A Host's Inhospitality

A bit of "table talk" by Jesus in Luke 7 sets up three points of contrast: an ungracious host (showing how little forgiveness he has received), a woman whose love for Jesus shows (prior to the fact) how much forgiveness she is open to receiving, and Jesus our guest. (Brendan Byrne, The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel, Liturgical Press) Who knew that hospitality is such a yard stick (measuring cup) for forgiveness?

But before we turn to the Gospel of Luke, we pause for a moment to consider the Psalmist's cry of desperation.

Psalm 5:1-8

The Psalmist begins with a prayer for attention, which moves from a plea for God to take the earplugs out and turn to face the supplicant ("give ear") to a plea for God to take enough interest in what is being said that the prayer will register on the divine radar. The psalmist wants God to listen with understanding and discernment, to distinguish (binah) the individual words, phrases, and sentences so that sounds of the supplicant's prayer will be intelligible to God. The psalmist wants God to understand the prayer, not merely to hear the sound of praying.
The psalmist's prayer is characterized as a cry for help by someone who has been hurt. (shewa`; the root occurs 11 times in the book of Job and 10 times in the Psalms, but only rarely elsewhere.) Such cries of distress have a purpose and that purpose is to summon a strong helper, a hero. In this case the hero is God, who is envisioned in his role as king. (A warrior and defender; someone with great power; if the king cannot help, who will be able?)



Scroll to 3:11 for the relevant section.

Even though I'm president of the United States, my power is not limitless, so I can't dive down there and plug the hole. I can't suck it up with a straw. All I can do is make sure that I put honest, hard-working smart people in place ... to implement this thing.

(President Barack Obama)
What sorts of things, other than oil spills, merit such a cry? The need for mercy (from a judge; Psalm 28), the need for healing (Psalm 30), and the need to be found or located (e.g., when lost at sea; Psalm 31), among others.



(Image source, http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/37650809/ns/sports-othersports/)
Photo: 16-year-old, Abby Sunderland, in her wrecked sailboat, Wild Eyes. She is now on a French fishing vessel, which rescued her half way between Australia and the coast of Africa. She spent two days without communication and sent out distress signals before she was rescued.

The Psalmist ends on the same theme we will see soon in the gospel reading, the one who has been saved from much also loves much. Gratitude is the hallmark of the life saved.

Luke 7:36-8:3

It helps first to remember the Roman setting of Jesus' party invitation. Often we make unfounded assumptions that can be dispelled with a few images, imaginative reconstructions of the Roman triclinium, the arrangements of the three couches, the placement of the table, the open end from which food would have been served.


(Image source, http://library.thinkquest.org/22866/Dutch/Plaatjes/aanlig2.gif)


(Image source, http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston180.jpg)




(Image source, http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston179.jpg)

306. The places on each couch were named in the same way, (locus) summus, medius, and īmus, denoted respectively by the figures 1, 2, and 3 in Figure 179. The person who occupied the place numbered 1 was said to be above (super, suprā) the person to his right, while the person occupying the middle place (2) was above the person on his right and below (īnfrā) the one on his left. The place of honor on the lectus summus was that numbered 1, and the corresponding place (1) on the lectus īmus was taken by the host. To the most distinguished guest, however, was given the place on the lectus medius marked 3; this place was called by the special name locus cōnsulāris, because if a consul was present, it was always assigned to him. It was next to the place of the host, and, besides, was especially convenient for a public official; if he found it necessary to receive or send a message during the dinner, he could communicate with the messenger without so much as turning on his elbow.

(Johnson's Private Life of the Romans)

Roman dinners were social events, with guests. We too often forget in this age of home theaters that home entertainment in the Roman world was of necessity live entertainment. There was music and dancing. ("`We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'" Luke 7:32, NIB) There was recitation of written work, poetry and speeches, plays and the "good" parts of the best tragedies and comedies. And there was Jesus. He could be counted on for a miracle, a sign or good work, an exorcism, a good parable, a provocative statement, or something else altogether unexpected. You have to wonder from all the dinner invitations he received whether Jesus was considered by some of the rich folks of his day as just another form of entertainment. ("The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" Luke 7:34, NRSV) For a good description, see the Wikipedia article on Roman cuisine, table culture

So, Jesus received yet another invitation to dinner, this time from a Pharisee. He accepted, Luke says, taking his place (which one?) and reclining with the other guests at the table. (Luke 7:36) About that time a woman who has heard that Jesus will be reclining on that couch at dinner in the Pharisee's house shows up with an alabaster bottle of ointment or perfume (muron) she has bought for the occasion. It is strongly aromatic, often used for anointing dead bodies (Luke 23:56).

The Expensive Stuff

(Image source, http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/d49742/d4974297x.jpg)


The Cheap Stuff

(Image source, http://www.jerusalem-antiquities.com/images/Roman%20Glass%20Perfume%20Jar6.jpg)

The woman with her alabaster jar walked into the room in full view of the guests and made her way around the table until she stood behind Jesus. There she took her stand, weeping, and began to shower his feet, drenching them with her tears. She was wiping them dry with her hair. And she was kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume.

The host, taking it all in, says to himself, "He's no prophet! Or he would know what sort of woman is touching him (7:39, hapto, most often of people "grabbing" Jesus, hoping he will "touch" and heal them: e.g., Luke 5:13; 6:19; 7:14; 8:16, 44-47; 11:33; 15:8; 18:15; and 22:51). This is nothing new or out of the ordinary to Jesus. People in need are always grabbing for him. Parents are always bringing their babies to him so that he may touch them. But this woman's a sinner! (harmotolos, see 5:30, 32) Jesus was always being accused of fraternizing with sinners and publicans by the Pharisees; yet, whose table is he sharing today?

Jesus turns to his host and says, "Simon, I have something to say to you." Now we get to glimpse the guise under which Jesus has been invited, because Simon responds, "Go ahead, teacher!" (didaskalos)

Jesus offers an after-dinner parable:

(Image source, http://newportricheyflforeclosures.com/images/forecloserichie.jpg)


(Image source, http://housesforeclosure.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/bungalow.jpg)

A man who owed (chreopheiletai $500,000 and a man who owed $50,000 both had their loans re-negotiated with the bank (see Luke 16:5). (charizomai, generously, graciously, forgave and pardoned.) Now neither man owes anything, both have unblemished credit scores, and both can keep their houses. Tell me, which will love the banker more?

Jesus replies, "You judge correctly." (Similar to the way the Psalmist prays that God will hear and understand his prayer.) Then Jesus convicts Simon: "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave (didomi, echoing the inability of the debtors to "repay," apodidomi, their obligation) me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair." (NRSV, Luke 7:44) Jesus continues enumerating the host's many obligations, a kiss and oil for his head, which Simon had failed to perform. Her many sins have been forgiven, for she loves much. ...and then he trails off, ...but the one who has been forgiven little loves little.

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the story is the order in which the statements occur. Jesus makes the declarative (objectively real) statement to Simon that the woman's sins have been (perfect! / past) forgiven before he turns to the woman and informs her (subjectively real) that her sins are (now) forgiven (perfect!).

(Image source, http://test.huntmuseum.com/qzty2o/2276.jpg)


(Image source, http://www.carlos.emory.edu/files/05classic05L.jpg)

The other guests are flabbergasted, asking, as will often be the case with Jesus, "who is this who even forgives sins?" Jesus, not missing a beat, says to the woman that it is her faith that has saved her. Her love for Jesus is an expression of the depth of that faith. Her love is deeper, it seems, than the love of Simon, and so is her faith.

How deep is my love?

How much faith do I have?

Holy Propagation: Scatter, Layer, Cut

God's garden techniques--with trees, vines, and grains--tell us much about divine generosity and grace, justice and mercy, and God's intentions for the propagation and multiplication of the faith.

Scatter: Mark 4:26-34

The word used for "seed" in 4:26 (sporos) is found also in the next verse (4:27) and in Luke 8:5, 11--and at 2 Corinthians 9:10. The word "scatter" or "sow" is not a technical term, but is the common word ballo, which means to throw or cast. In pre-industrial societies, hand-sowing (throwing, scattering) of seed was quite common.




(Image source, http://www.rdg.ac.uk/Instits/im/assets/interface_assets/subsection_pics/35_8354.jpg)





(Image Source, http://www.reading.ac.uk/merl/assets/interface_assets/subsection_pics/seedsow.jpg)


Sometimes, even before the advent of modern machinery for sowing vast numbers of seeds in regular increments in straight rows, there were "technological" advances even in hand-broadcasting of seed, e.g., the "fiddle sower," the "cyclone broadcaster," and other means of mechanical spreading by means of gears and spinning plates.


(Image source, http://www.antiquefarmtools.info/USERIMAGES/seed%20fiddle.jpg)


...not to mention the use of wheeled options:




(Image source, http://www.antiquefarmtools.info/USERIMAGES/broadcast-barrow2.jpg)





(Image source, http://chestofbooks.com/food/household/Woman-Encyclopaedia-2/images/A-two-wheeled-drill-used-for-sowing-seed-in-a-market-garden.jpg)







(Image source, http://www.lawnexperts.co.uk/images/6886.jpg)

I couldn't resist the modern version, above...or below:





(Sowing rice from an airplane; Image source, http://lsuagcenterrice.blogspot.com/2008/03/zaunbrecher-field-is-planted.html)

Of course, the point of "casting" or "throwing" seed is to plant a whole lot of it in a hurry. If a lot of seed must be planted more-or-less evenly over a large area, then broadcasting is your choice. (On having an adequate supply of seed, see 2 Corinthians 9:10, "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness" [NRSV]). However, with such a method of sowing, precision or accuracy is lost. That seems to be an aspect of the parable of the "good ground" (aka, the Parable of the Sower) that precedes this week's reading (Mark 4:3-20). Seed that is broadcast even from the relatively low height of an average man careens and bounces as it falls here and there, into rocky places and thorny ones, and onto hard paths, and sometimes also onto good ground. But that is not the point of our passage. Rather, Jesus seems to have in mind the sort of 18-week progression seen in the following University of Idaho Extension photos of the growth stages of Whitebird Soft White Spring Wheat:



First the stalk,



then the head,



then the full grain in the head.

(Image source, http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/scseidaho/growstage/growth_stage_index.htm)

The farmer goes about his or her routine, not knowing precisely when (or "that"; most translations say "how") the seed has sprouted and begun to grow. Anyone who has experience with gardening knows both the anxiety of waiting for the seed to emerge from the ground and the sheer surprise sometimes experienced when one's attention has been elsewhere--usually sowing more seed--to discover that the seeds planted a few days ago are already up and well on their way. The same could be said for the formation of the head and the grain. Looked at moment-to-moment it seems as if nothing is happening at all--but one day there is no head on the wheat and the next it has flowered. It is simply miraculous!

"Automatically," Jesus says (automate)--literally, "all by itself"--the soil produces first the blade (KJV), then the ear, then the full corn. Though the farmer or gardener might be expected to chafe at the thought that the ground has produced the harvest "all by itself," it is in fact the farmer who marvels most at the mystery of the crop's appearance. But the farmer isn't so dazzled by the wonder of it all as to waste a moment, when the time is ripe, to put an end to the beautiful sight of waving grain. The farmer is practical; the point of the sowing is not enjoyment and astonishment at the rate and the stages of growth (though he or she does marvel at it). The point of the sowing is the harvest.




(Image source, http://www.petersommer.com/galleryimages/culture/Wheat-Harvest-Lycia-Turkey.jpg)
...or, in industrialized form:




(Image source, http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/91/99791-004-747E76F8.jpg)

For photos related to the Parable of the Mustard Seed, see http://dqhall59.com./parable_of_the_mustard_seed.htm.

Layer: Psalm 20

Cut: Ezekiel 17:22-24

The use of tsammereth as "tree-top" in conjunction with cedars (Ezekiel 17:3, 22; 31:3 and 10) and other tall trees (Ezekiel 31:14), suggests that we should think of the top of a massive, mature specimen of tree-dom--say a Norway Spruce or something similar--not the top of a dwarf, immature sapling. This is also born out by the metaphorical use to which the image is put, first comparing the top of this strong cedar tree to the Lebanon-wrecking empire of Assyria (31:3) and then to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 31:9; see Psalm 1 and my immediately previous blog entry).

Cedars of Lebanon

(Image Source, http://media-2.web.britannica.com, Bruce Coleman, Inc.)

Ezekiel 17 begins (vv. 3-10) with an allegory in two parts about two eagles (Babylon and Egypt), the first of which breaks off the "topmost shoot" of a cedar tree (the king and nobles of Jerusalem) and carries it away. The same eagle then plants a seed that grows into a meandering vine, which in time is transplanted into very fertile soil, where it has access to plenty of water (irrigation canals), and grows toward the second eagle. The vine is eventually torn from the ground and destroyed without significant effort (as contrasted, for example, with the sort of effort required to kill and remove a tree). This "riddle" or allegory is explained in 17:11-21.

Ezekiel 17:22 begins a prophetic oracle ("thus says the Lord God") that continues to use the metaphors introduced in the previous riddle; only here, instead of Babylon and Egypt, it is God ("myself") who will take break off the tender top growth of a cedar tree and replant it on a mountaintop, whether Zion [Jerusalem] or some other. From this small cutting will grow a "noble cedar."

The cedar to which the allegory refers is, of course, Cedrus libani, a "majestic tree 15 to 40 m (49 to 131 ft) in height at maturity with innumerable scriptural and historical references" (Journal of Arboriculture, pdf file). The tree has a "thick, massive trunk and wide-spreading branches
and is pyramidal when young, but develops a flattopped crown and horizontally tiered branches when mature (Dirr 1990; Farjon 1990; Hillier 1991; Chaney 1993)." [ibid.] the wide-spreading branches are referenced many times in Scripture, including here in Ezekiel 17:23 Propagation is usually done by planting the seeds from the cones that are produced by the tree, as cuttings taken from C. libani are difficult to root.


(Image Source, http://www.mishobonsai.com)



(Image Source, http://wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/)
Propagation may also be done by grafting. So, in this instance the Biblical prophet has chosen the more challenging method of propagation, perhaps as a means of extending the allegory. God has taken the exilic community away from Jerusalem, transplanting the "very tip top" (its "leader," to introduce an English pun) to Babylon for a time, before re-planting it in native soil.