Jerusalem Syndrome

I'm ba-ack! Though South Carolina was nice, it's good to be home again and in my own bed. I don't seem to sleep very well away from home. So, though I drove for 11 hours constantly blowing my nose, there's no time for a sick day, although maybe I can sneak in a nap this afternoon. . . Anyway, back to business.

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Sun, Apr 19 How many Benjamites were killed when God (and the Israelites) struck them down? (Judges 20)
Judges 20:35 The LORD defeated Benjamin before Israel, and on that day the Israelites struck down 25,100 Benjamites, all armed with swords.

And here's the question of the day:
Mon, Apr 20 What happened, in those days when Israel had no king? (Judges 21)


And here's the reflection of the day:
There are a lot of angles from which to come at Mark 7. At least, Lamar Williamson, Jr has come up with a number of angles in his commentary on Mark (Interpretation series). Instead of going through a couple of them, I'm going to focus on one that was new to me.

In verse one, Williamson points out, the people opposing Jesus (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) came "from Jerusalem." Jerusalem is the center of the opposition to Jesus. Jerusalem is where Jesus goes to be tried, found guilty, and crucified.

Those who "came from Jerusalem" were trying to protect the "tradition of the elders" and maintaining appearances. They would not tolerate any break with tradition OR innovation within the tradition. But Jesus balks against this rigidity, claiming as Isaiah did, that though the Pharisees honor God with their lips, "their hearts are far from Me."

This is the "Jerusalem syndrome," as Williamson calls it. "In every religious community, there are some who 'come from Jerusalem'" and these tendencies lurk inside each one of us (Williamson, 136). Each time we read this passage, it calls us to consider in what way each one of us might be suffering from "Jerusalem syndrome."

Look inside yourself. Do you have any symptoms of the Jerusalem syndrome--places where you honor God with your lips but your hearts are far away from God? I know I do. It's time to confess and to realize that we need to hold on to the commands of God and let go of the traditions of humans (v 9).

Allison