Decades ago, I taught sociology at SAU. When teaching social problems to freshmen and sophomores, I noticed that many of my students did not take sociological analyses of social problems seriously. Soc did not have the same authority as theology.
So I decided to teach social problems from the gospel of Luke. For two weeks, I showed my students that Luke/Jesus were concerned about the rich-poor gap, about oppression, about ethnocentrism, about the misuse of power and authority. My students were surprised at how sociological Luke was. From then on, they took the class on social problems more seriously.
Most of my students had already had a course, Gospels and Acts, taught by the religion department, all white faculty. Little was taught about Luke's deep concern about the rich and poor, about oppression, etc. This neglect, this ignorance is typical of white American evangelicals as a whole; theologically and spiritually sophisticated, but sociologically amateur.
We might expect American whites to fail at this point, but some blacks scholars fail also. Are they too so poisoned by American individualism that they cannot see social oppression in the Bible?
About 25 years ago, I listened to a Rupe Sims lecture; Sims is a black biblical scholar who taught at Moody Bible Institute; supposedly, he knew his Bible backwards and forwards. Sims was deeply concerned about the oppression of his people; he desperately wanted change. Most of his lecture was about how Marx's critique of capitalism was accurate and relevant to the black crisis.
I was shocked. Apparently Sims did not realize that the very Bible he held had insights on oppression and justice that are far superior to those of Marx. Why was he blind to this truth? Had American individualism created cultural cataracts on his eyes so that he could not see these biblical truths?
Apparently much the same thing happened to Bruce Fields, an Afro American evangelical scholar who wrote a fine book for evangelicals---Introducing Black Theology. But this book lacked any new creative biblical analysis. He understood the issues facing American blacks, what the theologians had to say, but no in-depth biblical analysis.
When Americans come to the Bible, they fail to see social patterns. Who were the enemies of Jesus? What were the consistent patterns of interaction with Jesus? In the synoptic gospels, the false teachers were the scribes, Pharisees, the lawyers who made up the religion-politico-economic elite. In John, this same group of elite were commonly referred to as "the Jews." They not only ran the Temple, but all of Palestine.
In the gospel of John, there are many references to the Jews and their many attempts to arrest, stone, or kill Jesus. Why is the confrontation between Jesus and "the Jews" so continuous and intense in the gospel of John?
In the synoptic gospels, most of Jesus' ministry takes place in Galilee. In the gospel of John, most of Jesus' ministry takes place in Judea and Jerusalem, often on feast days such as the Passover. Much of the confrontation takes place in or around the Temple.
The first confrontation takes place in chapter 2:13-22 at the time of the Jewish Passover. While there is no specific reference in John's gospel to the chief priests trying to arrest or kill Jesus (as there is in Luke 19:45-48), when Jesus "made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area," he stirred up intense reaction. The Temple was the key social institution in Palestine. It was an economic institution because it served as a bank and treasury. The chief priests were political as well as religious leaders.
The next confrontation occurs in chapter five. Jesus healed an invalid at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath during a feast of the Jews. The Jews persecuted Jesus because he broke the Sabbath; Jesus said he was doing the work of his Father. "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."
On another feast day at the Temple, the feast of Tabernacles (chapter seven), Jesus once again is the center of controversy. There are six references to seize, arrest or kill.
In chapter eight, the confrontation continues in the temple courts. Jesus proclaims, "I am the light of the world." The Pharisees immediately challenge him and a debate followed. "Many put their faith in him. To the Jews who had believed in him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Charges fly back and forth. Jesus finally said bluntly, "You belong to your father, the devil." Then the Jews returned the charge with the worst possible insult, "You are a Samaritan and demon-possessed." The Jews tried to stone Jesus.
The controversy continues in chapter ten. Jesus claims to be the Good Shepherd, that he and the Father one. Again the Jews tried to stone him.
Chapter eleven records the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Many Jews believed. The chief priests and Pharisees were deeply concerned so they called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They condemned Jesus to death and then plotted how to accomplish this.
When looking for the social dimensions of the Scriptures, look for social patterns, themes, not isolated incidents or prooftexts. Do not spiritualize social texts like many scholars do with Luke 4:18-30.
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