Wednesday 11 November 2020

Psalm 22:1-18

Background

Today’s reading is one that is particularly uncomfortable to explore during Interfaith Week as it has so often been used to promote antisemitic tropes. Some Christians saw in this passage the split between the gentile Esau and the Jewish Jacob, and so used it to claim that Jews – like Jacob – obtain what they have through deceit. By the end of the 19th century many Christians identified with Jacob in this passage, claiming that they now had the birthright that no longer belonged to the Jewish people represented by Esau, the first-born son.

Both interpretations have fuelled awful antisemitism, which led to the horrors of the Holocaust and continuing antisemitic feelings today. With all this baggage surrounding a biblical text it can be hard to separate God’s meaning from the damaging interpretations that exist. And I think it would be wrong to simply ignore the pain that has been caused through our biblical interpretations. We need to acknowledge the hurt caused, and work out new ways to understand our relationship with God and others.

This passage tells of a family relationship complete with love and rivalries, and in many ways Christianity and Judaism are sibling religions. We have a shared history, we have our similarities and differences, and we have a troubling history of rivalry. Like Jacob, Christians over the centuries have tried to deny their sibling their place among children of God. But also, as in Jacob's case, this is not the end of the story.

For the next couple of days we will be following the story of Jacob as he faces what he has done and decides to make peace with his brother. Perhaps we can look for ourselves in this story, acknowledging the times when Christians have got it wrong and think of ways we can become reconciled with those we have hurt. And in this Interfaith Week we could particularly think of our relationship with those of other faiths who have been hurt by Christianity.

To Ponder:

• Who do you identify with in this story? Why?
• How should we approach biblical passages that have been used to hurt others?
• How can we become reconciled with those we have hurt?