by Gordon C. Stewart, Feb. 27, 2013. Copyright
The Gospel reading for next Sunday tells of Jesus speaking about terrorism and violence, and an urgent invitation to turn.
Some people tell Jesus “about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” The speakers seem to be contrasting the Galileans – known for their armed resistance to Roman rule – and the Jerusalemites. Jesus himself is a Galilean! As often happens, the non-Galileans are putting him to the test, and as he does so often and so ably, Jesus the Galilean Jewish rabbi begins by appearing to agree with their prejudice. He asks whether these violent Galileans were any different from the rest of the Galileans. One can almost hear the applause from the more sophisticated Jerusalemites.
Then he quickly shifts ground to a scene in Jerusalem. He asks them whether the eighteen saboteurs “upon the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, do you think they were worse sinners than all others in Jerusalem? No,” he says, “but unless you (plural) reform/ repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Here is the text in an unfamiliar form from The Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB) Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International.
Lukas 13:1-9
1 Now on the same occasion there were some present reporting to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach about the men of the Galil whose blood Pilate mixed with their zevakhim (sacrifices).
2 And, in reply, Moshiach said, Do you think that these men of the Galil were greater chote’im (sinners) than all others of the Galil, because they suffered this shud (misfortune)?
3 Lo (no), I say, but unless you make teshuva, you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you think that those shmonah asar (eighteen) upon whom the migdal (tower) in Shiloach fell and killed them, do you think that they were greater chote’im (sinners) than all the Bnei Adam living in Yerushalayim?
5 Lo (no), I tell you, but unless you make teshuva, you will all likewise perish.
6 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was speaking this mashal. A certain man had an etz te’enah (fig tree) which had been planted in his kerem, and he came seeking pri (fruit) on it, and he did not find any. [YESHAYAH 5:2; YIRMEYAH 8:13]
7 So he said to the keeper of the kerem, Hinei shalosh shanim (three years) I come seeking pri on this etz te’enah (fig tree) and I do not find any. Therefore, cut it down! Why is it even using up the adamah (ground)?
8 But in reply he says to him, Adoni, leave it also this year, until I may dig around it and may throw fertilizer [dung] on it,
9 And if indeed it produces pri in the future, tov me’od (very well); otherwise, you will cut down it [Ro 11:23].
The “mashal” (a familiar proverb or parable) he re-interprets is already part of his and his hearers’ self-understanding from Yeshayah (Isaiah) 5:2; Yirmeyah (Jeremiah) 8:13.
Reading the text in a form much closer to the original context of Jesus’ linguistic-religious-cultural-political-economic context serves to awaken me to hear it with new ears.
Jesus is speaking about collective social life – politics, economics, religion, resistance, keeping the faith. He is calling for thorough-going societal transformation – from blaming others (the Galileans) to looking in the mirror to be startled by the log that is in one’s own eye, individually and collectively: the underlying violence in our way of being in the world, taking up “ground” on this beautiful planet.
In Hebrew Scripture the human species, Adam, is derived from Adamah – earth, soil, dirt, ground. We, the fig tree, are here to produce sweet figs.
The Owner of the vineyard with the barren fig tree shows two traits in this Mashal: disappointment and frustration (“Why is it even using up the ground?”) and the extraordinary patience that allows it more time to produce the sweet fruit for which it was created.
As I look out to the world outside, and as I look in the mirror in the morning, I feel a tiny shiver of G-d’s frustration and long-suffering with the likes of us. I wonder what it will take before we see the reflection of ourselves and our way of the violence of terrorists. Are they any different from the rest of the people in the Galil, Yerushalayim, Chaska, or Washington, D.C.? When and how shall we make teshuvah?
Views from the Edge 
Gordon, thanks for this deep understanding of Lukas 13:1-9. Listening to a Yale Medical School professor this morning on MSNBC I heard him describe his research for his new book called SALT, SUGAR & FAT. I believe the subtitle was “Why I Feel Sorry For The American People”. The Dr. said he found examples all over the place attesting to the fact that food company CEOs blatantly schemed to find the right amount of ingredients of salt, sugar and fat to insure increased consumption of their various food products. They referred to customers as “heavy users” as you would talk about drug addicts.
The Dr’s. point was that these ingredients follow the same pathways as narcotics to the parts of the brain involved in addiction. He went on to say the obesity epidemic is directly the result of this corporate strategy to increase the bottom line. When some companies tried to do the right thing Wall Street was there to prevent healthy changes to our food supply by pointing to the bottom line that these companies had to produce. To some extent this is old news but this Dr. provided more direct evidence than ever about the ethics of these corporate executives.
My sense is that what we have here is an example of what you are talking about as far as where we can draw the line between what is terror and what isn’t. The food company behavior sure seems like a form of terror that we have come to accept just as we except, as taxpayers, the production of the weaponry that WE allow the production of to terrorize so many innocent civilians around the world. As I believe you are saying, we all need to look in the mirror since it is likely we all have a piece of ourselves involved in the terror machine.
LikeLike
Gary, exactly. I hadn’t thought of any of the food connection, of course, and find it so interesting. It is calculated predatory behavior that does violence to the general population. Those who scheme to turn us into salt, sugar, and fat addicts are accountable for the tragedy of so many. And, as you say, we’re all involved in the weapons production and export business all around the world. One of my favorite people was a tax-resister named Maurice McCracken. Mac was a Presbyterian minister who lived in the poorest section of Cincinnati and served a dirt poor Presbyterian Church there for a number of years. He was much loved by all in the community. He refused to pay federal taxes because he didn’t want one cent to go to the war machine. He was arrested numerous times. The law enforcement officers became his close friends. They loved this gentle man of character and principle. He never judged a soul But he would not be moved!
LikeLike