Scripture Reflection for June 27,2008

Scripture: Friday of 2th week, June 27,2008. II Kings 25:1-12. Psalm
137:1-2.3.4.5.6. Matthew 8:1-4. Lectionary # 375:

Only the poor, the beggars, the lame are left behind in the great
devastation of Jerusalem by Nebuchanezzar. The Scriptures tell us that the
Chaldeans burnt the city after breaching the walls of Zion. It will be
these 'Anawim of God, the poor, who will give a glimmer of hope for the
future restoration of the holy city and its Temple. We will see this to be
true almost six hundred years later as Jesus himself frequently visits a
new Temple that is still in progress. The remnant left behind will become
farmers and vine dressers, but they are the hope of those in exile. As we
read the concluding chapter of II Kings we are deeply moved by the plight
of the King Zedekiah (597-587). Jeremiah failed to convince the king to
surrender and as a result complete devastation resulted. The King himself
was blinded by the oppressors and taken off to Babylon.
Our Psalm enters into the plaintive of the people and their leaders
in exile. They are not able to sing one of their songs in a foreign land
for there is no longer music in their hearts. They are taunted but cannot
sing. They longed for a return to Jerusalem and to the sacred relics of
the Temple that were left--rocks, earth, perhaps, some pottery! "By the
streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. On the aspens
of that land we hung up our harps." (Psalm 137). That last image is so
painful to hear or read, "We hung up our harps!"
Jesus almost six hundred years later sees what hope can bring about.
There is a Temple, the Second Temple in all of its radiant and brilliant
beauty--a wonder of the world at that time. The Herods were bringing it to
its perfection during these years in which Jesus lived. Matthew tells us
that Jesus is healing a leper just after he has preached his sermon on the
mount. Now a series of ten miracles are given to us by Matthew, the first
of which is the cleansing of the leper. He is sent to the Temple area to
be examined by the priests according to the laws of purification necessary
for praying in the Temple. The man realizes what the people under exile
desired. His hope is fulfilled and in him theirs is also somehow realized.
We can pray the following from Isaiah 66:10-13 to thank God for the
gift of hope, for the gift of Jerusalem to the world:
"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her--that you may nurse
and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with
delight from her glorious bosom. For thus says the Lord: I will extend
prosperity
over her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing
stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her
knees. As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be
comforted in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 66:10-13). Amen.