The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 28 - 18 November 2012
Daniel
12:1-3
Psalm
16
Hebrews
10-11-25
St.
Mark 13:1-8
Background:
Daniel
Daniel exists as a
character known to Ezekiel, and as another character of heroic legend used by
whoever wrote or compiled what we know as the Book of Daniel. Most likely, the book was written in the
second century BCE during the period of time that Palestine was ruled by the
Hellenic Seleucid Kings, especially Antiochus Epiphanes (175 – 164 BCE). The book is comprised of three sections: a)
Daniel and the Babylonian Kings (Chapters 1-6), b) Tales of Daniel (Chapters
7-12, and c) Appendices (Chapters 13-14).
The material in the first section places the hero in the court of the
Babylonian kings where he resists the temptation to adopt Babylonian living and
religion. This actually serves as a
warning against the Hellenization being promoted by the Seleucid kings in
Israel at the time, and was probably promoted under the Maccabean revolt. The Visions that follow are a proleptic view
of a restored Israel, cleansed of the practices of Hellenic interlopers and
Hellenized Jews. The final section,
known only in its Greek version, is considered Apocryphal, and is included
amongst those books.
Daniel 12:1-3
The Lord spoke to Daniel in a vision and said, "At that time Michael,
the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a
time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into
existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is
found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and
those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever."
This reading from the book of Daniel comes from
that section of the work that is devoted to visions and dreams. Here we meet Michael, a legendary prince, who
appears in later Christian literature as an angel. Here he is the protector of people. The visions in this section are informed by
the difficulties that were endured by the Jews in Palestine during the forced
Hellenization during the reign of the Seleucid kings. The vision is one of great calamity and
“anguish” that is brought to naught by the vigilance of Michael. So profound and all encompassing is this
redemption that it also includes those who have died in the tribulation. The inferences to the God of the Jews are
slight and obtuse, but the notion of salvation is quite clear.
Breaking
open Daniel:
- Has Christian culture been threatened by popular culture, or
nationalism?
- What difficulties do you see religion facing in our time?
- What does the prince Michael represent here?
Psalm 16 Conserva me, Domine
Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; *
I have said to the LORD, "You are my Lord,
my good above all other."
All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land,
*
upon those who are noble among the people.
But those who run after other gods *
shall have their troubles multiplied.
Their libations of blood I will not offer, *
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.
O LORD, YOU are my portion and my cup; *
it is you who uphold my lot.
My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; *
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; *
my heart teaches me, night after night.
I have set the LORD always before me; *
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices;
*
my body also shall rest in hope.
For you will not abandon me to the grave, *
nor let your holy one see the Pit.
You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
The psalm for this Sunday mirrors the prophetic
concern about faithfulness to YHWH. Here
the psalmist poses a righteous and faithful person in contrast to those “who
run after other gods.” The reference is
not necessarily to the Canaanites, or to the Phoenicians, but to those in
Israel who were attracted to the gods of their neighbors, and the ascendant
cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The
faithful one does not offer the prescribed libations or incantations, but
rather describes the God who embraces both the individual (you who uphold my
lot) and the community (I have a goodly heritage.) The fate of the unfaithful is trouble, but
the fate of the righteous one is full of “pleasures forever more.”
Breaking
open Psalm 16
- What comparisons would you make today about faithfulness and
irreligion?
- What are the temptations that obscure your path to God?
- Do you live in “a pleasant land”?
Hebrews 10:11-25
Every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again
the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered
for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand
of God," and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be
made a footstool for his feet." For by a single offering he has perfected
for all time those who are sanctified. [And the Holy Spirit also testifies to
us, for after saying,
"This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days,
says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on
their minds,"
he also adds,
"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for
sin.]
Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by
the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the
curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the
house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering,
for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one
another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day
approaching.
The reading from
Hebrews continues, and once again we are steeped in the typologies of the
Hebrew Scriptures. For the last few
chapters we have seen Jesus raised up as the perfect priest, performing the
rites of a perfect temple. With a
quotation for Jeremiah, the author introduces the theme of the covenant that
God has cut with the people. Here again,
the author compares the offering of Jesus to the sacrifices of old. It is not the blood of the sacrificial victim
in the old days, but rather the blood of Jesus that is effectual here. As the Hebrew priest sprinkled the blood of
the victim in the Holy of Holies, so now it is the blood of Jesus that makes
for a cleansing of forgiveness. Indeed,
Jesus’ coming again is hinted at in the final verse as the reader sees “the Day
approaching.”
Breaking
open Hebrews:
- What kind of agreement does God have with you?
- What have you promised and what has God promised?
- How is Jesus a sacrificial victim in your life?
St. Mark 13:1-8
As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him,
"Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" Then
Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be
left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite
the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us,
when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to
be accomplished?" Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no
one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and they
will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be
alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in
various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth
pangs."
With these readings we begin to see the lectionary
point to the last days, and to give evidence of a much longer season of Advent
– looking forward to the coming again of Jesus, the Savior of the Nations. Here in this apocalyptic section, Mark sees
Jesus pointing out the meaning of the present as it indicates what is to come –
“he birth pangs”. Although written
earlier than the other Gospels, it is indeed possible that Mark new of the end
of things, namely the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The assault on the holy city by the Romans,
under the General Silva, and the subsequent destruction of the Temple, was an
event that is retrojected into Mark’s portrayal of Jesus message. For the messianic era to be born, there must
be “birth pangs”. Mark’s Jesus looks
ahead to the difficulties not only in Palestine, but also in the empire, as the
Gospel of Jesus takes root in a time of conflict and difficulty. Time moves inexorably toward the new heaven
and the new earth.
Breaking open the Gospel:
- What is Jesus attempting to teach in his comments to the
disciples?
- Why does Mark retell the story?
What is his aim?
- What “birth pangs” is Christianity experiencing today?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to
be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope
of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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