Bad Mood

Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV) A Parable:

The Pharisee and the Publican

9 Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Our gospel for next Sunday: The Pharisee and the Publican. Next Sunday is my turn to preach. Thinking about it is fine, but if I talk too much about it I’ll have nothing left for my sermon or homily, would I, but which would be just as well, wouldn’t it. It doesn’t hurt to do a little observing though, does it. For textual, historical and other sorts of criticism, which some like and some don’t, but is my favorite kind of Bible study, Luke includes it in a whole mess of parables that he reports Jesus telling on his way to Jerusalem. The part in italics is to isolate Jesus‘ likely words from Luke’s setting (18:9); and from Luke’s embellishment with an aphorism (18:14b) that seems clearly Luke’s because Jesus prefers to leave us hanging, thinking we have enough sense to figure out the moral for ourselves.

Such embellishments remind me of the addition that some -- to me dunce -- tacked on to the end of Mark’s gospel. For all his peculiarities such as rushing breathlessly through his story by starting almost every thought, sentence and paragraph with “and,” Mark is in my mind the ultimate craftsman. He has an agenda: to inspire his listeners to rush out and proclaim Christ, by leaving us frustrated that nobody around Jesus realized that he was the Son of God come to suffer and die for us, even closing with the women who went to the tomb and ran away too terrified to tell anybody anything -- they were so scared they didn't tell nobody nothin'. So, reading the story later, some bozo who failed Literature 101 thinks Mark didn’t know the end of the story, or forgot to tell the end of the story, and so adds what to him is the logical conclusion, like some clown at a cocktail party who decides to explain the punchline to somebody else’s subtle joke, thus spoiling the story or even rendering it incomprehensible. Or emasculating it of its power.

This isn’t a criticism of either Luke or the Markan Spoiler who took the edge off Mark's Gospel, it’s just Bubba up too early on the wrong side of the bed and the coffee hasn’t had time to temper the mood. 

Sorry.

TW+