Homilies

Back to Homilies menu

            Every society depends, for its continued existence, upon the observance of certain standards of civilized behavior.  In this regard, the 10 Commandments are no different from other law codes, such as the Code of Hammurabi or Hittite suzerainty treaties.  But in the Book of Deuteronomy the Decalogue is presented as a quotation. 
            It was written on tablets of clay and was to have been promulgated by Moses, but its promulgation was delayed because of the terror inspired by God’s appearance on Mount Horeb.  This delay serves to explain the introduction of an updated version, just as the Israelites are about to enter the promised land. 
            The historical prologue, which recalls Israel’s exodus from Egypt, is at the heart of today’s disputes in the Holy Land.  In one of the books which I have been reading to prepare for the trip to the Holy Land in June, the author asks, “Who were the Israelites? Were they outsiders who arrived in the land and conquered it, as described in the Bible, or were they descendants of the local population, known in the Bible as Canaanites, who, for whatever reason, formed a new entity, know to us as Israel?  Were the formation processes simple enough for us to be able to reconstruct them from the available information, or were they so complicated that we will never be able to find the complete answer?” 
            Faith in the Exodus, which is at the heart of Jewish belief, is historically problematic; Christian faith rests on the historical figure of Jesus, whose words and deeds, and even whose very existence, have been challenged historically.  I hope that the Continuing Studies course which begins here a week from Tuesday will serve, not to answer, but at least to air some of these issues. 
            Our second reading is an elaboration of the vision of the New Jerusalem.  It parallels the representation of Babylon which precedes it in the Book of Revelation.  Human history as a tale of two cities is the conception behind St. Augustine’s City of God.
            But the heavenly Jerusalem is a transcendent and future reality: God dwelling, face to face, with his people.  Here too the text raises historical issues.  Does the absence of a temple in the heavenly Jerusalem suggest that the earthly temple has been destroyed, or simply that the temple is not of ultimate significance? 
            In either case, the temple continues as a symbol of the longed for relationship between human beings and God.  Our society derives its principles from the 10 Commandments, and when these principles are no longer upheld, the quality of life deteriorates. 
            But, as we know, we have here no lasting city, and the glittering symbol of a city whose walls are adorned with precious stones, attracts us, as it did John Bunyan, in A Pilgrim’s Progress, to a reality which passes human understanding. 

April 25, 2010

back to top