READING 8 - THE ORTHODOX READINGS - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
He is a "shomer", a true "commandment keeper", an expression used today to refer to a practicing Jewish believer who tries to comply with God's precepts.
Now, this man is a ruler. In the synoptic Gospels, he is a wealthy rich young man. He wants to do something"good" in order to receive from the "Only Good" a kind of Visa or Green or whatever colour card to enter the eternal life and to ascertain not to die. There is a fear and a deep desire, a will for power over personal destiny and maybe, in-between, a conviction that might allow and open any gates. We know that this is wrong.
Then Jesus tells him: "You lack one thing: sell all that you have and distribute unto the poor and you will have a treasure in heaven: and come, follow me" [Luke 18:22]. This is precisely the point. A ruler doesn't want to give up and to "bifurcate", take another even healthier way. You were naked at your birth; you will be naked into the World to Come [cf. Job 1:21]. But don't be afraid of anything, about how you will be dressed [Matthew 6:25; Luke 12:27] because Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as the sparrows! And in the Bible there are only two authentic rulers and conquerors: David and Solomon and both transgressed and trespassed the commandments and reached idolatry.
Does it mean that wealth may spoil any rich person? This is an ever-pending issue in the Church and for the Church itself. The Church often requires a lot of money - and as a rule all clerics in all denominations FOR THE SAKE OF GOD. But they might use it for their own profit. Here the challenge is special: Jesus says to His disciples: "It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God! [Luke 18:25]. There were at the time of Jesus thirteen Gates to enter Jerusalem. Twelve were for those who knew to which tribe they belonged and a thirteenth was for those who did not know of their tribe. The gate was very narrow as a needle's eye. "Makhat", both in Aramaic and Hebrew, refers to "KHuT": "to perforate, incise, dig" and then "to fasten".
Who is "rich", "wealthy"? A credit/debit business dealer or ruler? a person with money? We have seen some weeks ago that this is not the real problem. In fact, it is difficult to enter the Kingdom of God for anyone who is full of his/her own person, even if a lot of unsolved issues [character, physical, moral, spiritual, ethic attitudes] and cannot give up and hand everything to God. Such are even today the Gates of Jerusalem leading to the Holiest places of Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The real challenge remains the same: "the things which are impossible with men are possible with God". This vertical perception of our destiny and call to be human beings is terribly lacking at present. We need not might, power but to comply with the commandments and sometimes take the risk to abandon everything in order to receive, unexpectedly and without requirement, The Only Good Who abides and saves our souls and bodies.
THE JEWISH READINGS
Shabbat VAYIGASH [(Then Judah] came near (to Joseph)]
Portion of the Torah - Parshat Torah: Bereshit/Genesis 44:18-47:28
Prophetic portion - Haftarah : Ezekiel 37:15-28
10 de Tevet: The tenth of the month of Tevet [15.12.2002] is the rememberence day on which the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar's entrance into Jerusalem his long and terrible siege [cf. Kings 25:1-3]. In the State of Israel, this is the "General Day of Kaddish", the mourning prayers recited for all the victims of the Holocaust or Shoah/Khurban.
The portion of the Torah read by the Jewish Communities this week is the "happy end" of the terrible destiny of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob-Israel.
He became the adviser of the Egyptian Pharoah, but as a ruler never trespassed or claimed anything for himself. It is interesting to compare his attitude with that of the ruler who came to question Jesus about eternal life. Joseph had been sold by his brothers. And he was lifted to a high-ranking position - the highest possible rank for a foreigner. But he was indeed humble, rich with God's gifts and spirit. Moreover, we have seen that he had a spirit of reconciliation. His brothers are going through a famine in the Land of Canaan. He is ready to help and pardon them, though under the condition of meeting his younger brother, Benjamin, the only one who was born in what will become the Land of Israel.
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