Jesus & the Law – on money & business … (11/11/18)
While the Law professed many regulations designed to ensure fair trade practices amongst all Jews – and thereby give all Israelites equal opportunities to accumulate monetary wealth, Jesus saw things in the economic realm quite differently. Consider …
*Whereas the Law demanded that business be conducted fairly and that no one be defrauded when buying or selling goods or services (see Exodus 22:24, Leviticus 25:14, Leviticus 19:35-36, & Deuteronomy 25:13), Jesus demanded that his followers focus on going a large step further – on looking for ways to not merely treat others fairly but rather to serve them self-sacrificially (see Matthew 5:7, Matthew 5:20, Matthew 16:24-26, Matthew 18:21-22, Matthew 24:12-14, Mark 4:24, Mark 8:31-35, Mark 9:35, Mark 10:21, Mark 10:43-45, Mark 12:41-44, Luke 6:30-31, Luke 6:38, Luke 9:23-24, Luke 14:26-27, Luke 18:22, & Luke 21:1-4 et al).
*Whereas the Law was quite clear in demanding that the poor be treated fairly by those who were wealthier (see Exodus 22:24-26, Leviticus 25:37, Deuteronomy 15:9, & Deuteronomy 24:12-17), Jesus extolled his followers to give to the poor without expecting or requiring anything from them in return – not to give to them fairly, but to give to them period (see Matthew 5:42, Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 19:21, Matthew 25:35-40, Luke 3:10-12, Luke 6:35-38, Luke 12:33-34, & Luke 14:12-14 et al).
*Whereas the Law demanded that creditors never exact payment from debtors by force or extortion (see Leviticus 19:13 & Deuteronomy 24:10) and to forgive all debts every seventh year (see Leviticus 25:24 & Deuteronomy 15:2), Jesus called for listeners who were owed payments to forgive the same both immediately & fully (see Matthew 6:12, Matthew 18:21-35, Luke 6:30, Luke 7:41-43, & Luke 11:4).
*Whereas the Law indirectly-yet-clearly lauded material wealth and thereby encouraged every upstanding Jew to accumulate the same, Jesus loudly & repeatedly denounced any & all similarly materialistic fixations – boldly exclaiming “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth … but store up treasures in heaven instead” (Matthew 6:19-20), “Sell your possessions and give alms instead … for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:33-34), “The cares of the world and the lure of wealth come in and choke the Word, yielding nothing in return” (Mark 4:19), “You cannot [simultaneously] serve God and wealth” (see Matthew 6:24 & Luke 16:13 – also Luke 16:19-31), “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a man who is wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God” (see Matthew 19:24 – also Mark 10:25 & Luke 18:25), “Woe to you who are wealthy, for you have already received your consolation” (Luke 6:24), and “None of you can become my disciples if you do not give up all your possessions” (Luke 14:33).
*Whereas the Law explicitly regulated the prompt and just payment of all workers (see Leviticus 19:13 & Deuteronomy 24:15), Jesus decried the same by implying that it was right to reward all those who in any way endeavored – those who worked short & poorly, as well as those who worked long & well (see Matthew 20:1-16 – also Matthew 19:30, Mark 10:31, & Luke 13:30).1
*Finally, and perhaps most importantly, whereas the Law demanded that all owned slaves & bonded servants2 be treated fairly (see Exodus 21:2-10 & Deuteronomy 15:12-15),3 Jesus went out of his way to repeatedly exclaim that all of his listeners focus instead on making their lives about selfless service (especially for the downtrodden in their communities &/or the enemies in their lives – see Matthew 25:35-40 & Matthew 5:44-48), and thereby in effect become “slaves” themselves (see Matthew 20:26-27‘s “whoever wishes to be great among you must be as a servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must become as a slave” – also Matthew 20:28, Matthew 23:11, Mark 9:35, Mark 10:45, Luke 22:26-27, & John 13:12-17).4
“Strive to enter through the narrow door … Indeed people will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and they will all eat in the Kingdom of God. For some are currently last who will be first, and some are currently first who will be last … So when you are invited to a wedding banquet, do not sit in any place of honor … For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, just as all who humble themselves will be exalted.” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 13:24-30 & Luke 14:8-11)
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1 Jesus regularly uttered the phrase “the last will be first, and the first will be last” in the Gospels, and its implications exceed the mere monetary – with the revolutionary “bandit” on his Golgothan cross being the “last” to be summoned by Jesus to his humbly selfless “Way” and yet the “first” to enter that “Kingdom” (see Luke 23:42-43); and this in stark contrast to Jesus’ disciples, who were the “first” ones to receive Jesus’ Gospel but who were also some of the “last” to wholeheartedly enliven the same (see Luke 24:36-38 et al).
2 NOTE that slavery had a longstanding place of acceptance in the Jewish culture (going all the way back to Genesis 9:25), that slaves were an integral part of the economic workings of ancient Israel, and that the word often translated as “slaves” in the Bible more often than not implied an often volitional form of indentured servitude. Though children could indeed be legally sold into bondage to pay off a debt (Leviticus 25:44), it was common for adult Jews to voluntarily do the same for a fixed period of time – most often six years (Leviticus 25:35).
3 The ancient Judean Law did indeed establish a set of minimum standards within which slaves were to be treated. Though non-Israelite slaves were treated as mere chattel (Leviticus 24:44-46), Israelite slaves were to be treated as members of their owner’s extended family (Deuteronomy 16:14), were not to be overworked (Leviticus 25:43 & Leviticus 25:53), were not to be worked on any Sabbath (Exodus 23:12), and were to be freed after six years of service (Exodus 21:2) and given livestock, grain, and wine as parting gifts at that time (Deuteronomy 15:13-14).
4 While it is true that Jesus never once spoke out against slavery directly – and while it is also true that he used slave/master relationships to illuminate a number of his parables (see Matthew 24:45-51, Luke 12:41-48, & Luke 17:7-10 et al), it is just as true that he was a brazen critic of any & all social divisions of class &/or strata, as well as a zealous champion of freedom and justice for all – something those same parables pungently exude and potently illustrate.
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