db121: what makes this not merely ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a
"HALAKHIC [LEGALISTIC]
SQUABBLE BETWEEN FIRST-CENTURY JEWS"
(to echo a colorful Bon Mot of John Paul Meier's)
is Yesh's use of the controversy to make a strong theological claim
in the form of the parable.

Whether or not
the Pharisees were hypocrites
(we would imagine that some were & some were not),
it is certainly the case that to concern oneself with extra-ordinary performances of external piety while ignoring (or worse)
the ethical & spiritual requirements of the Torah is poor religion,
on the order perhaps of preaching that Jesus is love
but hates homosexuals.

We should remember, however,
that "in general, in ancient Jewish & Christian contexts a 'hypocrite'
is a person whose interpretation of the Law differs from one's own," as Joel Marcus has so sharply put it.
There is a story of the 19th-century Rabbi Mendel of Kotzk (the famous Kotzker Rebbe) who said that many Jews
concern themselves more with a blood spot on an egg than a blood spot on a ruble,
but surely he himself remained just as careful about blood spots on eggs
and expected no less from his followers
"& ALL of the Jews!"

(Recently JM has re-cited the Kotzker's apophthegm in precisely this Markan context.)

Jesus' homily is indeed in this radically critical Jewish tradition
that began with the great prophets & continued
for millennia
...
30 jan 2013 - bewerkt op 30 jan 2013 - meld ongepast verhaal
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