The Enemy in the Household by Reeder Caryn A.;

Author:Reeder, Caryn A.;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: REL006080, Family violence in the Bible, Bible. O.T. Deuteronomy—Criticism-interpretation-etc, Family violence—Religious aspects—Judaism—History of doctrines, Family violence—Religious aspects—Christianity—History of doctrines—Early church-ca. 30–600
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

5

Constructive Family Violence and the Early Church

In Roman Palestine in the late first century BCE, a certain young woman was betrothed to be married. Her affianced husband one day added up the signs that had recently appeared and realized that his bride was pregnant with someone else’s child. The groom did not want to accuse her according to the law of Deut. 22:20–21. Instead, acting perhaps under a custom not otherwise known until the rabbinic period or on his own initiative, he decided to end the betrothal with divorce.

The young woman gave birth to a son who became a teacher and was known to teach things the official leaders did not teach. He kept company with the poor, the unrighteous, and the ritually unclean, teaching them, touching them, and even sharing meals with them. He gained a reputation as a glutton and drunk. Stories circulated about the time when his family tried to discipline him but he rejected them, saying they were not his mother, brothers, and sisters at all. The community agreed: such a son deserves death.

The mother and son in these stories, of course, are Mary and Jesus, and the sources of the picture are the Synoptic Gospels.[447] According to Matt. 1:18–19, when Mary became pregnant before marriage, her betrothed husband decided to divorce her rather than shame her (δειγματίζω, deigmatizō). Although there are no verbal links, it is possible that hiding behind Matthew’s language is a practice like that in Deut. 22:20–21, involving the public accusation of a “foolish” bride: Mary has given an obvious indication that she has committed adultery during her betrothal period, and she should thus be shamed to death.[448]

Several clues in the Gospels suggest that Jesus can be identified as a rebellious son. The description of Jesus as a glutton and drunk in Matt. 11:19 and Luke 7:34 bears obvious resemblance to Deut. 21:20 (cf. Prov. 23:20–21; 28:7).[449] In Mark 3:21, Jesus’s people, “the ones from (or with) him” (οἱ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ, hoi par’ autou), come to the house where he is teaching in order to seize him; other people are saying that he has gone out of his mind. In light of the household setting, the developing picture of the opposition to Jesus in the chapter, and the presence of Jesus’s mother and brothers in verse 31, it is likely that Jesus’s people are his natural family, coming to take control of their out-of-control son and brother.[450] Jesus apparently rejects their discipline. The spatial distancing of the mother and brothers from Jesus in verses 31–32 identifies them as outsiders, a state confirmed by Jesus’s definition of family in verses 34–35. For Jesus, family relationships depend not on blood, but on mission: those who do the will of God are his mother, brother, and sister (cf. Matt. 12:46–50; Luke 8:19–21).

The tension between Jesus and his family is developed further in Mark 6:1–6. When Jesus preaches in his hometown, the people of Nazareth stumble. They know his mother, brothers, and sisters; they know where he comes from.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.