Monday 29 December 2014

Psalm: Psalm 124

Background

Today the Church remembers the Holy Innocents. Matthew's Gospeltells us that in his anger at the news that a rival had been born,Herod slaughtered all male children under the age of two in theBethlehem area (Matthew 2:16-18). Today's passage is quoted inMatthew's Gospel as a graphic description of the pain caused byHerod's senseless violence.

Rachel was the wife of the patriarch Jacob (or Israel). Herchildren were Joseph (Genesis 30:22-24) and Benjamin (Genesis 33:16-26), so she was not literally themother of all twelve tribes. However Jeremiah, in this chapter,refers to all the people of Israel by the name Ephraim who wasJoseph's son (and therefore Rachel's grandchild) so that mightexplain her appearance at this point. Reconstructing the familytree may not be helpful; what Jeremiah's prophecy is designed toconvey is the horror of the exile of the people of Judaea whentheir country was conquered by the Babylonians and many weredragged off into captivity. The poignant image of a woman weepingfor her lost children whom she will never see again effectivelycaptures the agony of the moment.

This passage is not only about the pain of exile. Rachel iscommanded to dry her tears because the desolation will not lastforever. The second part of the reading is a promise ofrestoration; the lost children will return. As so often, Jeremiahwho expresses the fall of Jerusalem reluctantly and eloquently isalso the prophet of a hopeful future.

 
To Ponder

• Television news bulletins and newspapers will often show imagesof a weeping mother to convey the horror of the deaths of childrenin war or disease. Why is this such an effective picture?

• Many of those pictures are from other cultures. Is lamenting inpublic something that we see in Great Britain? If not, why do youthink that is?

• This oracle speaks of God hearing a person's pain andresponding with a promise of hope. Can you think of a time when youhave been able to offer comfort to someone who was grieving theirloss? What made that comfort effective?