The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016 - 7
BIBle sTudy
Languages and Codes
A code is a group of symbols and signs defining and interpreting
reality. The codes must be shared with the people or group to
build a common understanding of reality.
Language is more than the words we use. Besides the verbal
codes (oral and written) we also have gestures, body language,
those codes given by form or color or music. All of these vary
among cultures and they have been building through centuries,
according to the transmitted culture and the accommodations
done when confronting different cultures.
Jesus and the "Possessed" Man of Gerasa
In this part of the Bible study, we look at the possessed man of
gerasa in Luke 8:26-39. It is helpful to look at this story and
ask these questions:3
* What catches your attention about this story?
* From where did Jesus come to this place?
* Who are the characters in the story?
* What is the central problem of the text?
* What was fearsome about this person? Why? What could have
pushed this person towards this situation?
* Compare the attitude of Jesus with that of the possessed man,
the disciples, the owners of the pigs.
* How many borders were crossed (or are represented) in the text?
Jesus, in this story, had been working and teaching and
was awfully tired. After the death of John the Baptist, he was
avoiding parts of galilee. He wanted to give his disciples rest
and spend some quiet time with them (see Mk 4:36, 6:31).
They didn't get any rest in Chorazin or Tyre; so they made a
long, slow trip, outside of galilee, to rest-and so that Jesus could
teach them without massive crowds constantly assaulting them.
The gadara/geresa region was a gentile region. It was
different from the Jewish places Jesus and his disciples normally
frequented.
In the Eighth Century BCE, Assyrians had deported the
Jewish inhabitants and resettled foreigners there-Samaritans.
By the Second Century, the region was so Hellenized that the
Jewish army sent 3,000 troops to "purify" it. (See 1 Macc. 5:23.)
Matthew's gospel says it was a "land of darkness, a region in
the shadow of death." (Matt. 4:16-17.)
So Jesus is ministering in a questionable geographic
margin. And he himself was a foreigner in this land. The text
is derogatory of the gentiles living here, so there are borders
being drawn, walls being built.
Let us ask next "What is the problem in this story?" Is it
the man with demons? Or is it the fact that Jesus, in healing
him, damaged a herd of pigs? The pigs were raised to feed the
Roman soldiers. It is possible that the pigs were related to the
rations for soldiers or the land was separated to raise them.
When Jesus asked the man his name, he said, "Legion,"
and the text says it was because "many demons had entered
him." A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers.
How many borders are represented in the text? There is a
geographic border, an ethnic border, legal borders (involving
the destruction of property) and spiritual borders.
Texts in Dialogue
Now let us try an exercise in intertextuality. Let us compare
the story above with the story in Acts 16:16-24, in which Paul
heals the girl with a "spirit of divination." Both are narratives
of exorcism and both narratives brought the outrage of the
local entrepreneurs.4
In both stories, economic interest is the grounds for the
rejection of Jesus and/or his followers. Despite the power
exhibited by Jesus and, later, Paul, the boundaries crossed are
still in place. There is still resistance to god´s agents.
Even in our day, there is much weight in economic matters.
Changing Perspectives with Stories
Stories provide a powerful means for changing the perspective
of people. They order and reorder the experience. They reveal
things about the world that we might not know or that we know
but will now be able to see in a different way.
Stories are thought to create the "real world." They give
meaning to life. They offer proposals of thoughts and actions to
recreate the meaning of things, relations, etc., and, thus, the world.
Stories can keep us in line, subdue us, or make us more
like..., or make us enemies of..., or help us view the world
in a subversive way. They can make us critical of dominant
constructions. Sometimes an implicit subversive story is the
only way for social criticism to be heard. It has the potential
to recreate new social worlds.
Behind every story is a creator, an editor, a narrator with
a set of values, ideology and interpretation of reality. We
don´t think about this, but it's there, hidden in the text. We
each compose the story in different ways to highlight certain
"truths" or details. There are often things that are left out of
stories. (We must always look for these.)
The events are woven in certain ways to communicate a
pattern.5 We must always ask these questions: How is the story
woven? How is the migrant, the foreigner, the other, constructed? How do
I cross to the other side?
The Meaning of Salvation
In the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, there are
several words that refer to salvation. I prefer two of them:
yasha and sozo.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, these words are associated with
salvation:
* לַצָנnatsal: redimer (to redeem), rescatar (to rescue), to
liberate, snatch from, escape, save, pluck.
* לַאָּגgaal: redimir (to redeem), rescatar (to rescue), vengar (to
avenge), pagar (to pay). (YHWH is redeemer go'el.)
Please see "Crossing Over" on page 8.
Baptist Peacemaker
OCT-DEC 2016
7
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016
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