Sunday Gospel Comment
Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR B
TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 5.10.03
Gn 2,18-24; Hb 2,9-11; Mk 10,2-16
Male & Female Power in Mark
Act Three of Mark is set out in one large concentric
structure
At the centre-scene (n. 8), Jesus sits down and -again- tells his disciples
that in God's plan, He must die & rise for all ('the Son of Man is being
betrayed at the hands of men... 8,31). But instead of seeing how this
tragic-yet-saving event will affect them and help them to make changes in their
lives, they fail to understand and are afraid to ask more questions. Mark says
all this so that his community (and us), may benefit from their stubborn lack of
understanding and accomplish in us the changes, that will help us carry out
God's work. For this purpose he arranges four situations, with four 'hard'
sayings, against four cherished attitudes that we -like them- as disciples of
Jesus must let go: namely, the lust for power over 'little ones', over women,
over children and over possession.
Jewish attitudes towards married women
In last week's reading, Mark condemned in the strongest terms the abuses of
power over 'little ones' and scandals in the Church. Today, he turns to abuses
of power over women in marriage. At Jesus' time, at Mark's and at ours, many
expectations were and still are, imposed on marriage relationships. As a result,
many personal, ethnic, family, national loyalties easily deteriorate into
prejudices and hatred, breakdown and divorce. First, Mark sets the scene: the
Pharisees ask Jesus to declare his position about divorce, and Jesus in turn,
asks them to spell out what the Law of Moses (Torah) required. They claim
without giving the quote in Deut. 24,1-4. that Moses allows a man to simply give
a writ of dismissal & divorce his wife. Then, Jesus re-interprets the 'Law
of Moses' and re-instates the Law of Creation. He advocates the total equality
of man and woman, with no power of man over woman. Later, the disciples get
Jesus aside and ask more questions, but Jesus simply repeats his teaching that
neither man nor woman have right to dismiss independently each other.
Christian attitudes towards married women
Mark is aware that in his multicultural community, ethnic, Jewish and
Hellenistic expectations differed vastly. While Jewish-Christians took for
granted the teaching of Moses, which allowed men -but not women!- to simply and
independently dismiss their wives, Christians from Pagan-Hellenistic culture
allowed both men and women to divorce. Addressing this issue, Mark first,
implies that the Jewish custom of 'dismissing wives' was never a right stemming
from the 'Law of Moses': it was tolerated 'because of your stubbornness of
heart'(v.5); Then, he point out that neither men nor women can claim a 'right to
dismiss': this would amount to usurping God's right, substituting ourselves for
God. In God's creative plan, no one can claim power over another. Marriage is
based on an equal union of 'one flesh'. Here, Mark is concerned about abuses of
power by men (or women) in their marriage. Anyone who divorces his or her
partner and marries another, commits adultery 'against her or him'. For any
grounds about annulments or divorce, we must look elsewhere.
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