Lectionary Reflection — Proper 22 (27) (Year B)

Mark 10:2-16 (MSG; adapted):1

1-2 From there Jesus went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?”

3 Jesus said, “What did Moses command?”

4 They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.”

5-9 Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman — no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.”

10-12 When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.”

13-16 The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

Other readings: Genesis 2.18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1.1-4, 2.5-12

                 

For those of us who don’t know, today is the beginning of the new season of Doctor Who. At more than 50 years old, Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction show ever. On top of that, today is the first show of a new incarnation of The Doctor, the time-traveling adventurer from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. The Doctor is a Time Lord, a race of beings that can regenerate into a new physical form when the current form is about to die. And that brings us to the biggest news of all — today, for the very first time, The Doctor will be a woman.

That’s right.

A woman.

When it was announced that Jodie Whittaker was cast in the title role of the series, the Internet blew up. A lot of people were thrilled. Others, not so much. “I’ll never watch this show again!” was a common outcry.

Why is that, I wonder? Do all such people “hate women,” as some suggest? Or is it something more subtle? I see the word misogyny thrown around a lot when it comes to issues like this. Misogyny is a very large word that encompasses, not only hatred of women but also contempt and prejudice against women. And in this context, it’s spot on. Using the argument that “the Doctor has always been a man,” and, therefore, can’t or shouldn’t be a woman falls into the category of prejudice against women.2

But, let me push back just a little on this. I’m not saying that everyone who denounced Whittaker’s casting is purposefully against women (although some may be). Again, I think it’s more subtle than that. Part of the definition of misogyny is an “ingrained prejudice against women.” That is, it’s part of a person’s DNA, whether that deep-seated prejudice came from society at large or was because of a person’s upbringing or both. In other words, some people may not even realize they’ve subtly been taught their whole lives to have a bias against women.3

And it’s that unrecognized, ingrained prejudice that Jesus addresses in our Lesson today. When the religious leaders asked Jesus about divorce, he said that the only reason there was a law about it was because of their “hardhearted ways.” “Hardness of heart” is another way of saying “ingrained prejudice.”

Jesus goes on to say that in the “original creation” — i.e., before everything went awry — God made men and women equal. This is a direct contradiction to what the religious leaders believed and taught. Jesus then states that in marriage, two equals parts come together to form “a new unity.” This new unity, Jesus said, shouldn’t be “desecrated” by splitting it apart.

The reason there was a law about divorce was because the men no longer saw women as equals. To some (most) men of the time, women were seen as “less than” men, subordinate to men; perhaps not ranking much higher than a servant or some cherished piece of property. Wives could be used and discarded like any other “thing” that was owned.

But instead of seeing divorce as something that only benefited men, I propose that it benefited women, too. I know, that sounds weird, but hear me out. It would be a lot safer for the wife if the husband could divorce her instead of resenting her and then taking out that resentment with abuse.4

I think this is why Jesus told the disciples privately that if someone divorces their spouse so they could be with someone else they “commit adultery.” Jesus wasn’t making a blanket statement about divorce here. There’s a context. Too often, I’ve seen so-called “pastors” (and they’re always men) counsel women to stay with their abusive husbands because to divorce them would cause them to commit adultery and other poorly interpreted and misapplied biblical passages.

Like so many times before, people get caught up on the wrong point Jesus is making. The subject is not divorce but the “hardness of heart” or “ingrained prejudice” some men had towards women.

And some men still have it.

This can be seen in recent current events with the accusations Dr. Christine Blasey Ford made against supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Doctor Ford appeared before a senate judiciary committee to give sworn testimony about being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh when they were both in high school. Almost instantly after Dr. Ford came forward, people started questioning her credibility and accusing her of misconduct. Several people stated she was only trying to get her “15 minutes of fame.” That she was glory seeking. That she was falsely accusing Kavanaugh because she was a “puppet” of the Democratic party to smear Kavanaugh and the Republican party.

Of course, almost all of these statements came from men in the GOP. Instead of addressing the accusations from the beginning, most people were accusing Dr. Ford of slandering a “good man.” In the last few days, a national leader openly mocked Dr. Ford at a political rally to a cheering crowd.

Since coming forward, Dr. Ford and her family have had to move three different times and have been threatened with violence and even death. All because Dr. Ford would dare speak out about her sexual assault.

And, rightly so, many people came forward stating they believed Dr. Ford. Because of Dr. Ford’s courage, other women came forward with their own accusations against Kavanaugh. Everywhere the hashtag #Ibelieveher appeared as scores of people, me included, supported Dr. Ford in various social media outlets.

And it seems so clear to me that “ingrained prejudice” underlies all of this. You can see it on the faces of the men on the judiciary committee. You can hear it in the words of national leaders as they bemoan what might happen to boys and men if their actions against women are brought out into the light and examined. “Ingrained prejudice” against women has become such a societal virus that we, as a people, don’t even recognize it within ourselves.  

But not believing women is nothing new. When the women who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus returned from the tomb, they “broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.” (Luke 24.9-11; emphasis added).

The next time we have an adverse reaction to a woman stepping into the light about anything — assault, power, leadership, etc. — we should ask ourselves why we feel this way? Why do we automatically disbelieve the stories women tell us? What would happen if we took their words as truth? What would happen if we treated them the way we would want to be treated? What would happen in our world if we recognized women as equals — children of God made in God’s image? What if we realized women embody Christ? That when we look into their faces we see Christ? I, for one, think our world would become a safer place, a kinder place.

I honestly believe that it falls on followers of Jesus to be the leaders for embracing, not only women, but children (as the Lesson also indicates), people of color, immigrants, men and women who identify as LGBTQ+, and, well, everyone whom society pushes to the margins. The church should be the most liberal, diverse, and accepting place in all the world. And you know what? Once we, the followers of The Way of Jesus, get our act together the world will begin to change.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get ready. I’ve got a date with The Doctor and I think I hear the faint sound of a certain time machine making its entrance. With all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will — I wonder where she’ll take us?

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

~~~

1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

2. And I’m careful to not say “men” here for I’ve seen women with the same ingrained prejudice. Granted, the majority of misogyny comes from men, but it’s not all men and I don’t like to work in generalities.

3. I’ve seen this recently with big push into what I call a “real men” movement. That is, some people (mostly men) have pushed back against the inroads women have made in society with a call for “men to be men” and that “real men” are being lost in a sea of feminism. (I recently saw a poll on one man’s social media where he took a poll asking his followers if they’d rather be with a “sexbot” or a “feminist.” 86% of them chose the sexbot. To which the man replied, “Wait till sexbots can make sandwiches.”) And while what it means to be a “real man” is an important question, it’s a question for another time that I’ll be addressing later.

4. For a modern example of just this, see the movie, The Stoning of Soraya M. It’s based on the book, La Femme Lapidée, by French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam. But I must warn you — it’s a gruesome film and not for the faint of heart.