REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS FOR THE 29th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR, CYCLE C
Exodus 17:8-13; Psalm 120; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2; Luke 18:1-8
The line taken from Psalm 120 as a response, “Our help is in the name of the LORD who made heaven and earth”, is one of the key themes running through our readings for today. The Exodus reading tells the story of the importance of Moses’ faith in God when the Israelites encounter their deadly enemy, Amalek, who was to remain the symbol of all those who persecuted the Jewish people throughout history, based on the injunction in Deuteronomy (25:17), “Remember Amalek!”.
Ancient Near Eastern armies went into battle behind standards symbolizing their gods, hence the picture of Moses, his hands upraised and supported by Aaron and Hur, presents a symbolic standard which is to remind the people that God is fighting for them. The altar built to commemorate their victory is called “Adonai- nissi” – “The LORD is my banner” [Exodus 17:15].) Of Moses it is said that his hands were “firm” or “steady”, but the literal translation of the Hebrew is that they were “emunah” – “faith”. The 18th century Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav, says, “There is a faith which is only in the heart, and that is not enough. It must pervade the whole body, as with Moses whose hands ‘were faith’.” This is in stark contrast to the Israelites who, just prior to this passage in Exodus, showed their lack of faith in God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, by “murmuring” against Moses and God, when thirst overtook them in the desert.
We can sometimes be in danger of forgetting that, as Psalm 120 says, “Our help is in the name of the LORD”, but this psalm should assure us of God’s constancy towards us, for “He does not slumber nor does He sleep”. The key word of assurance, “guard” (“shomer” in Hebrew), occurs six times in the eight lines of the psalm! - so the psalm becomes a moving expression of trust, of faith in God, using traditional language and patterned repetition. The climax comes in the last two lines of the poem, where three of the six repetitions of “guard” occur. The final words, “now and forever”, refer to the eternal nature of God’s protection.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus chooses for his parable a widow as an example of persistent faith and trust in God. As one who neither fears God nor respects any human being, the heartless judge is in direct contrast to the ideal judge of 2 Chronicles 19:5-6, upon whom the fear of the LORD rests, while the prophets castigate venal and heartless judges (see Amos 2:6-7; 5:10-13). The heart of the parable is the battle between the widow and the judge. In both the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures, the widow is an example of powerlessness, often the victim of injustice. The widow in the parable comes alone to the gate where the judge presides and does not take “no” for an answer in her search for justice. Translations of the Greek can mask the humour in this parable - a modern paraphrase of the judge’s reflections would be: “Because this widow is working me over, I will recognise her rights so that she doesn’t give me a black eye by her unwillingness to give up”! Jesus’ hearers are confronted with a new vision of reality inaugurated by God’s reign, where victims claim their rights and seek justice – often in a surprising and unsettling manner. God’s justice is on the side of the weak and the vulnerable and this God will secure for them as they cry out day and night – “God does not slumber nor does God sleep” says Psalm 120. The concluding question in the passage about whether the Son of Man will find faith at his return is a reference to the community of early Christians for whom Luke is writing, who are aware of the delay of the anticipated return of Jesus and are currently having their faith put to the test. Only through prayer can faith be assured. The continual prayer urged in the parable is not simply passive waiting but the active quest for justice. Remaining faithful is also the message in the Second Letter to Timothy: “You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true.”
We, too, need to be nourished by the persistent and courageous kind of prayer in the face of evil embodied by the widow in the parable. Like Moses praying for his people, such prayer calls for the support of others and, indeed, the psalm tells us that our help is from “the LORD, who made heaven and earth” and who, like Aaron with Moses is “at your right hand” – the true source of our strength.
Sr Margaret Shepherd nds