Jun 25, 2020
(2Kgs.25:1-12; Ps.137:1-6; Mt.8:1-4)
“Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,
led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city.”
And so the exile is complete. Not a soul remains in the holy city. And their captors “burned the house of the Lord, the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem.” Not a stone is left standing one upon another. Not even the government appointed by the king of Babylon could remain. And they even “tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.”
Now she is utterly exposed. Now she who was his precious pearl is cast out and trampled underfoot. And so our psalmist can but lament, “By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion.” And so his songs of joy are silenced in this “foreign land.” But in his lament today do we not find a kind of hope? Does not his abiding love for the holy city of God bring expectation of a better day? Listen to his faith: “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten! May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not, if I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy.” Even as we hear of the utter destruction of the temple and the city of God, we are given a sense of the faith that will build it up again.
And on the day we hear of the completion of the exile of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon, we hear of the healing of one who is completely ostracized by society. The leper comes begging for a cure, seeking to join his fellow men upon the land, and the Lord answers him: “Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him and said, ‘I do will it. Be cured.’” Should this not give us hope in all our travails? Does this not signal not only the return of the exiles in seventy years, but our utter redemption and return to the Lord in the coming of the Person of Jesus? For upon heeding the Lord’s instruction to “show [himself] to the priest and offer the gift prescribed,” the leper will be welcomed into the Church and society – his exile will be ended.
We all stand exiled by sin. We are all utterly bereft of the blessing of the Lord. But there is hope. We are told that even in this exile to Babylon “some of the country’s poor” remained to till the land. And has not Jesus just come from the mountain where He has taught His disciples, “Blest are the lowly; they shall inherit the land”? If we humble ourselves before Him as has the leper, if we remain meek in His sight as have the poor of the land, the blessing of the Lord shall come to us and never leave. For He indeed wills it so. He indeed desires our return from exile. Do we have a heart to come to Him? Do we remember where we have been?
*******
O LORD, it is your will that we be whole
and living in peace;
keep us poor in spirit
that we might not be removed from your sight.
YHWH, save us from our sin this day, even as you healed the leper; bring us back from our exile to dwell again in the holy City of Jerusalem. Are we not temples of your Spirit? Let us remember and return to them.
O LORD, come down from the mountain to walk amongst us, for we are in need of your presence. We live as though far from you in a land of darkness and exile. Is there yet hope for our beaten souls? May we yet be cured of our disease? Only if you are here with us, and we recognize you and call upon your love.
Why should your children remain apart from you? O LORD, why can we not sing of your glory? You are just and we deserve our punishment, but let us call upon your mercy this day. Then you will reach out to us; then you will speak your Word over us. Then your will shall indeed be known – that we be saved from the evil of this day.