Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
Today is the Sunday before Advent, the season in which we prepare for the coming of Christ into the world in great humility at Christmas, as well for his final coming in glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead at the end of the age. Today’s Gospel from St. Matthew summons us to prepare for that final coming of Christ. It is from the so called “Little Apocalypse” in which Jesus warns his disciples that as he met with persecution and hatred in this world so too would they. His followers were warned of a coming crisis in which they would meet with persecution and in some cases death, opposition from their own families and the civil authorities and that there would be judgment on the nation that repudiated him at the hands of the pagan Roman Empire and the ruin of the temple. The nation that had repudiated his message of peace would be judged, but his followers would be vindicated. They needed to be warned of the tribulations and sufferings that they would face. Beyond the coming historical crisis that would bring an end to the Jewish nation and temple he spoke of the day of the Son of Man (his final coming in glory to judge the living and the dead) and the consummation of all things, when God’s Kingdom would finally come on earth as it is in heaven, in that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
In speaking in this manner Jesus followed in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets, whose message he came not to destroy but to fulfil. The prophets were those who spoke truth to power, whether they would hear or whether they would forbear, as Ezekiel put it. The prophets spoke the Word of God to their generation, a message of judgment on a sinful nation, but mercy for the faithful remnant of Israel who repented. The nation looked to a future Day of the Lord, but the prophet Amos said it would be a day of darkness rather than light. They should repent before it was too late. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed God’s judgment on a sinful nation, on those who call evil good and good evil, but yet promised salvation to a faithful remnant. He looked forward to a coming age when the wolf would finally dwell with the lamb and the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. For Jeremiah and Ezekiel the situation was so far gone into apostasy that they could only see total destruction for the nation at the hands of the Babylonians, the ruin of the nation and temple, yet there was still hope in the mercy of God beyond that. Jeremiah looked forward to a new covenant when the law would finally be written on the hearts of men. For Ezekiel it would be like a valley of dry bones coming alive. The present conflict between what is and what ought to be would be finally overcome.
As time passed, and the conflict between the Kingdom of God and the suffering of his people in the present world only became more apparent, a new form of literature called apocalyptic developed. The word apocalypse means unveiling, and it refers to the unveiling of the ultimate significance of the events in this world, when seen from the perspective of the heavenly world (the world which is disclosed in symbolic visions to the seer). In the short term the conflict between good and evil will be brought to a head and there will be increased persecution and suffering for the faithful. The faithful are exhorted to endure under persecution and are given the assurance that, despite present appearances to the contrary, the truth will ultimately prevail. For example, in the Book of Daniel, the reign of the beasts (the pagan rulers of this world) will eventually be replaced by the kingdom of the saints of the most high (the faithful remnant of the people of God) who will inherit the kingdom and possess it for ever.
“When you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place.” The Seleucid Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes had attempted to suppress Judaism and desecrate the Temple at Jerusalem by setting up the worship of Zeus in the Temple. This was a clear example of the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the holy place. It was through the revolt of the Maccabees that the crisis was averted and the Temple purified from idolatry and rededicated to God.
Similar fears arose again in the earliest days of the Church when the Emperor Caligula tried to set up a statue of himself in the Temple in Jerusalem. This crisis was only averted by his death, but it served as a powerful reminder to the first Christians of the tendency of the pagan state to set up itself in the place of God. Indeed, this was precisely what it did for a few hundred years before the Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity. The martyrs were those who refused to compromise with the pagan deification of the civil power.
But, surely, we might say, that was then and it is different now. On the contrary, what is happening now, though the persecution is less overt than then, has many affinities with it. Secular governments throughout the world are abrogating to themselves more and more power and have taken away from people the responsibility for making their own decisions and placed them in the hands of the government. We might say that this is not being done with an explicitly anti-Christian intention and that it is to some extent necessary to address many of the common problems our societies face. However, the problem is that it is creating a totalitarian society which is in effect the old paganism in a new technological guise. As in the age of the martyrs those who do not acknowledge the totalitarian State are seen as subversive elements in society who should have no place in the public sphere. They are seen as selfish for questioning the absolute power of the totalitarian State, just as the early Christians were seen as a threat to the stability of society. We must pray that we remain faithful in the face of this new form of persecution and must seek to follow the example of the early martyrs who refused to compromise with paganism.
Let us make our own the words of today’s collect:
Stir up the wills of thy faithful people, we beseech thee, O Lord; that they more earnestly seeking the fruit of good works, may receive more abundantly the gifts of thy loving kindness.
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