Tuesday of week 18 of Ordinary Time – First Reading
Commentary on Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22
The reading is in three parts:
- a brief introduction (vv 1-2);
- the sufferings of Judah are deserved (12-15);
- better times are on the way (18-22).
After so many dire predictions of terrible things going to happen, a note of hope creeps into Jeremiah’s words with the promise of recovery (albeit not too soon) of the kingdoms.
Today’s reading comes from the beginning of what is often known as Jeremiah’s ‘Book of Consolation’. It speaks of the ultimate restoration of both Israel (the Northern Kingdom, centred on Samaria) and Judah (the Southern Kingdom, centred on Jerusalem). The passage seems to date from the year 587 BC, just one year before Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and its people carried off into exile to Babylon.
The Jerusalem Bible says the greater part of the Book (30:1—31:22) was written between the reform of 622 BC and the death of King Josiah in 609 BC. It is written almost entirely in poetry. The decline of Assyria had allowed King Josiah to undertake the re-conquest of Samaria and Galilee. This gave rise to the hope that the exiles of 721 BC might return to a restored kingdom of David. The section is the longest sustained passage in Jeremiah concerned with the future hope of the people of God.
Yahweh still loves the Israel of the Northern Kingdom. He will bring the exiles back to their homes, and religious unity will be restored with Zion as its centre. Later this promise of return was extended to Judah, the Southern Kingdom, conquered and exiled in its turn. Subsequent oracles associate Judah with Israel, thus giving the ‘Book of Consolation’ its final, messianic scope: Israel and Judah will unite to serve Yahweh their God, and David their king. This gathering of scattered Israel becomes a major theme of the exilic and post-exilic prophets. It is a dream which inspires Jews to this day.
Upcoming readings, all taken from chapters 30 and 31, express this hope for a better future. Today’s passage begins with the prophet’s being told by God to write down the message so that future generations may know the predictions of better times to come.
However, the opening words of the Lord to Jeremiah begin on a negative note. Jeremiah once again reminds the people of Judah that their many sufferings were the consequences of their own actions:
Your hurt is incurable;
your wound is grievous.
There is no one to uphold your cause,
no medicine for your wound,
no healing for you.
All your lovers have forgotten you…
This refers to those nations, especially Egypt, on which Judah depended for support against the Babylonians.
However, the people must realise that all of this suffering was deserved:
Why do you cry out over your hurt?
Your pain is incurable.
Assyria and Babylon were merely instruments to teach Judah better ways:
Because your guilt is great,
because your sins are so numerous,
I have done these things to you.
But new times are coming. The tents and dwellings of Jacob, referring to Judah’s cities and palaces, will be restored. The city of Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins. The Hebrew word for ‘ruins’, tel(l) refers to a mound of ruins resulting from the accumulation of debris of years or centuries on which successive towns were built. (Archaeologists in this part of the world often find a town built on several layers of previous structures.)
Instead of the cries of suffering now heard:
Out of them shall come thanksgiving
and the sound of merrymakers.
The population will increase and things will be as they were in the good days of the past.
They will be ruled by one of their own and not by a governor appointed by the conquering power—Assyria or Babylon. And this ruler, chosen from among God’s own people, will have free access to the Lord’s presence. The Pentateuch tells us that unauthorised approaches into God’s presence were punishable by death. This ruler will be one fully acknowledged by Yahweh. While not immediately intended here, Jesus Christ will be the one who will ultimately fulfil this promise in a very special way.
And the passage ends with the great covenant statement:
And you shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
That was always true, but both the people of Israel and of Judah had violated their side of the pact by their immorality and idolatry.
The days of restoration will not only mean a putting back of the old structures, but a renewing of the close bond between God and his people.
The passage is full of hope, hope that knows that no matter how bad things get, truth, goodness and justice will prevail in the long run. Our own lives must always be based on such a hope.
But of course, as Jeremiah implies, the realisation of our hopes also depends on our active cooperation with doing what God wants. Many of our problems are the results of our failure to live in harmony with the gospel vision of life.
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Tuesday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – Gospel
Commentary on Matthew 14:22-36
As soon as the people had been filled with the food that Jesus gave them, Jesus packs his disciples off in the boat to the other side of the lake. He sends the crowds away and then retreats to the mountain to pray all by himself.
We know from John’s account that the people wanted to make him a king. If Jesus wanted to take control of the crowd, this was the moment; they were ready to follow enthusiastically. Jesus was indeed their King, but not the kind they were expecting. He would draw the crowds to him in a very different way, hanging in shame on a cross.
It looks too as if he did not want his disciples to get any wrong ideas either. They must have been elated at their role in the extraordinary event of feeding more than 5,000 people. So, perhaps with a lot of grumbling, they are sent off even before the excited crowds have dispersed.
As they make their way across the lake in this dark mood, things get even worse. They run into a big storm and their boat is being tossed about like a cork. Then out of the darkness, between 3 and 6 in the morning hours, they see Jesus approaching them across the water. Far from being delighted, they are terrified out of their wits. Superstitious men that they are, they think it is a ghost. Ghosts were very much a part of their world.
Words of encouragement come across the water:
Take heart, it is I [Greek, ego eimi = I AM]; do not be afraid.
Jesus gives himself the very name of Yahweh; this is all the reassurance they need. Their God is with them.
Only in Matthew’s account of this story do we have Peter’s reaction:
Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
To which, Jesus replies:
Come.
Peter gets out of the boat and goes towards Jesus. It is an act of love, faith and trust. But not quite enough. The power of the wind and waves gets stronger than his desire to be with Jesus. He begins to sink.
Lord, save me!
Jesus lifts him up and says:
You of little faith, why did you doubt?
As soon as Jesus and Peter get into the boat, there is a complete calm.
The rest of the disciples are overwhelmed and bow down before him saying:
Truly you are the Son of God.
We have here behind this story an image of the early Church, of which the boat and the disciples are a symbol. The surrounding water is the world, and the wind and waves are the forces which threaten the tiny community. Jesus seems to be far away, but he is not, and he appears in the midst of the storm. Once he steps inside the boat, there is calm, not only because the surrounding storm has stopped, but also because of the peace which the awareness of Jesus’ presence gives.
There is an added element in this story in that Peter, the leader of the community, comes hand in hand into the boat with Jesus. In time, the authority of Jesus will be passed over to him.
There is also, of course, in the calming of the storm an indication of Jesus’ real identity, expressed in the awe-filled words of the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God”, echoing Jesus’ own statement of “I AM”.
There is a brief epilogue at the end of our passage. The boat reaches the area of Gennesaret. The name refers either to the narrow plain, about four miles long and less than two miles wide on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Magdala, or a town in the plain. Significantly for the work that Jesus was about to do, the plain was considered a garden land, fertile and well-watered.
As soon as Jesus reaches the shore the crowds again gather in huge numbers especially to have their sick cured. So great was their faith that they asked only to touch the fringe of his garment. All those who did so (in faith) were healed.
Jesus had sent away the crowds earlier probably because of the late hour, but also perhaps because of the mood of the crowd which was taking on political overtones not wanted by Jesus. But now they are back to seek from him what he came to give them—healing and wholeness.
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