Context means nearly everything

February 26, 2006 -- Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Fr. Michael Stubbs

	Fr. Mike Stubbs

I recently saw a movie in which one character tells a joke to another. Ordinarily we would interpret this as an innocent attempt at small talk. However, in context it takes on a much darker aspect. The other character has just revealed that he is still mourning the death of his only son a few years earlier. To tell him a joke in response to this revelation comes across as a rude slap in the face.

L e n t
• Everyday People, Everyday Faith articles
• Other Lent articles

Context means everything, or at least nearly so. The colors of a frame and mat can make a painting pop out, or surround it with mediocrity. That holds true for the stories of the gospel as well.

Sunday's gospel reading arrives on the last Sunday before Lent, the season of prayer and fasting. The timing forms an important part of the context for the gospel story, which involves a question about fasting. People approach Jesus and ask him why the disciples of John the Baptist fast, but his disciples do not?

The story deals with an issue current during the life of Jesus: why do the disciples of John the Baptist follow a more ascetic lifestyle? Why are the disciples of Jesus different?

On the other hand, when this story was committed to writing 30 to 40 years later as part of the gospel of Mark, circumstances had changed. The disciples of Jesus had begun to fast, like the Jews, but with some minor variations. For example, the Jewish practice observed Mondays and Thursdays as times for fasting, while the Christians set aside Wednesdays and Fridays for the same purpose. To reflect the new context, the gospel writer tweaked the story in its retelling. "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day." Now the story explains why the disciples of Jesus are similar to the Jews.

Two short parabolic sayings of Jesus immediately follow the story about the question on fasting. The first draws upon the image of patching an old garment with new cloth. The second insists upon the importance of pouring new wine into new wineskins, rather than old ones. Both make a similar point.

While most scholars believe that these sayings are authentically those of Jesus, many also think that the gospel writer placed them in their current position as an editorial decision. In the gospel writer's opinion, they seemed to fit in with the story about the question on fasting and shed light upon it. As such, these parabolic sayings form part of the story's new context and shape its meaning.

Originally, the story focused upon the question of fasting. But now it involves a larger issue: the disciples of Jesus should adapt their behavior to the circumstances in which they find themselves. At times they should fast, at other times they should refrain from fasting, depending upon the circumstances. They need to choose behavior to match the circumstances, just as they pick wineskins to match the wine. And since their new faith in Jesus Christ means such a drastic change in their lives and in their world, it will require new ways of behavior. "New wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)