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Hi fellow readers -
Thanks, Russell, for hosting and facilitating the discussion. And thanks, Tony, for your “question.” While I want to begin with a long “thank you” for the resource that this site is and will be(!), I guess I’ll just get right into my response to Tony’s question:
If read as a parallel, then I agree Jesus’ use of the donkey as an example is troubling. But, perhaps, a key is in the “name,” or label, Jesus gives the unnamed woman: “daughter of Abraham.”
This moniker seems to attribute great worth to the afflicted woman. And so, then what Jesus might be doing is not making a parallel between the woman and a donkey; but rather making an argument from lesser to greater. As in: “if you (by concession in your law) loose your donkey so it can drink, why wouldn’t I loose this valuable person from the bonds of the adversary?”
And so, if Jesus is reading Sabbath primarily through the (Deut 5) exodus/release lens and the synagogue ruler is reading sabbath primarily through a (Exod 20) work/rest lens, then perhaps Luke is presenting his readers with a couple of “hard questions:” Who’s interpretation of Torah will you receive? What is the sabbath for?
Look forward to more conversation -
August 17th, 2010 at 8:40 amPeace
Wayne
I appreciate Tony’s comments, but I read it more like you, Wayne. I didn’t read it so much as Jesus directly comparing the woman to a donkey, but more in the vein of, “look at the splendor of the lilies of the field…yet how much more valuable are you to God?”
That said, Tony’s question gives me pause and reminds me that just perhaps I read this text as I do because that’s what makes me comfortable.
If Luke was asking “Who’s interpretation of Torah will you receive?” then, perhaps today we need to hear it as “Church, how will you participate with Jesus in healing those who are bent over – whether by illness or poverty or abuse or…”
August 20th, 2010 at 11:03 pm