“MAY DATING BAGAMAT WALANG DATONG”

“MAY DATING BAGAMAT WALANG DATONG”

A Biblico-Theological Reflection based on the Gospel of Jesus according to Luke (16:19-31) for the 18^th Sunday after Pentecost, September 25, 2016 by Rev. Jeric C. Cortado

Ang aralin sa ebanghelyo ay naglalahad ng nagpapatuloy na kuwento ng pagtuturo ni Jesus at padidisipulo. Nagpapatuloy na tugon sa mga taong naghahanap ng pagkakataon upang siraan siya at ang samahan na kanyang binubuo at pinamamahalaan. As described in the gospel, when many tax collectors and other outcast came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling. “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!” (Luke 15:1-2) When Jesus said, “No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). The Pharisees made fun of him, considered by Jesus as lovers of money (Luke 16:14). So Jesus continued to share the wisdom of God through the parables, analogies, and stories, and one of these is the story about The Rich Man and Lazarus, the story of the rich and the poor. Jesus took advantaged that moment to teach and strengthen his disciples to embrace the attitudes that he wanted to possessed by them.

First, being a disciples of Jesus our existence is essential. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are ones who make yourselves look right in the other people’s sight, but God knows your heart. For the things that are considered of great by people are worth nothing in God’s sight” (Luke 16:15). Ito yaong sinasabi na “May datong pero walang dating. May dating bagamat walang datong.” Ayon sa paglalahad ng kuwento, ang isa ay nabubuhay sa sobra-sobrang kayamanan. Samantala ang isa na kilala sa pangalang Lazaro ay nabubuhay sa sobra ng mayayaman. Parang ang ating bansa na nabubuhay sa surplus product na ipinapadala o ipinapautang sa atin ng mga mayayamang bansa. Samantala ang mga mayayamang bansa ay nabubuhay sa ating kahirapan. The rich man dressed with very expensive clothes, while the poor are covered with sores.

According to Guztavo Gutierrez, this is the only case in which person in a parable is given a name. And what is more surprising here is the person named is the poor, someone who is in the Greco-Roman empire is generally anonymous and insignificant. But in the Kingdom of God’s perspective as being preached by Jesus, ang may datong ay walang dating sa Diyos at ang may dating ay ang walang datong. Those whom according to criteria of power and social prestige are the most important are anonymous before God. Those who are considered insignificant and nameless are the ones who have a value in the kindom of God. Remember, the first disciples of Jesus were came from the considered by the empire insignificant, nameless, and controversial classes of society. Unlike the members of the Sanhedrin who came from the upper echelon of the society and appointed by the empire. What is important for Jesus is the essence of our existence to give L.O.V.E, which is to give Life for others, to give Opportunities of Life, to give Voice for our neighbor that they can freely express their aspiration and their identity, and to give Empowerment by organizing the people in the struggle towards the fullness of life.

Second, the disciples of Jesus are commissioned to bridge the gap instead of building a gap. In the gospel lesson, Abraham said to the rich man, there is a deep pit lying between us (v. 26). What is that “deep pit lying between us” all about? On the issue of human sexuality of that time, gap is the perspective of his disciples, their society, and religious institution on women and their sexuality. In the Greco-Roman dominated Palestinian society, they were taught that women are exclusively for childbearing and rearing and always under the instruction of a man.  They were not allowed to study the Scriptures nor obliged along with children and slaves to recite the “shema” (morning prayer) and even the prayer at meals. They were not counted to constitute a quorum in a meeting or congregational assembly.  In the temple of Jerusalem, women were limited to the outer portion of the temple, and they were separated in the synagogues from men and were not allowed to read aloud or take any leading function.

On the issue of age, for the disciples’ attitude, children were least important beneficiaries of the Kingdom of God. But for Jesus, children were the first actual owners of the kingdom (Luke 18:15-17). The disciples created a gap between Jesus and the children, between the children and the movement of the people. And Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not stop them.” This challenge us to make a bridge that bringing the children to Jesus. Let the children come - it means for us - receive the children. And receiving the children is bringing them in the community of faith – that let them involve in the development of an innovative method of education designed to assist them towards a complete fulfillment as an individual person of worth. The statement of Jesus, to let the children come urges us to strongly affirm that all children have the right to quality education, appropriate to their stage of development that utilizes the best education techniques and insights.

Sometimes if not all the time, what makes us separate to one another is our attitude. In the gospel, what Jesus tried to point out is that we must live in a kind of life that is inspiring and empowering, not domineering and discriminating.

And third, the disciples of Jesus build a Christic character instead of doing character assassination. In Luke 17:21, Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God is within you.’ First, it stressed the values of the Kingdom of God. The values of the kingdom are different from and opposed to the values of this world wherein evil reigned supreme. “The kingdom of God is within you” pointed out inner personal liberation from total allegiance to any temporal power. Second, it made us to realized that God’s political power (Kingship which connotes political power) is within you. This political power about to emerged and come would be from the hands of the poor and the little ones, as stated in the Luke 6: 20, “Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours!” As disciples of Jesus, it should be our character to bring people together, see each one potential that can be developed for leadership. Ang buhay na may dating sa Diyos bagamat walang datong, is a kind of life creating hopes, opportunities, communities where everybody can express freely and share their own humanity and sexuality; and to launch the new story of life and hope which is a life giving and other affirming. Amen.

Reference:

1.        Gutierrez, Guztavo (1998). Sharing the Word Through the Liturgical Year. Philippines: Claretian Publications.

2.        Pilch, John J. (2004). The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday Cycle C. Philippines: St. Pauls.