Reading The Bible In Its Proper Context
My other reason for reading the Bible again is that I wanted to re-ignite my faith in God. I guess it was faltering a bit because of what's happening today. People, who believe in God, resorted to prayers and turned back to God when things weren't looking good. The pandemic which had raged since last year had been tough for all of us.
These past years, I have not actively read the Bible and I just relied on sermons from our parish priest when we were still able to attend mass as a community. Sadly, hearing mass is now close to impossible lest you contract the Covid-19 virus. Amid this pandemic and staying mostly at home, my only sources of spiritual nourishment are online masses and online articles. The Bible is a good source though but unfortunately it gathered dust in my bookshelf.
I remember when I was 19, a series of life events prompted me to explore the contents of the Bible on my own. When I started going through the verses, the words sort of jumped out and felt like they talked to me directly. It was a spiritual awakening. I was spiritually charged and it felt good.
But after several years of reading the Bible verses it became confusing because I had been reading and interpreting the scriptures literally. That had created trouble for me with how I related with people and responded to situations. One day, I snapped out of it and felt that I'd give it a rest and leave the Bible verses interpretations to priests.
Fast forward. I am inspired to reading the scriptures again. But I'm more conscious not to read and interpret it literally. Thanks to the internet where you can read articles explaining the passages in the Bible. There's a ton of resources out there, but it is still up to us to discern them properly.
I appreciate those resources more when Bible scholars write about a certain topic and offer related historical facts and the biblical culture at that time. They ensure that the verses won't be misinterpreted and are understood in their proper context
I am now looking at Bible verses from a broader and proper perspective. I'm thankful for the rich online resources because in the 70's and 80's you don't have access to such information unless you're pursuing a theology degree in college. The internet has democratize the appreciation of theology.
Talking about context, let's take the case of Matthew who was a tax collector and formerly called Levi. Later on, he became one of Jesus' disciple and was one of the gospel writers. In Mark 2: 14, Jesus walked to the collector's booth and asked Levi, who was seating at the booth, to come follow him. Levi got up and followed him. His invitation from Jesus was also mentioned in Matthew 9: 9 and Luke 5: 27-28
We might easily assume that Jesus, because he is God, must have had this mystical and hypnotic effect on Matthew who dropped everything, right there and then and followed Jesus. In reality, it's impractical to leave everything behind, especially for tax collectors, like Matthew, who made lots of money although it was not honest money.
He would surely lose a lot if he followed Jesus. Like Matthew, we have our pet sins and idols that keeps us away from the love of God. Most of the time, it's hard to give them up.
Yet, Matthew stood up and followed him. Matthew saw something special about Jesus Christ. He made a conscious and rational choice. Jesus did not force nor hypnotized him. That's the one thing that God gave us - our free will. .
To further appreciate Matthew's response, let's deep dive into his background and circumstances. To acquire the tax collector position, opportunistic Jews paid the Roman government to allow them to collect money from fellow Jews and traders. They make their money by collecting more than what was supposed to be paid.
As long as they remit the amount expected by the Roman authorities, they continue to enjoy that privilege. The Romans perpetrated that practice and sided with tax collectors if anyone would complain.
From historical sources, the tax collector's booth was an elevated booth positioned by the main road so that all traders were already seen from afar. Matthew's booth was located along the main road in Capernaum. He could see all traders before they pass by. This ensured that they paid their taxes
That road was a busy trading route that connected the northern and southern regions. A lot of traders passed through that road. You could just imagine the amount of money that Matthew was raking in.
The Jews despised Jewish tax collectors. They saw them as traitors, collaborators and oppressors because they worked for the Romans. Because of their dubious practice, they were treated as outcast along with thieves, adulterers and sinners. The Pharisees made sure, through their regulations, that tax collectors were not allowed to marry Jewish women and were not allowed to enter synagogues. I could only imagine the glaring, angry eyes of respectable Jews filled with contempt as they look at Matthew while he was walking the streets of Capernaum. He was extremely unpopular among his fellow Jews.
Also, Matthew was probably lonely and disliked himself. Yes, he had lots of money but people steered cleared away from him. His only of friends were tax collectors. Lost souls like him.
That was probably eating away at Matthew's soul. He was likely longing for a change in his life, like being accepted and probably seeking redemption.
I suspect that it was not the first time Jesus met Matthew. Remember, Jesus was quite busy in his ministry and was moving around a lot. He had probably seen or talked to Matthew many times at the booth since that road goes in and out of Capernaum and to the different regions.
On the other hand, Matthew knew who Jesus was. He had probably heard a lot of stories about Jesus. Traders could have been talking about Jesus while they stopped at Matthew's booth. So, when Jesus approached him at the booth and asked him to follow him, it must have been a big surprise to Matthew because he knew Jesus by reputation.
He could have been awestrucked by the invitation of Jesus the teacher, the healer, the miracle worker and a Jew. Remember Jews did not want anything to do with the likes of Matthew. But Jesus not only accepted him but invited him to join his inner circle.
Jesus must have been the answer to Matthew's yearning for inner change and redemption. Hence, he decided, stood up, followed Jesus and left everything behind.
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