Hebrews 4:12-16

Resources

1. The Letter to the Hebrews has been one of the most controversial books of the Bible in Girardian circles. Its heavy orientation around sacrifice appears suspicious in the face of the Girardian analysis of sacrifice. René Girard's own first assessment of it was negative in Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World (written in 1978), pp. 227-231. He retracted these criticisms in an interview with Rebecca Adams in November 1992 ("Violence, Difference, and Sacrifice: A Conversation with René Girard," in Religion and Literature 25, no. 2, 1993, pp. 9-33). Here's a portion of that interview:

RG: I say at the end of Things Hidden -- and I think this is the right attitude to develop -- that the changes in the meaning of the word "sacrifice" contain a whole history, religious history, of mankind. So when we say "sacrifice" today inside a church or religious context, we mean something which has nothing to do with primitive religion. Of course I was full of primitive religion at the time of the writing of the book, and my theme was the difference between primitive religion and Christianity, so I reserved the word "sacrifice" completely for the primitive.

RA: So you scapegoated Hebrews within the canon of Scripture.

RG: So I scapegoated Hebrews and I scapegoated the word "sacrifice" -- I assumed it should have some kind of constant meaning, which is contrary to the mainstream of my own thinking, as exemplified by my reading of the Judgement of Solomon in the book [pp. 237-245]. This text is fundamental for my view of sacrifice.

3. Raymund Schwager offers an extensive exposition of Hebrews in Jesus in the Drama of Salvation, pp. 182ff. In a major "Systematic Consideration" entitled "Redemption as Judgment and Sacrifice," Schwager basically uses Hebrews to anchor his argument. The concluding section of this part is "The Sacrifice of Christ and the 'Conversion' of Evil," and Schwager uses Hebrews to show how the Cross works that transformation. Link here to an excerpt of Schwager on Hebrews.

4. In Violence Renounced, there are two articles with a Girardian perspective on Hebrews: "Sacrificial Language in Hebrews: Reappraising René Girard," by Michael Hardin, pp. 103-119; and "'A Better Sacrifice' or 'Better than Sacrifice'? Response to Michael Hardin's 'Sacrificial Language in Hebrews,'" by Loren L. Johns, pp. 120-131.

5. S. Mark Heim, Saved from Sacrifice, pp. 156-260, a section entitled "Sacrifice to End Sacrifice."

6. I recommend Thomas Long's commentary on Hebrews in the Interpretation series (John Knox Press) as a standard, i.e., non-Girardian, commentary to consult for preaching. Long considers Hebrews to be a sermon, not really a letter, and so his rich homiletic exposition of Hebrews also includes wonderful commentary on the art of preaching itself. Moreover, Long himself is an artful preacher and brings a beautiful flare for language and metaphor to his commentary.

Mark 10:17-31

Exegesis

1. "You shall not defraud." (Gr: apostereo) Which commandment is this? Matthew and Luke must have also been puzzled, because they parallel Mark's list of commandments exactly, except for this one "commandment" which they omit (Mt 19:18-19; Lk 18:20). (Note: Matthew also adds one to the list, Lev. 19:17, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself.") The only other occurrences of apostereo in the NT are 1 Cor 6:7-8; 1 Cor 7:5; 1 Tim 6:5; James 5:4. Why does Mark add this to his list of commandments?

2. Jesus "loved" the wealthy young man. This is the only place in Mark where Jesus is said to have "loved" someone. The only other occurrence of the verb agapao in Mark's gospel is in discussing the greatest commandment in 12:30-33 (where loving God and neighbor is said to be far above any burnt offerings and sacrifices). The noun agape never appears in Mark.

Resources

1. Robert Hamerton-Kelly, The Gospel and the Sacred, pages 108-111 (see last week's reflections for the entire excerpt "How to Avoid Scandals").

Reflections and Questions

1. Some commentators have combined the above two exegetical facts to say that Jesus' love for the rich man must mean that he didn't see him as a dishonest wealthy person. There was a view of rich people as having gained their wealth basically by defraud. These commentators think that Jesus mentions this otherwise stray commandment to indicate that this wealthy young person wasn't in the category of those who gained their wealth by defraud. For Jesus loved him.

I disagree. Jesus is faced with a wealthy person, and he is about to expound on the treacheries of wealth, so he adds this commandment about defraud with the implications that wealthy people gain their wealth by defraud. Therefore, it makes sense that the way in which this man can make restitution is by giving his wealth to the poor. Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man, says point blank, "As far as Mark is concerned, the man's wealth has been gained by 'defrauding' the poor -- he was not 'blameless' at all -- for which he must make restitution."

2. This issue of whether the man is truly "blameless" is perhaps answered by Jesus' off-handed, seemingly throw-away response to the man's address of "Good man." Jesus states that no one is good except God alone. I would suggest that Jesus adds this commandment with the implications that this man is not blameless; he is wealthy, and wealthy people gain their wealth at the expense of others.

3. Yet Jesus loved the man. His love is opposed to what motivates the man's life. Jesus is exemplifying the great commandment (Mark 12:30-33), while the man is exemplifying the thorny soil (from the Parable of the Sower, 4:18-19): "And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares (Gr: merimna) of the world, and the lure (apate) of wealth, and the desire (epithymia) for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing." Jesus' entreaty for the man to sell his wealth is also a loving one, for the man can only attain the godly desire of agape by letting go of the objects of his epithymia.

4. What do we say to today's typical mainline congregation of mostly middle and upper class people? Can Jesus' words to this man help clear away our thorny surroundings? Is the average person in the pew (and the pulpit!) challenged by these words when they realize that they also have many possessions? Or is the state of our desire such that we can always point to someone who has many more possessions, so therefore we are exempt? Can the preacher lovingly suggest, as Jesus did, some practical steps for reforming our desire in God's love?

For we who have many possessions this Gospel might not sound like Good News. But there have been those who actually took Jesus' words literally, selling everything and giving it to the poor, and truly experiencing it as a liberation, as Good News. A recent example which comes to mind are Millard and Linda Fuller, founders of Habitat for Humanity International. Couple such examples with the idea that has helped me in recent years, the idea of "Affluenza" from the PBS show of several years ago, and maybe Jesus' words truly are a cure for what ails us in our modern situation of rising mimetic rivalry and the accompanying resentment. Link to a sermon on these themes entitled "Maybe This Is Good News, after All."

5. For me the ultimate in grace is that Jesus loved this man who was the walking epitome of our sacrificial human institutions. It is, in the end, the power of this love which can reform our desire in directions other than our possessions. Jesus, the One who was sacrificed to these same institutions, has been raised to speak to us a word of forgiveness and agape. He looks us straight in the eye, with all our possessions, and loves us. How shall we respond?