‘And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave
the sense, so that the people understood the reading.’
Nehemiah 8:8
Jesus says....“David himself calls him Lord; so how is he his son?” And
the great throng heard him gladly.
At first sight these readings do not have very
much in common. The passage from Nehemiah concerns the return of many Jewish
people from Babylon, where they had been in exile for 50 years. Nehemiah saw it
as his task to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple itself. The
passage we have here comes at a point where the Jewish people are gathered
together and the Book of the Law is being read, and explained to them. The aim
is of a renewed and shared commitment to living as people under God’s rule.
Jesus, by contrast, seems to be calling into
question a belief that had grown out of the faithful reading and interpretation
of scripture: that a great redeemer was to come out of Israel, and that he
would be a descendant of King David. Jesus also makes his point through
referring to, and interpreting the words of scripture, in this case Ps 110.
In the first passage we see the seeking of
clarity, in the second, the raising of questions. In reading the Bible text,
we, too, might seek the first, but encounter the second. The lesson we can take
from this, perhaps, is that scripture needs to be approached with care and
humility: what we learn is always provisional.
Loving
God, as we seek you through your Word, help us to be open to new possibility
and challenge. Amen
S Rowe
Chorlton/Manley Park Methodist Church
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