In this week’s readings we have two topics, which seem unrelated. In the story from the Book of Numbers (Nm 11:25-29) and the first part of the Gospel (Mk 9:38-40) we hear how both Moses and Jesus have no problem accepting that “other people” can preach about God, and don’t feel the need to define some exclusive group which has this privilege.
In the letter from James (Jas 5:1-6) we hear a very stern condemnation of the rich, and in the second section of Mark’s gospel (Mk 9:42-48) there are also very strong words about the danger of sin. The target for James is clear, but for Jesus it is less so. His words are so dramatic that we can take away a message that sin is bad, really bad, take great care, but without getting any further understanding of what he telling us.
If we do look closer it’s not very obvious what Jesus is warning us about. What does it actually mean for an eye to cause us to sin, or a hand? And we can be sure that Jesus isn’t suggesting that self-mutilation is an appropriate response.
Part of the problem may be that the imagery is so dramatic that we take it very literally. We are used to the idea of referring to the heart as a metaphor for feelings of love or deep emotion. If we refer to a broken heart no one imagines we mean it literally. Chopping off a hand provokes a completely different reaction. We also have to recognize that in Jesus’ time there was no clear understanding of the role of different parts of the body in controlling our actions. Punishments involving removing the “offending” organ, such cutting off hands or feet, were commonplace.
So let’s put aside thoughts of surgery or barbaric punishments – those are a distraction.
But having done so we are still left with the question of what is Jesus actually trying to tell us? His words should certainly provoke a strong reaction about how dangerous sin is. But where does the sin come from? Jesus wants us to own our sinfulness – in the sense of accepting that it is deeply part of us, and we have to take responsibility for it, and then act to deal with it. And dealing with it can mean going deep into ourselves, recognizing things we would rather ignore, cutting out things that we believe are part of us, but which are in fact harmful or dangerous. If we wanted a more modern metaphor we might talk about burning away cancer cells, rather than cutting off hands.
What Jesus is warning us against is our natural defense mechanism, which we have honed from an early age, of saying “it wasn’t me”; I’m not really responsible; it was a failing in my upbringing; it’s really someone else’s fault. If we sin it is our doing. Yes there may be all sorts of reasons, but it’s still down to us to own it and to fix it.
And maybe there is a link here between the two apparently distinct topics in these readings.
Whether we sin or we prophesy these things come from within us, from the presence or absence of God within us. They are not based on anything external: the group we belong to, the training we have received, the esteem or lack of it in which we are held. As Jesus is repeatedly telling us, good and bad don’t come from outside, they don’t come from following rules or not. Good and evil come from the presence or absence of God within us. Eldad and Meldad had the presence of God within them. That was what Moses recognized, even if they hadn’t been in the right place at the right time.
When God is with us He fills us completely – our whole mind, our whole heart – our whole body. Any part of that which gets in the way needs to be removed.