Today we draw on another use of the "son of man" as we look at how it can be interpreted and how the way we see it informs us of our faith life that is before us. Again from Walter Wink.
Wink uses this passage as a starting point.
"And everyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Lk.12:10; Matt.12:31-32; Thomas 44)
Jesus' refusal to deny their charge (Jesus is having Beelzebul -working on his side) outright is astonishing. Does it mean that he is willing to acknowledge that he might have a malevolent element at work in him? If so, one might conclude that he saw the same sinister element at work in everyone...this vivid sense of the universality of sin could be the presupposition of his teaching about loving enemies. He is clear that, in the name of the Human Being, he can make wrong decisions. Decisions are fallible. Therefore one may speak against the Human Being, precisely because it is not identical with the Holy Spirit.
In reading this, I was reminded of the difference of being on the way and being the end. Along the way, the Human Being is "becoming." So, whether the Human Being is Jesus or all people, we are on the way. There will be times when what we do and how we do what we do will not be the way that was really intended or the way that brings the best situation to life. Therefore, we will stumble. Our brokenness will show - that is not all bad...it is just real. In the middle of such brokenness, we probably all need to be called out and face what we are doing and how what we are doing is the result of "wrong decisions." In our everyday adventures, we will be called upon to speak up and even speak against the Human Being as it comes alive around us. it is necessary because, again, we are on the way - in the journey and attempting to be who we are invited to be. I like the way Wink ties in Jesus' teaching on enemies. We do not condemn and do evil to our enemies - they are, like us, people who stumble and put forth the wrong goals and walk ways that our not in sync with the vision of God's Reign. We are a people who understand that we make space for the power of forgiveness to shape us more than the divisions that attempt to shape us. I will touch on the part of the Holy Spirit tomorrow.
Connection: It is vital to our growth as saints of the Most High to allow ourselves to be critical of what we are seeing. Even when things are covered with a veneer of "holiness." Today, the veneer might be fine...but in the long run, we need to be connected to more depth than that in all of us.
Lord of Transitions and New Journeys, as we move and trip, as we stumble and yet are able to get up and leap, we turn to you to be the power for life that takes enables us to have a wide vision and a critical view of all that we try to be. Continue, as always, to nurture our growth. Amen.
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