In response to those who are unable to attend my
weekly Bible study on the Gospel According to MARK (Sunday’s at 10 am at
Hollywood United Methodist Church), I share my thoughts and notes from previous
sessions. While I’m not a scholar, I am an enthusiast. Enjoy!
This past weekend I was way
under the weather, so the study group wasn’t able to get together;
nevertheless, I’ll keep us moving forward with MARK. We’ll delve into this next
part focusing on one specific group which will be helpful in consideration of
the whole. Here we go!
Be Thankful I Don’t Take It All
Who loves to pay taxes? It
doesn’t matter who you are, what your political affiliation or economic status
is, whether you live inside or outside the U.S., who’s gung-ho about having your
hard-earned money taxed? No matter the rational about taxes going toward
whatever appropriate social cause or need, we still bristle for the most part
at “taxes” in general.
I’ll write a word/acronym and
let’s see what feelings arise for you. Here goes. …IRS.
For some, you’ll feel
angst; others, ire; a few, possibly nothing. When I think of the IRS, what
comes to mind is a title of a Beatles song – “Taxman”.
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet. [i]
The lyrics written by
George Harrison in the mid-1960s attacked the high levels of progressive tax
taken by the British Labour government.
So where am I going with
this? Tax collectors have been around a longgggg time, and they were certainly
a part of life back when Jesus was alive. A big part. And the feeling of
distrust, unease and negativity has been, too.
The stage is set for this
particular section in MARK where three parties will eventually come together –
tax collectors, Jesus and Pharisees.
There was a man, Matthew
(otherwise known as Levi), who was a tax collector. Men of his ilk, in this
position, were deemed as traitors. Why? Because they were known to cheat people
(the Jews) and support Rome. Yet how were the people cheated?
“Any amount the tax
collectors collected over what Rome required they were allowed to keep. Thus
many became wealthy at the expense of their own people.” [ii]
But not all of these
unsavory types collected Roman direct taxes or the Jewish Temple tax. Many belonged
to a group responsible for local duties and tolls. Case in point shows two
types of tax collectors:
·
Gabbai – who
collected general taxes on land, property and income;
·
Mokhes – who
collected on a variety of “use” tax which would include import, licenses and
toll fees – with there being two types of Mokhes:
o Great Mokhes – who hired others to collect taxes for
them;
o Small Mokhes – who did their own assessing and
collecting.[iii]
Matthew was a Small
Mokhes; yet, as stated within rabbinic and Christian texts, great or
small, “tax collectors are depicted as
morally questionable,… least likely to engage in heartfelt repentance and lead
a good life.” [iv]
Even the Greek writer, Lucian categorized tax-gatherers with “adulterers,
panderers, flatterers and sycophants.” [v]
Someone like Matthew, including
those in his shoes, was ritually impure, unclean, outcast or choosing to cast
themselves outside the societal circle (of good taste and human decency).
Two questions to leave you
with. Why did Matthew follow Jesus? What does this say about Jesus?
And a statement. …Jesus
wanted the person no one else wanted.
NEXT…
Putting the parties
together; eating with the “separated ones”; infection
