Wine as a metaphor for destruction of violence?
I am doing some research for a new study Nancy and I are working on called "Wine and Dine through the Bible". This is just a basic Bible study that focuses on the wine, food and festivals in the Bible. There is a lot of this sort of stuff throughout the Bible and it all has so many meanings.
One of the common metaphors I discovered is the act of "pouring out wine" in the bible. This metaphor is often used to describe God pouring out anger and destruction toward a people. Thinking about this for just a moment got me thinking about when Jesus 'poured out' a cup of wine for the disciples at the Last Supper.
Often interpreted as Jesus' blood being poured out in love, but what if Jesus is using a common and rich Biblical metaphor of wine being poured out in anger and destruction?
It seems to run counter to our image of Jesus, but as I further reflect on this and apply the lens of Rene Girard, it seems to make perfect sense.
Is Jesus reminding us we need to be angry and destroy cycles of violence? As the one who willing became a scapegoat in order to reveal the single victim mechanism humanity is duped into believing as the only way to resolve societal scandals. This cycle of blaming and finding scapegoats is so powerful that we can become drunk on it so much so that we cannot even walk straight (Psalms 60:3).
Perhaps in the Last Supper Jesus turns to his disciples and reminds them that God does not stand for the cycles of violence in the world and that God's anger will be poured out and that cycle will be destroyed.
But what makes God in Jesus radical is that God's destruction of the cycle of violence is not by violence. Rather God destroys the cycle of scapegoating by resurrection of the Christ.
This needs to be further developed and refined in order to make greater sense to those outside my own mind. Additionally, this needs to be developed as further evidence to add to the claim that Jesus did not die as a substitution for sin.
One of the common metaphors I discovered is the act of "pouring out wine" in the bible. This metaphor is often used to describe God pouring out anger and destruction toward a people. Thinking about this for just a moment got me thinking about when Jesus 'poured out' a cup of wine for the disciples at the Last Supper.
Often interpreted as Jesus' blood being poured out in love, but what if Jesus is using a common and rich Biblical metaphor of wine being poured out in anger and destruction?
It seems to run counter to our image of Jesus, but as I further reflect on this and apply the lens of Rene Girard, it seems to make perfect sense.
Is Jesus reminding us we need to be angry and destroy cycles of violence? As the one who willing became a scapegoat in order to reveal the single victim mechanism humanity is duped into believing as the only way to resolve societal scandals. This cycle of blaming and finding scapegoats is so powerful that we can become drunk on it so much so that we cannot even walk straight (Psalms 60:3).
Perhaps in the Last Supper Jesus turns to his disciples and reminds them that God does not stand for the cycles of violence in the world and that God's anger will be poured out and that cycle will be destroyed.
But what makes God in Jesus radical is that God's destruction of the cycle of violence is not by violence. Rather God destroys the cycle of scapegoating by resurrection of the Christ.
This needs to be further developed and refined in order to make greater sense to those outside my own mind. Additionally, this needs to be developed as further evidence to add to the claim that Jesus did not die as a substitution for sin.
Do I stay away from or is it good to be in the shadows?
In church yesterday we read from Proverbs 9. In this text it makes reference to a woman who is the foil to woman wisdom. While woman wisdom (Sophia) builds her house on 7 pillars, this other woman does not. While Sophia feeds wine she mixed, her counter part gives only stolen wine. Sophia's home is where life can be nourished, while this other woman's home is in the shadows and the occupants are in Sheol.
Later in the worship, we sang a song which expressed the comfort that comes in being in the shadow of the wings of God.
Two different references taking two different interpretations of the same motif - Shadow.
So the question moving through my mind is, Do I avoid or run to the shadows?
I am not a St. John of the Cross scholar, but as I recall, St. John of the Cross writes of God being in the shadows. That is only in the shadows, as awful as they can be sometime, God is there.
We "know this". We hear this in Sunday school when we are kids. But it still is amazing to me how often I avoid the shadows of life. If I am avoiding the shadows, am I also avoiding God?
I mean isn't the point of being "in the shadow of God's wing" meant to imply a closeness or nearness to God?
Perhaps it is by being in the shadows we are close to God? Perhaps being in the shadow of God is to be near to God. But isn't God often found in the dark places of life?
So I am brought back to the paradox of being in close enough to be in God's shadow also means I am intentionally moving toward the shadows of life. For there I will find God. Metaphor
Later in the worship, we sang a song which expressed the comfort that comes in being in the shadow of the wings of God.
Two different references taking two different interpretations of the same motif - Shadow.
So the question moving through my mind is, Do I avoid or run to the shadows?
I am not a St. John of the Cross scholar, but as I recall, St. John of the Cross writes of God being in the shadows. That is only in the shadows, as awful as they can be sometime, God is there.
We "know this". We hear this in Sunday school when we are kids. But it still is amazing to me how often I avoid the shadows of life. If I am avoiding the shadows, am I also avoiding God?
I mean isn't the point of being "in the shadow of God's wing" meant to imply a closeness or nearness to God?
Perhaps it is by being in the shadows we are close to God? Perhaps being in the shadow of God is to be near to God. But isn't God often found in the dark places of life?
So I am brought back to the paradox of being in close enough to be in God's shadow also means I am intentionally moving toward the shadows of life. For there I will find God. Metaphor
Breathing Continued...
A few posts ago I mentioned the spirituality of breathing, specifically the differences in the breathing of humans verses the breathing of God. After further reflection on this metaphor, I am really embracing this image. So to expand the metaphor a bit more...
It is vital that we take air into our lungs. As noted early, this air could be understood in the Christian sense as wind or spirit. Thus we can only live if we take in the breath/wind/spirit of God. But here is the kicker not only is taking breath into our lungs vital for our survival, but we have to exhale that breath/wind/spirit out to "complete" the breathing process.
To speak metaphorically, we can only live if we take in AND let go of the spirit of God.
Additionally, it is impossible for each of us to hold air in our lung forever. Likewise, it is impossible for humanity to hold on to God for any length of time.
Just as our lives area like breaths, so to are our understandings and experiences with God. Fleeting, whisper breaths.
And so I encourage you to continue to find metaphors which are rich in your life. Build on them, develop them and share them, you never know when your exhale will be your neighbors next breath of life.
It is vital that we take air into our lungs. As noted early, this air could be understood in the Christian sense as wind or spirit. Thus we can only live if we take in the breath/wind/spirit of God. But here is the kicker not only is taking breath into our lungs vital for our survival, but we have to exhale that breath/wind/spirit out to "complete" the breathing process.
To speak metaphorically, we can only live if we take in AND let go of the spirit of God.
Additionally, it is impossible for each of us to hold air in our lung forever. Likewise, it is impossible for humanity to hold on to God for any length of time.
Just as our lives area like breaths, so to are our understandings and experiences with God. Fleeting, whisper breaths.
And so I encourage you to continue to find metaphors which are rich in your life. Build on them, develop them and share them, you never know when your exhale will be your neighbors next breath of life.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.