July 22 2012
Jer 23:1-6; Eph 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34
In today’s first reading, the prophet Jeremiah upbraids the rulers of Israel for their selfish and foolish leadership. Kings and priests were often called the shepherds of their people. The religious establishment of Jeremiah’s time thought that temple worship—sacrificing animals in the temple—and the eternal covenant of God with dynasty of David were sufficient to ensure the future of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah, by contrast, argued that sacrifices and historical promises were less important than obedience to the commandments. He also argued that Judah must submit to the Babylonians in order to avoid destruction, but the establishment didn’t listen to him. The calamitous result turned out to be the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, followed by many years of exile in Babylon. However, Jeremiah also promised the people better shepherds one day.
Mark presents Jesus as the good shepherd. We are all familiar with the good shepherd story from the Gospel of John: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…. I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:11,14). John states this explicitly and even puts the statement in Jesus’ mouth. By contrast, Mark does not tell us that Jesus is the good shepherd. He shows us.
In Jesus’ day, good shepherds for the people were in short supply. The country was occupied by the Romans, who imposed taxes but kept order. Today’s gospel passage comes right after a description of how Herod murdered John the Baptist in order to avoid being embarrassed at a dinner party. So he was not much of a shepherd.
The religious leaders were no better. The temple had been rebuilt, and people had to pay for many animals that were slaughtered there in worship and purity offerings. In fact, the temple priests offered animal sacrifices twice every day for the well being of the Roman emperor and his family.
Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus has been denouncing the religious leaders. They criticize him for healing people on the Sabbath. They get bent out of shape if people put the wrong things into their mouths, but don’t pay attention to gossip and nastiness that comes out of people’s mouths. The religious leaders weasel out of the responsibility to care for their aged parents by promising their wealth to the synagogue after they die. So those leaders are also poor shepherds. The people are like sheep without a shepherd.
In this short Gospel passage, Jesus sees how tired the disciples are, so he invites them to retreat to a quiet place to rest. But many people see them, recognize Jesus, and run to find him. They are like the sheep that recognize a good shepherd.
And he is. He must be even more tired than the disciples, but he “has compassion for them.” Maybe some of them are looking for healing; after all, Jesus has performed many healing miracles on people. But most of these people just want to be taught. And they recognize in Jesus someone who can teach them the right way to please God.
What does he teach them? Like Jeremiah, Jesus emphasized the commandments rather than the purity laws. Forget to wash your hands before eating? What defiles you is not what goes into your mouth, but what comes out of your mouth. Is it wrong to heal somebody on the Sabbath? What is right is to do good on the Sabbath, not evil. Does Israel need a powerful new king to bring about the kingdom of God? Plant a tiny seed of the kingdom today, and God will make it grow.
But mostly Jesus teaches by what he is doing. Exhausted, needing to rest, eat, and pray, he puts their needs first. And in doing that, teaches us to follow his example.