Isn’t that a fun scripture for this Sunday in
between Thanksgiving and the start of Advent?
What’s your favorite part: the
fiery flames? The clouds of heaven? The everlasting kingdom given by the Ancient
One to the human being?
Unfortunately, like so many of these
apocalyptic visions from scripture, this one is often read out of context. The lectionary is no help; it gives us just
four non-consecutive verses from the seventh chapter of Daniel. So let’s back up to the beginning of chapter
seven, the beginning of Daniel’s vision.
In this vision or dream that Daniel has, he
sees four great beasts coming up out of the sea: the first three are described as a lion, a
bear, and a leopard; and the fourth is a terrifying and dreadful beast that is different
from the others, with ten horns, except that an eleventh horn then rises up,
pushing out three of the horns like an adult tooth pushing out baby teeth, and
on that eleventh horn are eyes like human eyes and a mouth speaking arrogantly.
And then, as we already heard, the Ancient
One appears.
Does that help you understand this scripture
better? No? Well then, let’s talk about it a little more.
Clearly, this vision is an allegory, a
parable, with a meaning that was obvious to those living in Daniel’s time, but
which is lost on many readers today.
To those in Daniel’s time, the following
would have obvious: The first beast –
the lion – is the Babylonian empire. The
second beast is the Median empire. The
third beast is the Persian empire. And
the fourth beast, the one worse than the others, is the Greek empire.
All of these empires (or kingdoms) are like
wild beasts attacking the earth, although the Greek empire is clearly a beast
like no other.
So the vision starts off with a political critique using metaphorical
language. It’s really not that hard to
understand. Certainly people in Daniel’s
time would have understood it. They had
lived through the oppression of these four kingdoms. They knew exactly what Daniel was talking
about.
Then comes a figure who is not a wild beast, but a human
being. Literally speaking, this new
figure is a son of man, a son of adam.
And this human, this son of man, is presented before God, the Ancient
One. And this human is given dominion
and glory and kingship; he is given a new kingdom, one that is very different
from those four beastly kingdoms; a kingdom that he brings to earth as the
replacement for those four condemned empires.
If we read a little further, to verse 27, we
learn something else about this new kingdom:
This new kingdom is given to all the people of the earth.
So, to summarize: four oppressive, beastly, earthly kingdoms
are replaced by a kingdom from heaven, a kingdom brought to earth by one like a
human being and given to the people of earth.
And this was a message of hope for the people
in Daniel’s time. They of course did not
like being ruled by oppressive kingdoms, and looked forward to the end of those
kingdoms. Daniel’s vision promises that the
end they are hoping for is near, and that a new kingdom will be given to them,
a kingdom that will be their own.
So, with great hope and expectation, they
lived in what they hoped were the “end times.”
Not the end of the world, but the end of oppression, injustice,
violence, bloodshed and war; and end of the kingdoms which rule by these
things.
Let me say that again: the “end times” did not refer to the end of
the world, but the end of evil earthly kingdoms. There are a lot of misconceptions out there
about what scripture means when it talks about the end times. [Let me just say that this poor guy, who I
saw the day before Thanksgiving, has no clue what the “end times” are from a
biblical standpoint. From his own
standpoint, maybe, but not from a biblical standpoint.]
And the Left Behind books, and all those who
talk about “rapture:” they don’t get it,
either. They are trying to interpret
ancient parables and allegories through a modern, literalistic framework. And because of that, their interpretation is
all wrong.
An end to evil, oppression, injustice, and
the kingdoms which rule by violence:
that’s what Daniel is talking about.
Which is why, to those in biblical times, talk about the “end times” was
always filled with hope.
Well, that hope persisted through the
generations, and by Jesus’s time, those four beastly kingdoms were, in fact,
gone. However, they had been replaced by
Rome, the greatest, baddest empire of them all.
But the hope for an “end” to imperialistic
rule and oppression remained. The hope
for a new kingdom – God’s kingdom – remained.
And the hope for a “son of man” who would bring that kingdom to earth,
remained.
Enter John the baptist. According to biblical scholar John Dominic
Crossan – whose work, I should point out, inspired much of what I’m saying to
you today – John the baptist wondered what it was that was keeping God from
acting. What was keeping God from
fulfilling the vision of Daniel? What
was keeping God from bringing about the end of kingdoms of evil and oppression? What was keeping God from inaugurating a new
kingdom of peace?
John’s answer: sin.
People were not following God, and that was keeping God from
establishing God’s kingdom on earth.
So:
John began to preach a message of repentance. Repent!
Turn away from sin! Prepare the
way of the Lord your God, who will come and establish a new kingdom on
earth!
And John the baptist led people out to the
wilderness, to the Jordan River, for baptism.
This was a baptism of repentance, meant to wash away one’s sins. It was a baptism that, it was hoped, would
lead God to finally intervene and establish God’s reign on earth.
John even made sure to perform his baptisms
in the Jordan River, the same spot where, during the Exodus, God’s people
crossed the river to establish a new nation, a new kingdom. That’s what John was hoping for: that God would destroy Rome and establish a
new nation, a new kingdom, in its place.
But:
God still did not intervene. Rome
was not destroyed. The kingdom of God
did not come. Instead, Rome killed the
one who proclaimed that new kingdom.
Rome killed John.
And, according to John Dominic Crossan, that
was really something for Jesus to think about.
Jesus, of course, was baptized by John, and
therefore he must have accepted John’s message of “the end.” But John Dominic Crossan says that, because
of what happened to John, Jesus took John’s message, and changed it in three
specific ways:
1. Instead of
proclaiming a coming kingdom, Jesus
proclaimed that the kingdom of God was already
present. And according to the gospel
writers, Jesus himself is the “one like a human being” mentioned in Daniel, the
“son of man” who has brought that kingdom to earth with him.
2. Instead of
coming by means of God’s intervention,
the kingdom also depends on human collaboration. Crossan says “God’s kingdom is here, but only
insofar as you accept it, enter it,
live it, and thereby establish it.” The
kingdom requires your participation.
3. Instead of
coming violently, God’s kingdom comes nonviolently. Remember:
John the Baptist believed that God was coming to destroy Rome. That’s violent, at least on God’s part. But Jesus proclaimed that God’s kingdom would
be realized through nonviolent resistance to the injustice of Roman
imperialism.
You may recall that, according to the gospel
of John, Jesus is arrested and eventually appears before Pilate. Pilate questions Jesus, asking Jesus if he is
a king, and Jesus answers: “My kingdom
is not from this world. If my kingdom
were from this world, my followers
would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. In the kingdoms of this world, people fight…
But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
We talk a lot in the church about the kingdom
of God or the kingdom of heaven (the two phrases mean the same thing). We even pray every Sunday for God’s kingdom
to come on earth. So it’s important to
understand just what it is that we are talking about and praying for.
So to repeat:
according to Jesus, God’s kingdom is already present; God’s kingdom
depends on our collaboration and participation; and unlike the kingdoms of the
world, God’s kingdom is nonviolent.
You may recall that just before Jesus is
handed over to be crucified, the crowd is given a choice: should Jesus be set free, or should a violent
criminal named Barabbas be set free instead?
The crowd, of course, chooses Barabbas.
The crowd chooses wrongly. It chooses the violent one, to be its king,
and condemns the nonviolent one.
In reading this, every person must ask
himself or herself: Have I chosen wrongly? Have I chosen the ways of the kingdoms of
this world – have I chosen the kingdoms of violence and oppression – over the ways of the kingdom of God? Have I chosen the way of violence? Have I put my faith in those who lead by
violence; or have I put my faith in the one whose kingdom is a kingdom of peace
and shalom?
Another
thing: as I mentioned, the kingdom of
God as proclaimed by Jesus is participatory and collaborative. It depends on us for its full
realization. We are called to accept it,
enter it, and live it.
There’s
a website that posts images of Jesus with things he didn’t say, and so here I’ve created my own:
Jesus
never told his followers, I die upon the cross in your place. He never
said, I’ll do all the work of building the kingdom for you, you just sit back
and relax. Jesus never said, I’m the
substitute, the place-holder, the one who gets the punishment you deserve.
If
Jesus had said those things, we’d know that the kingdom was dependent solely on
a God who intervenes into human history with or without us.
But
what Jesus said was: take up your cross
and follow me. He might as well have said, take up your electric chair, your
firing squad, your appointment in the gas chamber. This is dangerous work, and I’m calling you
to be a part of it. The kingdom will
only be realized on earth when you commit yourself to it.
And
the end times – meaning the end of oppression and injustice and violence – will
only come about when you follow my teachings and live the way I have
lived. You must be a servant and slave
to all. You must be a maker of
peace. You must love and pray for your
enemies. You must welcome and embrace
even and particularly those who you find it hardest to welcome and
embrace. Unless you do these things, my
love is not in you, and the kingdom is far from you.
So,
the kingdom of God is present, it is nonviolent, and it depends on you. It is brought to you by Jesus Christ. He is the son of man, the one to whom
dominion in the kingdom has been given:
Christ our King; and today – the last Sunday before Advent – is Christ
the King Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment