The Difficult Words of Jesus by Prof. Amy-Jill Levine

Author:Prof. Amy-Jill Levine [Levine, Amy-Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781791007584
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Final Thoughts

The disciples of Jesus do not all sell what they have and give to the poor. We also know from Acts chapter 5, the story of Ananias and Sapphira, that the communitarian system of fully sharing resources broke down.

The disciples of Jesus do not hate their parents, their wives, or their children, although they may give that impression. Rather, they extend the love outward from the close relatives to all the mothers and brothers and sisters in the family Jesus calls into being.

The disciples of Jesus do not become slaves, although those who fully practice their discipleship may give that impression and even to this day feel that they are slaves, metaphorically speaking. Those believers in antiquity who were free remained free, for that is how they could continue to proclaim the gospel. Those who were slaves, especially in the Gentile world, now had a divine figure who fully understood them, who suffered alongside them, and who would reward their fidelity.

Eventually, the disciples of Jesus—despite the New Testament’s endorsing of slavery (as well as the subordination of the wife to the husband)—concluded that slavery was a sin. Yet by attending to the fact that Jesus spoke of slaves and slavery, often we are reminded of our own histories of being slaves and of enslaving. We are reminded that people are still enslaved, and that human trafficking is flourishing in parts of the globe. We who are in the United States are reminded of our own legacy of slavery and its ongoing effects. We are reminded that no one is free unless we all can be free. And those in the Christian world are reminded of what Jesus of Nazareth did—from slavery to death—in order to set them free.

Whether Jesus’s comment, “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all,” can still be proclaimed, or whether it is too complicit in promoting slavery, too damaging for those who still carry the legacy of slavery, will need to be discussed within and among Christian congregations. The answers will necessarily vary. God willing, the discussion creates understanding rather than schism. And thank God, the discussion is now being had.

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