Today's Scripture Reading (January 13, 2024): John 8
In every crime show, there seems to be a moment
when the suspect is waxing eloquently about how much he hated the victim, and
then, all of a sudden, it dawns on him that he might be a suspect in the crime.
Almost every episode contains this line, usually delivered with amazement – "You
think I did it?" And the answer is usually, "You are on our list of
suspects, yes." The suspect just stares back in amazement; "how could
you think I could do such a thing?"
Often, this isn't the one who committed the crime;
this is especially true if the conversations occur in the show's first half.
But in this moment, this is how you are defined; you are the suspect. It doesn't
really matter if you are a doctor or a lawyer; anything positive in your life is
overruled by the suspicion that you might have committed the crime. The
investigation continues, and more evidence is unearthed until the charges are
finally laid. At the beginning of the court trial, the charges are read in the
form of an indictment; you are charged with the murder of Col. Mustard. How do
you plead? At this point, the accused has a chance to respond and answer guilty
or not guilty.
It is essentially what is happening to Jesus at
this stage of the discussion. It is informal, more in keeping with allowing
someone to know the charge to see how they react, but a charge is being made.
And in this case, the charge would seem to have two aspects. First, you are a
Samaritan and not a Jew, and second, you are possessed by a demon. Jesus, how
do you plead? Interestingly, Jesus ignores the first charge and only responds
to the second.
The first charge, the accusation that Jesus is a
Samaritan, is important, yet Jesus doesn't seem to answer the question.
Samaritans were the hated alter ego of the Jews. They were the people of Israel
watered down by inbreeding with other races. It was something for which the
Jews could not forgive them. Samaritans were enemies; they were unworthy of any
interaction with Judah, and being a Samaritan would absolutely erase any chance
that Jesus was the Messiah because the Messiah was definitely not going to be a
Samaritan.
But Jesus remains silent on the charge. There might
be a few reasons why. It might be that while Jesus's primary mission was to the
Jews, he saw no reason to insult the Samaritans; after all, they were the
children of God, too. They were Israel, just Israel watered down. Jesus's
mission was to the Jews, but he had also come to save the whole world, and the
Samaritans were part of the world. And Jesus could see no way of answering the
question without insulting the Samaritans, so instead, he remained silent.
Or, maybe we have the wrong question. Some have
suggested that the question of whether Jesus was a Samaritan is a question that
was never asked; both questions of the text that we have are actually one
accusing Jesus of being demon-possessed. The Aramaic word for Samaritan is "Shomeroni."
The word "Shomeron" is used as another word indicating the demon "Ashmedai," or in some cases the
father of "Ashmedai,"
who is "Sammael," a name
that means the "Venom of God"
and is also used of Satan. So,
the question comes to this: are there two charges here, or only one? Are the
Jews accusing Jesus of being a Samaritan, or are they accusing Jesus of being
Satan with a devil inside, literally declaring Jesus to be more evil than Satan?
And this is the question to which Jesus decided to respond.
Tomorrow's Scripture
Reading: John 9
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