I mean to turn Jerusalem into a heap of dust, the lair of
Jackals...
-Jeremiah
9:11a
The young chicks are hungry, but the ground provides them no
food...
The Jackals, the Foxes, the Serpents are loose and in their
midst...
Then the Mother Hen has returns, knowing her life will soon end.
Jesus is scathing today in his critique of the unworthiness of certain politicians. This gospel is a strong critique against any Christian who voices the concept that the church should not be political. It is impossible to follow Jesus and not enter into the realm of political critique, even vicious political critique, of our leaders and rulers when necessary.
Before Israel became a Kingdom it had a law code. This code has sharp expectations about providing for the poor, the immigrant, the refugee. The reason why whole cities are laid to waste, the rich and powerful of Israel are conquered and forced into slavery, the reason why Israel as a kingdom falls is because they fail to live into these codes... because they fail to provide for the poor, the immigrant, the refugee. It is for that reason that the kings are continually brought low and the land of Israel is turned into a heap of dust.
Herod has in his imagination that he is a legitimate king, a worthy king, a true heir to the house of David. He fashions himself as a paradigm of what a Jewish ruler should be, looking out upon his subjects as their rightful ruler. Jesus looks upon Herod and calls him a fox, a jackal, a serpent.1 Jesus is naming the reality that under the Roman Empire the kingdom of Israel has become nothing more than a pile of dust and that the alleged rulers, Herod particularly, are nothing but Jackals seeking to suck the last bit of sustenance out of the oppressed people.
The desire of Christ, the desire of God, is to be a Mother to the people, to be the mother hen who can come in and shield her chicks from the attacks of foxes, serpents, and jackals. For such have the prophets and prophetesses come again and again to stand between the rulers who would use the poor and oppressed for their own ends instead of support them. Just like the mother hen who stands while her chicks flee before the jackal so have many prophets and prophetesses died. Just like the Hen is God our Mother soon to die upon the cross.
Before she does, however, before our God goes to the Cross for us she makes overwhelmingly clear what is the role of the leaders, the rulers, the powerful, in our midst. Our God makes overwhelmingly clear what the role of government is in our society. The role of political leaders, the role of government, is to make certain that the needs of the poor and the oppressed are met. The role of political leaders is to ensure that the immigrant and refugee find a haven. The role of the political leader is to bring about a situation where the ability of the poor to survive is foremost above the need of the rich to get richer.
When the opposite occurs, when a political leader derides the needs of the poor, fails to provide for the sick, fails to give a home to the homeless, a place of rest for the refugee... then we are to follow the path of Jesus and name those leaders the jackals, the foxes, the serpents that they are. We are to become with Jesus, the Mother who will stand between the oppressed and those who would eat the marrow of the poor for their own nourishment. To do any else is to fail to come forth in the name of the Lord.
Herod has in his imagination that he is a legitimate king, a worthy king, a true heir to the house of David. He fashions himself as a paradigm of what a Jewish ruler should be, looking out upon his subjects as their rightful ruler. Jesus looks upon Herod and calls him a fox, a jackal, a serpent.1 Jesus is naming the reality that under the Roman Empire the kingdom of Israel has become nothing more than a pile of dust and that the alleged rulers, Herod particularly, are nothing but Jackals seeking to suck the last bit of sustenance out of the oppressed people.
The desire of Christ, the desire of God, is to be a Mother to the people, to be the mother hen who can come in and shield her chicks from the attacks of foxes, serpents, and jackals. For such have the prophets and prophetesses come again and again to stand between the rulers who would use the poor and oppressed for their own ends instead of support them. Just like the mother hen who stands while her chicks flee before the jackal so have many prophets and prophetesses died. Just like the Hen is God our Mother soon to die upon the cross.
Before she does, however, before our God goes to the Cross for us she makes overwhelmingly clear what is the role of the leaders, the rulers, the powerful, in our midst. Our God makes overwhelmingly clear what the role of government is in our society. The role of political leaders, the role of government, is to make certain that the needs of the poor and the oppressed are met. The role of political leaders is to ensure that the immigrant and refugee find a haven. The role of the political leader is to bring about a situation where the ability of the poor to survive is foremost above the need of the rich to get richer.
When the opposite occurs, when a political leader derides the needs of the poor, fails to provide for the sick, fails to give a home to the homeless, a place of rest for the refugee... then we are to follow the path of Jesus and name those leaders the jackals, the foxes, the serpents that they are. We are to become with Jesus, the Mother who will stand between the oppressed and those who would eat the marrow of the poor for their own nourishment. To do any else is to fail to come forth in the name of the Lord.
1 In Biblical Literature and translations these have been somewhat interchangeable negative epithets and it has not always been clear which was the appropriate translation.↩
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