doesany view Christians take about these matters justify the kind oftreatment Jews have experienced at the hands of Christians down thecenturies?

What is clear from this passage is that the earliest Christianswere concerned both for the older faith and for the newer one.Equally clear is that any vision of the fulfilment of God's kingdomcaptured here in the picture of Jesus the Jewish bridegroom withhis guests has no place in it for anti-Semitism.

To Ponder

• Christians have been responsible for serious crimes againstJewish communities down the ages. What might Christians learn fromreading this passage in a mixed Jewish and Christian group?

• Fasting gets a bad press in this passage but like the Phariseeswho fasted twice a week, many Christians do fast. What might be thebenefits of fasting?

• The tensions between the integrity of new forms of religiouspractice and old ones are ever present in the Church. How mightthis passage inform the way we work with the old and the new?