Pure History? Or Historical?

Now that we are familiar with the why of the Word, we could take up the when or the time-perspective within which the Scriptures are to be read. If what Peter said to Jesus is true "Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life" then the Scriptures must necessarily be timeless and 'trans-historical' in that they not only endure for all time, but also they speak with equal force to all generations.

Yet, if we ask anyone listening to a Gospel story: "at what date do you imagine this story occurred?" the immediate response would be - between 30 and 33 AD. When the point is pursued, they would reluctantly admit that what they hear in the Gospel is simply a story of the past - something that Jesus did or said! If the Gospels told us only that much, how would they differ from any other book of history? And how would they apply to the present generation? When we read the biography of Mahatma Gandhi, all we learn is what he did on a given day, and in a given situation in the past. The obvious reason for this is that Gandhi lived and died, and with his death, the story ends. But with Jesus it is quite different. Jesus lived and died, but he was raised from the dead and continues to live and act today.

Realizing this deep singular truth of the Resurrection, the evangelists wrote the Gospel stories to tell us not just what Jesus did but what Jesus does. In other words, the Risen Lord is present in the Christian community (where two or three are gathered in My name, I am in their midst) and continues to act through them. He does now what he did then, undoubtedly, but what should be noted is that the Gospels are talking of a situation of the Lukan, or Markan Christian community and not of the life time of Jesus.

Thus, we are told that Jesus called Levi (5:27-32) who later 'gave a great banquet for Jesus in his house.' Luke is not referring here to a banquet held in 30 or 32 AD, but to the Eucharist celebrated by his community around the year 85 AD. It is at the Eucharist that most of our unchristian attitudes surface. The story goes on to tell us that the Risen Lord is present at the Eucharist and at the Eucharist he calls sinners to repentance. Again, the 'Pharisees' mentioned are not Jews obviously, but Christians who betray a pharisaical attitude - they sit in judgment over others. They label as sinners those whom Luke, the narrator, calls 'others' (And seated with him at table was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others' - 'why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?').

We hardly ever pay attention to this aspect, and hence we might need to personally check this out carefully in the text. Similarly, when in Lk. 11:1-4 we are told that the Lord taught the disciples to pray, we realize that it is the Lord present in the Christian community who does this. The Peter who denied Jesus and the Judas who betrayed him are not purely historical figures of the past - there is a bit of Peter and Judas and the Pharisee in each one of us, and it is these unchristian traits that are highlighted so that we can pick them out and correct them. These Gospel characters then become reflections of each one of us as we live our Christian lives today. It is not just 'his-story' that is recounted, it is my-story - the mystery of God's presence in the events of my life too. Thus, John the Baptist calling people to repentance could very well be none other than my zealous neighbour next door, pointing out my faults, maybe at the Eucharist itself. Blind Bartimaeus sitting by the roadside (the road that leads to Jerusalem where Jesus dies but also rises to new life) is myself when I stubbornly place myself outside the range of God's love until I one day realize that Life is passing me by.

Once we begin to read the Scriptures in the present, as happening here and now, as being the story of our own lives, our perspectives inevitably change and the Scriptures come alive. The gospel stories become very meaningful and purposeful. No longer would we point accusing fingers at others, but easily recognize ourselves in the Gospel characters. Becoming Peter or Judas or a Pharisee and reading the entire Gospel from that perspective can be very fruitful and revealing. But to do this effectively, we would need to read the text 'vertically' and not horizontally. This means that you pick out all the passages referring to Peter and read them in conjunction, seeking for a deeper insight into his character. You will readily recognize yourself in the picture that emerges as you put the texts together. Would you like to try it?

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