There’s a special section of Josh Marshall’s "Talking Points Memo" devoted entirely to the rotten bankruptcy "reform" bill currently pending in Congress (see our earlier post on this topic here). Like I said earlier, bankruptcy law is a distinctly unsexy topic, but the reality is that any family at any time can unexpectedly face a financial crisis. As with social security, the details can be mind-numbing. But also as with social security, this is a topic that is just as likely (if not moreso) to affect you and yours as terrorism, Iraq, abortion, affirmative action, and other headline-grabbers. It’s worth taking the time to educate yourself about this, and to take appropriate action (i.e., getting in touch with your representatives in Congress).
It is dangerous for me to wade into these waters, but after reading David’s eloquent summary of the issues and the scholarly commentary at the link sites I feel that one issue in John’s gospel, and by extension in Bach’s oratorio, has not been brought out. This is the issue of the caste of High Priests, led by Caiaphas, who are actually the ‘characters’ who speak almost all the words attributed to ‘the Jews’ in the narrative. It was pointed out to me once by a great interpreter of Bach that these men represented a powerful, entrenched minority who were threatened by the revolutionary ideas that Jesus represented. It was clearly in their interest to protect their control over the religion and the faithful by working to undermine his movement. This is a direct warning to Christian churches and leaders, not to distort and warp the radical messages of Jesus to their own ends. Many people have expressed the view that Bach leads us to see all Christians, through their sins, as holding responsibility for the condemnation and execution of Jesus. The population of Jews, many of whom welcomed Jesus and his followers into Jerusalem a week earlier, are persuaded to reject him by these priests who fear their own downfall. How easily are people of faith manipulated into turning against ideas they had earlier embraced! This ‘sin’ of lack of discernment, of lack of conviction, can easily be seen as bringing about the death of Jesus, and these people who Jesus and his disciples saw as his true ‘congregation’ can also be seen, by extension, as the congregations of Lutheran Germany and of present-day Christendom.
An excellent commentary, Pam. But I wonder about one thing. It is indeed true that John identifies “the high priests” and “the officers” as the speakers on several occasions (e.g., John 19:6, the first explicit call for crucifixion, and John 19:15, “We have no king but Caesar.”). But does that not actually strengthen the notion that when John speaks of “the Jews,” he specifically means not the caste of high priests, but the ordinary citizens of Jerusalem (e.g., John 19:12, taunting Pilate for disloyalty to Caesar, and John 19:14-15, the second call for crucifixion)? Perhaps it is inappropriate to apply this sort of “close reading” to an ancient text that was probably not written by one person. And perhaps your approach would say that even if John does mean to attribute certain actions to “the Jews” rather than the high priests, the high priests were still the instigators. But that notion does not seem to me explicit in the text, and we, like Bach, have to take the text as we find it. Nonetheless, your perspective certainly gives me food for additional thought. Thanks.
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