Beyond mint and rue: the implications of Luke's interpretive controversies for modern consumerism

Abstract

Luke's Gospel features repeated confrontations between Jesus and the socio-religious elite of his day, in which Jesus disputes with his opponents regarding how the Hebrew Bible bears upon social ethics. The present essay examines the character of Jesus' controversial interpretations in the accounts of Jesus' polemics against the Pharisees and lawyers in Lk. 11:37-52 and 16:14-31. Against the paradigms of his contemporaries, Luke's Jesus stands in the stream of the Hebrew prophets, calling for fulfillment of the Law especially in terms of justice and mercy. After describing the contours of Luke's ethical interpretation of Scripture, the investigation seeks to imitate prophetic and Lukan interpretation. Luke's message challenges modern consumerist practice, particularly what sociologists have referred to as idealist consumption of symbols and status. Idealist consumption drives the western consumer to insatiable, narcissistic expenditure and neglect of the poor, and is dissonant with the prophetic summons to justice and mercy.