Biblical Texts (in Translation)
Isaiah 8:23-9:3
Our long, alienated exile is finally over. Anguish, darkness gloom and distress have been replaced by light, joy and merriment. The burdens of foreign taskmasters have been lifted. Their instruments of torture smashed. It is time to celebrate.
Psalm 27: 1, 4, 13-14
Indeed, fear is gone - removed by the Divine One who is Light, Salvation,Refuge and Loveliness, the Source of bounty, courage, strength, and life.
I Corinthians 1: 10-13, 17
For us, Yeshua is the well-spring of such delight despite Empire's divide-and-conquer strategy. So, as his followers we should never split into petty factions but stay united instead.
Matthew 4: 12-23
The imperial world's "wisdom" even imprisoned John the Baptizer and caused Yeshua himself to hide underground among anarchists. Yet he never stopped insisting that another world is possible with room for everyone even persuading simple workers to leave behind job security for its sake - with the added bonus of free health care for everyone!
Conclusion
A key foundational principle of liberation theology is the "hermeneutical privilege of the poor."
It means that since poor people stand on the same ground as the ones whose experience is centralized in the Bible, their interpretations of texts (hermeneutics) are probably more accurate than the readings of the non-poor and even of academics trained in biblical science. The poor and oppressed see elements of scriptural parables, and other literary forms that only they can perceive.
The truth of that privilege has come home to me strongly since I began my stint two weeks ago here in Baja California. It has forced me to see the world through the eyes of the refugees our group accompanies each morning at the el Chaparral crossing.
So, when I considered this week's liturgical readings from Isaiah and Matthew, I saw what I never saw before, though I was previously quite familiar with both passages. Today's readings, I realized, are about escapees from persecution similar to what our refugees from Mexico and Central America have experienced.
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