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On
Conflict
by Cadet Claire
O'Brien-Hawk
The perception of a divide between Jesus and the Pharisees and
Sadducees (hereafter referred to as ‘Rulers’) is an accurate
perception, but one which is vulnerable to superficial and
finally, harmful, analysis. Some have characterized the
relationship between Jesus and the Rulers as one in which
Jesus essentially systemically despises any who go by the
title ‘Pharisee’ or ‘Sadducee’, but such an analysis is
shallow; it weakens Jesus’ judgment in Matthew and constrains
attempts to understand and enact faithful discipleship. Jesus
does not hate the office of the Rulers but rather the
embodiment of the office by his contemporaries.
Two common threads can be detected in the conflicts between
Jesus (and his people) and the Rulers. First, those opposed to
Jesus desperately clutch at resources/power, whereas Jesus and
his people submit to and depend on God’s providential care.
This is first seen in Jesus’ birth. Terrified that the baby
Jesus would unseat him from his throne of power, Herod engaged
in a campaign of terror, massacring all the male toddlers in
the region, determined to find and finish Jesus. Later, as
Jesus prepares his ministry with 40 days in the desert, Satan
tempts him toward self-sufficiency and displays of power.
Jesus responds to him
with a quote from his ancestors’ time in the desert,
acknowledging man’s total dependence on God and God’s total
worthiness of man’s confidence. Jesus sets the example for how
the faithful are to engage power: not claiming and using it
for their own security or benefit, but trusting God to secure
and profit them in his own time and way.
Second, those opposed to Jesus ignore or exploit the neediness
of others, whereas Jesus and his people tend to it. Early in
the Gospel, John the Baptizer denounces the Pharisees and
Sadducees based on their lack of
actions in keeping
with repentant and contrite hearts. Righteousness that does
not reach into the physical realm is not righteousness enough.
Throughout the rest of the Gospel, Jesus heals paralytics,
interacts with sinners, eats at the wrong time and in the
wrong way, and drives out demons. In each of these moments,
Pharisees and Sadducees confront Jesus, willing to sacrifice
the physical and spiritual well-being of the people for the
sake of observing other forms of ‘righteousness’. They have
lost sight of shepherding, blinded by a consuming
preoccupation with self. Though there is nothing inherently
and necessarily offensive about Pharisees and Sadducees, these
particular Rulers engage in the exact type of tight-fisted,
panicky, defensive, self-preserving behavior that cripples
justice. This behavior can only ever exist apart from trust in
God’s ability and willingness to provide; they are mutually
exclusive. Each of the conflicts one might derive from the
text (gender, race, socioeconomic status) can be traced back
to these fundamental patterns: selfishness out of a sense of
scarcity verses generosity out of confidence in God’s
abundance and provision.
In the world today one might observe conflict between
cultures, nations, genders, socioeconomic status, religious
sects, and political positions. The characters and details in
the dramas may have changed from Jesus’ time but the basic
stories are the same. As in Jesus’ time, most of the divisions
and hostility in current society can be traced back to fear.
This is evidenced in the ferocity and violence with which
people defend their positions. In the same way that Pharisees
and Sadducees were quick to put down any sentiment or behavior
that threatened their tightly controlled lives, people now try
to repress any ‘other’ that endangers their world.
This biting and tearing down behavior is the exact opposite of
faithful kingdom living as described in Matthew. If
righteousness and faith are demonstrated in the physical care
of neighbor for neighbor, then the infighting that is rampant
in the world today is not an appropriate defense of the right
and true; it is not even a merely neutral option. It is sinful
and to be judged by the Messiah. While it is tempting to
believe that defending a belief or cause to extreme measures
shows admirable loyalty to the object of the allegiance, this
is not the way of Jesus’ kingdom. Even violence done for the
‘right’ is wrong.
It should be noted that Jesus is not exactly conflict-free in
Matthew. He himself states that he has come to bring conflict
and division. However, to imagine that Jesus is pursuing mere
sectarianism is completely wrong. As stated previously, Jesus
is not against Pharisees and Sadducees because they are
Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus does not pick demographic
favorites. He does not prefer men to women or rich to poor.
Jesus is enraged at the Pharisees and Sadducees because they
are rejecting Jesus’ kingdom where resources are shared and
where everyone is fed. Those who ought to be shepherding the
community into health and wellness are burdening the people
instead. Jesus’ division is a line between those who choose to
continue to live in violence, oppression, and shortage, and
those who choose to enter into peace, justice, and abundance.
There are three passages in particular that seem to allow for
a reading that perpetuates unholy conflict today. In Matthew
10, Jesus speaks of bringing not peace, but a sword. He then
states that he has come to turn family members against each
other and demands that the love of his followers for him be
above their love to their own family. This is a passage that
could easily engender a lack of charity toward ‘others’. If
disciples are not even allowed loyal attachment to their
family, what kind of commitment can be expected of them toward
strangers? This extreme devotion to Jesus has been used as
justification for all kind of violent activity against those
who do not agree with Christianity. Certainly, Jesus’ claim to
bring a sword is suggestive of an acceptance, and maybe
promotion, of crusader-like mission.
Perhaps a better reading can be supported by context clues. In
the preceding verses, Jesus has been telling his disciples
that they are open to the same abuses Jesus himself suffered,
that they will receive no portion different from their
Master’s. He has warned that they will be hated and
persecuted. This does not suggest encouragement for initiating
a violent campaign, but rather warning that they will receive
a violent campaign from others. Further back Jesus commanded
the disciples to preach and to heal, to give as freely as they
have received, to enter towns as poor men, without provisions.
This is a far cry from entering towns as conquerors. Jesus
then talks about bearing personal crosses, and losing lives in
the attempt to live as Jesus lived. This is not a passage
justifying violent practices for the sake of the kingdom.
Rather, it is a passage that warns of the way people will come
to hate and punish those who follow Jesus and live as he
lived.
The passage of the Canaanite Woman, in Matthew 15 and the
derisive way in which she is spoken to have provided ample
support for those who wish to justify hostility between
genders and nations. Because the narrative shows Jesus as
dismissing this woman’s nation, referring to them as ‘dogs’,
and ignoring the woman’s pleas for help, it is easy to believe
that Jesus himself took offense at such demographic
categories. If one looks closer, however, they will find that
the story of the Canaanite woman is one in which Jesus refuses
to treat an outsider as a nothing-person. He engages her
person and her need when his disciples would have him pay her
off. Neither her status as a Gentile nor her status as a woman
were enough to allow Jesus to finally reject her. Rather, he
draws her in, creating tension, and drawing her to the only
point through which she can enter his healing. The only
demographic warring in this passage is that which is healed
and redeemed in Israel’s God.
Finally, in Matthew 21, Jesus states that the kingdom will be
taken from ‘you’ and given to a people who will produce its
fruits. This has often been enthusiastically accepted as an
indication that the good, fruit-producing Christians are to
replace the wicked, didn’t-recognize-Jesus Jews as God’s
special possession. Christian sense of superiority over Jews
is extensive throughout the world due to passages like this. A
closer look at ‘kingdom’ may afford clarity. If we take this
word to mean ‘living in the benefits that derive from doing
things God’s way’, then yes, certainly, those whose behavior
produces good fruits will eat and gain nourishment of that
fruit. Those who work to diffuse conflict and promote peace in
their community are likely to live in a community where there
is peace: they have made it so! There is nothing to suggest
that there is a demographic line drawn here. No race or gender
is more likely to have success. As with Jesus’ sentiment
toward the Pharisees and the Sadducees, it is not the physical
and superficial attributes of a person that Jesus is
interested in, it is their heart and whether they produce
fruit in keeping with the kingdom. Any person, whether Jew,
Christian, black, white, child, or adult, has as much
potential as any other for receiving the kingdom: they must
simply work toward its institution in their society by the way
they live.
The Gospel of Matthew has great news for the divisions of the
present age: Jesus is not about them! Not only does Jesus not
support these divisions, he himself fought and died to
dismantle them and sends his followers out on a mission to do
the same. Jesus would not even have
his followers push
the truth onto the world. His way is not even merely “live and
let live”; it is a way of living in community in which
everyone, regardless of their makeup, has enough to eat and is
able to live well. He is a Messiah who is not satisfied for
people to continue in their oppression. He does not have
people fight for their own deliverance but he fights for them,
bearing the scars of this fight for justice in his own body
and taking on their position as one despised and rejected.
When Christians today witness hostility and division, they are
to follow Christ’s example, not allowing these boundaries to
limit their care for people in need. Disciples of every
generation will see the Powerful hoarding more and more
resources, clutching desperately to the illusion that if they
store up enough goods, they will be secure. Disciples of
Christ must judge this behavior, behavior that robs the weak
of their daily provisions. At all times, disciples should
proclaim a God of abundant resources, a God who is willing to
provide manna for his people, each day in its turn.
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