Gospel Reflection for The 7th day of February in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
Mark 7:14-23
14 And calling again the multitude unto him, he said to them: Hear ye me all, and understand. 15 There is nothing from without a man that entering into him, can defile him. But the things which come from a man, those are they that defile a man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 17 And when he was come into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked him the parable. 18 And he saith to them: So are you also without knowledge? understand you not that every thing from without, entering into a man cannot defile him: 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but goeth into the belly, and goeth out into the privy, purging all meats? 20 But he said that the things which come out from a man, they defile a man.
21 For from within out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.
One of the more interesting documents of the Early Church is called the Epistle of Barnabas. As I have mentioned before, although this is one of the earliest writings of Christianity, the Church has never issued a statement as to its authenticity. For centuries, it was believed to have been written by the Biblical Barnabas, who was a disciple of Saint Paul. Later scholars have speculated that it may have been either a different Barnabas or a disciple of the Biblical Barnabas. Regardless, it is very reflective of the teachings and sentiments of Saint Paul. This Barnabas condemns not only the “Judaisers” who Saint Paul combated, those who would impose Jewish Law on Christians, but condemns all Jewish tradition with a bias verging on the antisemitic. In reading such documents, we must see them as a product of their time, when Jewish officials were actively persecuting and trying to destroy Christianity with all the zeal of the Maccabees. They believed it was their religious and solemn duty to God to kill the Christians whom they believed to be blasphemous. It was natural for Christians, especially those of Jewish heritage and education such as Saint Paul, to both stridently defend Christianity and to oppose especially its Jewish enemies.
Regardless, the Epistle of Barnabas makes clear that the earliest Christians fully rejected all Torah Law, following the teachings of Jesus who, in today’s Gospel, “declared all foods clean.” The open defiance of Jesus to the Law of Moses was enough to warrant His execution under Jewish Law. How is it that Jesus, the Word of God who is the same authority who gave Moses the Law would teach something completely different in His earthly ministry? Would the same God say on one day that it was sinful to eat pork and on another day that all foods were clean and none forbidden? Well, yes, He did. But, why?
Barnabas believed that the entire Law of Moses was symbolic. In regard to such dietary rules, he stated that the Jews had completely misunderstood what was given to them as a parable, just as Jesus so often spoke in parables. He said that there was no true law against eating pork, but that the People of God were not to associate with “men who act like pigs”, the chosen people were not to greedily dive, head first, into their slop and eat all they could. A pig will turn on its master and even eat him, given the opportunity. Unlike pigs, they should have gratitude to the one who provided for them. A pig wallows in filth and even becomes violent in its sexual desires – never get between a boar and a sow in heat! Pigs are stubborn, willful, and disobedient. Sure, they are cute as piglets, but they can be really nasty when mature… and I am only talking about domesticated pigs. Wild pigs are among the most dangerous and destructive animals on earth!
Saint Justin Martyr offered a similar but more charitable view. In his discourse with Trypho, a religious Jew who was interested in Christianity, Saint Justin explains that because the Jews constantly turned their back on God, God gave them a Law that was so difficult and complicated that they had to strive every day to uphold it. He explains that God wished to give them an easier path to salvation, but had to chastise them for their disobedience through the onerous Torah Law. He explains that had their hearts not been so hardened, they would need no other law than as Jesus said, to love God and neighbor.
Truly, as our Lord said, they were slaves to the Law. We have been made heirs through Jesus Christ and are no longer slaves, but free. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. We have only to Love God and follow the simple teachings of the Catholic Church. As Saint Paul cautioned, let no one condemn you or lay upon you any burden or teaching other than this. In Christ, through His Church, we have true freedom.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.