Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey

Author:Kenneth E. Bailey [Bailey, Kenneth E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2009-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

Once during the decades I lived in the Middle East, a desperate man fell on his knees before me and began to kiss my feet. Embarrassed, I pulled him up from the ground, seated him on a chair and said, “Muhammad, tell me your troubles and I will do my best to help you. But I cannot accept this gesture—it is too much!”

When the city of Richmond, Virginia, fell at the close of the American Civil War on April 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln insisted that he be taken to visit the still-burning southern capital. On arrival, he was pointed out to a former slave, who rushed to the president, fell on his knees and began to kiss Lincoln’s feet. Embarrassed, Lincoln replied, “That’s not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for liberty.”[31]

Jesus accepted the woman’s extraordinary demonstration, and in that acceptance confirmed her judgment regarding who he was—the divine presence of God among his people. His body was now the temple, and God’s spirit was upon him (Lk 3:21-22). But Simon either could not see or perhaps could not accept any of this. So Jesus turned to him (and through him to the entire assembly) to explain his actions. The phrase “I have something to say to you” is a classical Middle Eastern idiom that introduces blunt speech that the listener may not want to hear.[32] Jesus then told a brief parable about two debtors:

4. And Jesus said,

“Two debtors there were to a certain money lender. A PARABLE

The one owed fifty denarii and the other five hundred.

They, not being able to pay, he freely forgave them both.

This parable is a “sleeper” that is often neglected among the parables of Jesus. However on close examination it clearly merits serious attention.

In both the Old and New Testaments the phrases “canceling a debt” and “forgiving a debt/sin” overlap and indeed at times are expressed with the same words. In discussing the use of this verb in the Greek Old Testament, Rudolf Bultmann writes, “The one who forgives is God.” Regarding the New Testament, Bultmann notes that the verb “to forgive” means, “ ‘to remit’ or ‘to forgive’ whether in the profane sense in Mt. 18:27 and 32 or more often in the religious.” [33] These two come together in this text. The creditor in the parable freely forgave the debts of each debtor.[34] A few verses later Jesus says to the woman, “Your sins have been forgiven.” The verb here is aphiēmi, the common word for the forgiveness of sins. A different Greek word is used in the earlier text, but the meanings overlap significantly. This financial and theological use of the verb forgive appears numerous times in the New Testament. This is particularly the case where the metaphors of creditor and debtor are used to refer to God and sinners. Coupled with this is the fact that evil acts are of two basic kinds. Simply put, “sins” are those acts that a pious person should not commit, while “debts” are responsibilities that one has failed to fulfill.

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