Serija "Poziv" - 3. Dio - Poniznosti

Uvod

Dobra večer, dear spectator. My name is João Relić Macedo and welcome to another instalment in the series “Jesus’s life.” Tonight is the third and last episode of this weekend in which we are focusing on the invitation that Jesus makes to all of us in Matthew, chapter eleven (11), verses twenty-eight (28) to thirty (30). If you haven’t the other two, I would recommend you to go, find those two videos, watch them and then come back to this video. That way, you will be able to better understand what we are gonna talk about tonight.

On the first night, we looked into the invitation itself. What was Jesus saying? What was he inviting us to? And then last night we went a bit into its connection to the story of the disciples plucking grains and eating them on the Sabbath. Tonight we will study the connection between the invitation and the story of the healing of the man with the withered hand. We can find this story in Matthew, chapter twelve (12), from verse nine (9) to fourteen (14), and tonight I would like to invite you to read this story with me. Matthew twelve, verses nine (9) to fourteen (14). I will be reading from the Suvremeni Hrvatski Prijevod, where the text says the following:

Tekst

9 Odande je otišao u njihovu sinagogu, 10 gdje je bio neki čovjek s usahlom rukom. Neki su Židovi upitali Isusa, s namjerom da ga optuže: »Je li dopušteno liječiti na šabat?« 11 Isus im je rekao: »Tko od vas ne bi uhvatio i izvadio svoju jedinu ovcu ako na šabat padne u jamu? 12 A čovjek je mnogo važniji od ovce. Zato je dopušteno na šabat činiti dobro.«

13 Zatim je rekao onom čovjeku: »Ispruži ruku!« Čovjek je ispružio ruku i ruka mu je postala zdrava kao i druga. 14 Farizeji su izašli i počeli smišljati kako da ubiju Isusa.

Propovijed

One of the most treasured memories I have from my childhood were the weekends spent with some of my parents’ friends in one of our National Parks, back in Portugal. Every once in a while, we would rent this big house next to the National Park of Gerês, in northern Portugal. My dad would invite two other families who, like him, loved spending time in nature, and we would be there for the entire weekend. Slowly but surely I became very close to those friends. And since we were doing that on a quite regular basis and I was just a teenager, I naturally started looking up to those friends and consider them to be some kind of role models. But one member of my actual family wasn’t as fond of them as I was.

One day, during one of those weekends in Gerês, my grandpa came to me, pulled me aside, and told me: “beware of these friends! They’re a bit strange.” I was a bit surprised and I asked him why and he said: “they don’t believe exactly the same things we do. They’re a bit strange. So, beware of them.” And of course, I started asking myself: why are you telling me this?

What had happened was that, that day, my grandpa was going on one of his regular rants about what life will be like in heaven. “Oh, it’s gonna be great,” he said, “everyone one of us will have our little harps and we’ll just spend all day playing music and singing.” And one of my friends answered: “Oh, that will not be heaven for me. I hate singing. If I have to sing all day long, every day, for eternity, that will be more like hell for me than like heaven.”

And this was the reason why my grandpa was so concerned about these friends. Because my friend didn’t fit the category of “people who love singing” he clearly didn’t belong in the category of “people who will be in heaven” either. And since he didn’t belong to that category, he clearly belonged in the “beware of these people” category. Beware of them because they are strange.

-x-

When we read the story of the man with the withered hand in chapter twelve of the Gospel of Matthew, I wonder if something similar is happening here. Because the question that is posed to Jesus, “Je li dopušteno liječiti na šabat?” is the end result of a long process of categorisation by the Pharisees towards Jesus. Let me explain…

The Croatian text we read a few minutes ago tells us that the Pharisees asked him this ‘s namjerom da ga optuže.’ The Greek verb used in this sentence is the verb kategoreo, which at the time meant “to accuse.” But those of you who have a good ear for languages might recognise the connection with another Croatian verb, the verb kategorizirati. If you did, you are right, because kategorizirati indeed comes from kategoreo.

Of course, over time, the word evolved, losing and gaining new meanings. Nowadays, the verb kategorizirati no longer means “to accuse.” But I wonder if the meaning of the Greek kategoreo and the Croatian kategorizirati is actually that far away from each other… Because the truth is that, at the core of any accusation lies a previous process of categorisation. In to order to accuse someone of something, we first need to try to put them into several categories until we find the right one.

To give you an example—and this is, of course, hypothetical—in order to “accuse” Cristiano Ronaldo of being the best football player in history, I would first have to try to fit him in a number of different categories of football players: “bad football player,” no that’s not it. “Average football player,” that’s not it either. ‘Good, very good, excellent, genius, Modrić,’ nah, he’s clearly better than Modrić. And finally, when no other category fits, I’m then able to put Cristiano Ronaldo in his own particular category and to “accuse” him of being the best football player in history. That’s the process of categorisation that usually lies behind any accusation.

This is the reason why I would argue that, when we read that the Pharisees asked Jesus a question in order to accuse him, we are just seeing the end result of a long process of categorisation. A process in which, just like my grandpa, they struggled to understand whether to place Jesus in the “okay“ category or in the ”beware because he’s strange” category.

This was a process that started at the end of chapter eleven (11), when Jesus invited his disciples to take from him a lighter yoke than the one the Pharisees and other religious authorities of the time were offering. It was a process of categorisation that then continues at the beginning of chapter twelve (12), when Jesus openly went against the Pharisees and their interpretation of what Jews could or could not do on the Sabbath.

Throughout all of these passages, they were struggling to understand this peculiar character named Jesus. He didn’t fit the categories they had previously put other people in. But the thing is…he was, indeed, was a strange man. Just like Ronaldo, he was in his own category. Now, the question is: ‘Is there anything that explains his strangeness?’ ‘Is there any principle guiding these apparently contrasting pictures of the same man?’

And this is where I would like to go back to something I mentioned on Friday evening: Jesus’s definition of humility. As I said on Friday, the type of humility that Jesus display in these texts seems to be different from many of our own definitions of humility. Because, even though Jesus says he is humble and meek in Matthew eleven (11), twenty-nine (29), he also doesn’t seem afraid to confront the Pharisees and teach them a lesson on Sabbath observance just a few verses later. And when they ask him if it is permitted to heal on the Sabbath in the passage we read a few minutes ago, he not only accuses them of hypocrisy by mentioning the sheep who falls into the pit, but he also seems to heal the man in a way he knew was provocative to the Pharisees. So, it does seems like this humble Jesus has a strange type of humility.

And I have to confess that, while I was preparing this sermon, I struggled for a bit. I myself was trying to understand this strange Jesus, and his strange type of humility. I have to say that it wasn’t easy. But, eventually, this is the conclusion I came to: the guiding principle behind Jesus’s strange type of humility was his genuine care for the people around him, and especially for those who were oppressed.

As a matter of fact, the word he uses to describe himself in Matthew eleven (11), twenty-nine (29) and that is translated to Croatian by “ponizan” could also be translated as “of low estate,” or “of reduced power.” Meaning: not humbleness in a psychological sense but humbleness in a socio-economical sense — which is not that strange if you really think about it. After all, wasn’t this the carpenter’s son? The son of Mary, a woman who was probably looked down upon by others after getting pregnant before she was married? And, that being the case, could he not better relate to those who needed to pluck grains in order to eat and to those who were in need of being healed than the Pharisees could ever do?

Yes, the Jesus we find in these three passages was probably a social outcast himself who, unlike the Pharisees, had lacked social, political and religious power for the majority of his life. And this meant that he could actually relate to those who needed to pluck grains in the Sabbath in order to eat and those who were in need of being healed. That’s where his strange type of humility came from—from his genuine care for other people, especially those who were being oppressed. A humility that led him to very easily put aside his own ego in order to sacrifice himself for others, yes. But also a humility that made him stand up for those even less privileged than him whenever he needed to do so. A strange type of humility, indeed.

-x-

This weekend we have been talking about Jesus’s invitation. Yesterday we talked about the fact that, in Matthew eleven (11), Jesus seems to be inviting us to a genuine relationship with God. A relationship that goes deeper than any external display of religiousness or righteousness could ever go. But, from reading the story of the healing of the man with the withered hand, it seems like Jesus is also inviting us to something else. He is inviting us to also adhere to his strange type of humility. A humility that not only requires sacrifice, but a humility that is grounded on a genuine love for those around us. A humility that leads us to being able to sacrifice some of the things we expect other people to do in order to allow them the space they need for their own personal journey with God. A humility that, whenever needed, pushes us to stand up and defend someone from the accusations of others.

And this might be an important message in this world in which we live that seems to be afflicted by power structures. This world of crime, wars, hunger, authoritarianism, gender pay gaps and racial inequalities. A world that is in desperate need of people that, just like Jesus, might be a bit strange, might act differently than others, might fight for different values than these. People who dare to be strange and, in doing so, reflect the God-given servant Jesus Christ.

So, as we conclude our study on Jesus’s invitation this weekend, let me invite you to embrace the strange type of humility that Jesus displays in these texts. A humility that is driven by our love towards each other and the people around us. A humility that doesn’t simply leave us indifferent towards the suffering of others, but that actually drives us to action. A humility that makes us stand up for those who need it the most. My wish is that all of us may have this strange type of humility in the difficult times in which we live.

Let me pray with you

Molitva

Dear God,

Today we want to thank you because we know that you are always ready to stand up for us.

We want to thank for the multiple times in which you did so.

We want to thank you for your strange type of humility.

But we also want to ask you that you may put this strange type of humility in our hearts.

That we may not only have a real relationship with God, as we mentioned a few times this weekend,

But that we may also have a genuine care for those around us.

So that, in everything we do, they may see not our faces, our love, and our service,

But your face, your love, and your grace.

May you put this desire in our hearts,

Not only today but every day of our lives.

We ask for this

In the name of Jesus,

Amen.

Zaključak

Dear spectator, it was pleasure for me to spend this weekend with you. Our study on Jesus’s invitation concludes here. But our study on Jesus’s life will continue. If you haven’t done so already, please don’t forget to subscribe to this channel, and activate the notifications, so that you know whenever the new videos are posted. Good night and see you soon.