Liberation

Matthew 22:42 – [Jesus asked], “What do you think of the messiah? Whose son is he?” They answered, “David’s.”

I found an interesting book from the library yesterday, “Liberating Sexuality” by Miguel de la Torre. De la Torre closely reads the first few chapters of Genesis to reveal that, yes, sex is a gift from God, and, no, there is no reason for us to be ashamed of our bodies. He describes the Neoplatonic and Stoic origins of the mind/body split. The mind, or spirit, was considered beautiful, and the body, or material, was ugly, shameful. However, Jewish people did not think of their souls as separate from their bodies.

De la Torre reads Genesis through a Jewish lens as well as Jesus’ liberative lens to show that our American attitudes about sex could use some liberation. This is important because these attitudes translate into and arise from the misogyny, racism, classism, ablism, and heteronormativity so prominent in American society. Many of us miss this joyful attitude about sex because most of us have been taught that sex is only acceptable in certain conditions. Reading the Bible from our 21st century American context without thinking about the original context leads to bad interpretations. Reading the Bible's words closely and in context can help us understand what its authors were trying to say.

Jesus was challenging the Pharisees to do the same; read their scriptures closely. Jesus was a typical teacher. Even as he was engaging his enemies in conversation, his mind was on liberating their minds. He asked them about their interpretation of the scriptures. What are their thoughts about the messiah who is to come? He was seeing how closely they were reading and through what lens. Jesus wanted them, and us, to open our minds to the prevalent themes of love and justice in the scriptures. In questioning Jesus, the Pharisees' focus was on "law and order" rather than love. Jesus came to liberate us from such a focus and lead us instead into God’s merciful love.

There are many ways to be liberated. Liberating our thoughts can lead to liberating ourselves and others from the many ways we are in prison. Where does my thinking need liberation today?