The first nine verses are a poetic ode to the military
prowess of Judas Maccabeus, the son of Mattathias who fought for Yahweh. Following the ode, we get two glimpses of
Judas as a leader and conqueror. The
first battle we hear of is a large group of Gentiles from Samaria who are
vanquished and the commander’s sword taken by Judas and used for the rest of
his life, a la David’s vanquishing Goliath.
The second story is the defeat of many Syrians by a few Israelites. The people are afraid of the overwhelming
odds and they have had nothing to eat, they are ready to walk away on this one
but then Judas reminds them that what they are fighting for is a way of life,
they are fighting for the Lord and He will fight for them. They need not fear the odds, the battle
belongs to the Lord. He knew with God on
his side there was no army who could stand against them.
They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the
Living God when they were in Caesarea and they had only the pantheon of the
gods to whom to compare Jesus. Now, on
the mount of Transfiguration, they were posed with a different and more
difficult challenge. How did Jesus fit
within the context of the heroes of Israel?
He is with Moses and Elijah and is transfigured and Peter wants to keep
this moment forever, suggesting that they can build booths and hang out
together a while. When the voice from
heaven proclaims Jesus as Son and commands them to listen to Him, all three
disciples fall to the ground and don’t rise until Jesus touches them and
commands them to rise and not tell anyone what they have seen until after the
Son of Man is raised from the dead. They
still affirm that He is Messiah, their only question concerns Elijah coming
first, in keeping with the prophecy of Malachi.
He has already come, in the form of John the Baptist.
As in our first lesson, God’s people are outnumbered. The armies of Gog and Magog are like the
descendants of Abraham, they are like the sand on the seashore they are so
great. The account of what happens is
not very dramatic is it? They marched up
to the camp, to the beloved city, and fire from heaven came down and consumed
them. After this comes the judgment of
God on all the dead who are judged according to their works. I thought we were judged by our faith
alone. As James wrote, faith without
works is dead. We are not called to
simply believe with our minds, we are called to a life like Judas Maccabeus, a
life lived absolutely in accord with that belief, taking up our cross and following
Jesus, not a life like those who do not believe.
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