A lot of us throughout our lifetime have been in situations where we were expected to act as the decision makers, judging what the right course of action in moral, civil or logistical matters would be. This happens often for example, if you’re a parent, a police officer, a priest, a choir conductor, a business manager, etc, but it can also happen if two of your friends are in a dispute and you’re the third party expected to play the role of arbiter. It is easy to see how this necessary role would almost naturally be a vital element to keep any society running in an orderly fashion.
It was no different for Israel and in fact even perhaps more necessary, since along with the secular quarrels that emerged, there were those of a religious nature that sprang forth from how to interpret what God had revealed to his people.
We will explore the judicial system Israel had in place once we get closer to Holy Week and Jesus’ unlawful trial, but suffice it to say for now that Moses, in the Old Testament, had become the principal arbiter, and recognizing he could not fulfill this role alone, since he could not possibly have the time to deal with the petty grievances of the masses (we must remember that the Israelites are said to have numbered in the hundreds of thousands while traversing through their desert years), he appointed judges of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, while reserving the more major disputes to his own judicial authority.
We can see throughout the entirety of scriptures so many examples of disputes that needed settling. Yet, not all judges were sincere. Not all judges kept themselves unstained by the corruption that often creeps into positions of authority, and many prophets had to suffer the brunt and heartache of that deviation from the purpose of the Judaic law originally begun in and through Moses, by God. Jeremiah is one such prophet who clearly embodies the persecution narrative as seen in today’s first reading, and how God vindicates his anointed ones with a vengeance.
The “elites” if you will, in their waywardness preferred to plot Jeremiah’s death, rather than change their ways for the good of the people as God was requesting through him. Their rally cry ensued, “…let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!”
Jeremiah turns to God and trusts that the One who sees all and judges perfectly will be able to vindicate him. “But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence, who probe the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.”
We can see why Jeremiah would eventually come to be known as the “the weeping prophet” on account of the stubbornness of Israel to heed his call for repentance, but more so for what is indicated above—the personal attacks which went so far as to call for, and most likely bring to fruition his horrible death by stoning. This is what may have happened in Egypt at around 586 BC, during the reign of Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem.
Whether his countrymen killed him, as tradition says, can, on account of the lack of historical data, be neither affirmed nor denied. Whatever the case may be, Jesus himself points out in the beatitudes, that when we are persecuted for the cause of righteousness and on account of being mouthpieces for the Lord, our eternal reward will be great in heaven. All the prophets died, by things like stoning, decapitation, being sawed in half… etc., yet, they closed their eyes in pain in this life, but opened them in bliss and joy in the next and just think of how resplendent their bodies and souls will be for all eternity and how amazing it will be to see them vindicated by God in this way!
Enter today’s gospel. Our Lord Jesus is not just the greatest of all the prophets, but the Incarnate Second Person of the Divine Trinity who will suffer more than any of them, at the hands of those who rejected him as a true prophet, as the Messiah, and most certainly as the Son of God equal, consubstantial with the Father.
We are also given to understand, however, that among the ranks of those numerous individuals who begin plotting Jesus’ death, there were those who were more spiritually upright and sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea for example, not only knew that the proceedings being called for, were in and of themselves illegal, and contrary to stipulated law, but they had discerned in Jesus’ words, actions, mannerisms, preaching, and many other traits that something was wonderfully different about this man. They were already sensing something foul was at play, and would soon discover its diabolical nature.
How do we apply the readings to our lives and our relationship with God? First of all, we need to embrace daily conversion.
Had those men who began to plot Jesus’ and Jeremiah’s death been engaged in ongoing formation and conversion, they would have at least been humble enough to admit they weren’t seeing the whole picture. Of course, this is easy for us to say two-thousand years later, but how about when we ourselves don’t see the whole picture, the entire context concerning why it is the Lord allows certain things to happen in our lives? How often have we questioned God’s ways, or thought he was absent when we needed him most? It is not the weeping that is a problem. It is weeping without hope or trust in God’s providence and care. We will have to mourn and go through suffering just like Jeremiah and Jesus, but the Lord sees beyond what our limited vision and intellect only temporarily perceive.
Both figures in today’s readings encourage us to continue deepening our trusting relationship with God. Whatever effort or suffering it entails is seen by God who rewards the just who will be vindicated by him, in his own time and they will not be disappointed. Of course, when we use that word vindication we need to remember the Lord, who for a heroic love of enemy, is calling us to be merciful and to wish the salvation of all, while working in fear and trembling on our own.
Our Lord continues to set his gaze on Jerusalem, where he will be met with hatred and contempt like the prophets persecuted before him. Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace to be on the right side of history, to pledge our fidelity first and foremost to him, and to offer up our own suffering in union with his for the salvation of souls. Mary, Queen of Prophets, pray for us.
Add comment
Comments