Sunday of the Word of God (Ages 9-12): The People Who—?—In Darkness
- thebetterpart
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
This Sunday is the Sunday of the Word of God. The Word of God is a great gift to us. We enjoy our gifts. We play with them. So, each week, and in particular this week, we enjoy the Word. We play with it, turning it over and over, noticing how it touches our deepest needs, and delighting in the new aspects we discover.
The Gospel begins with disturbing news. John the Baptist has been arrested. In the midst of reading about Jesus' miracles and parables, we can sometimes forget how dangerous life is for the people of Israel. Soldiers from Rome run this conquered land, while the erratic King Herod takes the little power that he has and abuses it. They arrest John the Baptist and put him in prison. We know that they will execute him. The people of Israel live,
in the region and the shadow of death.
The land of Israel, the land promised to the Jewish people by God, is not a safe place.
In the midst of this trouble, St. Matthew takes great care to remind us of the prophecy of Isaiah, the one we usually think about in the time of Advent and Christmas:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light
This is how the prophet Isaiah speaks. We understand that the great light is Jesus.
However, St. Matthew, when recalling the prophecy with us, says it like this:
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light
We notice a difference. Isaiah says, "walked"; St. Matthew says, "sat." Why? We could say that St. Matthew remembers the prophecy incorrectly. Maybe he does not have the prophecy scrolls in front of him when he writes. Maybe. But over the years when making copies of the Gospel, surely someone would notice the mistake and fix it.
Perhaps it is not a mistake.
Why might the early Church keep both versions? Maybe we can learn something by thinking about these two versions of the prophecy side-by-side.
People who walk, go somewhere. Walking in darkness, though, is not very safe. How can they see where they are going? How can they be sure they will not get lost or hurt? Why do they even bother walking in darkness? They must have a need. They must search for something.
People who sit in darkness, go nowhere. The darkness is too great, too frightening. They freeze. They, too, have a need. St. Matthew names the darkness, "The region and shadow of death." There is fear. There is no movement. They search for nothing.
This might remind us of two parables of Jesus—parables that he tells back-to-back:
“The Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the Kingdom of God is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)
The merchant searches for fine pearls. The person who finds the treasure does not. Both find the Kingdom of God.
The people who walked in darkness and the people who sat in darkness—Isaiah and St. Matthew both say—they:
have seen a great light
Jesus comes to them all.
Peter and Andrew cast their nets into the sea, searching for fish. Jesus says,
“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
They find what they search for. They may not have known that they had this need, but,
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
Like the merchant, they leave everything behind when they find the Kingdom of God.
James and John sit in their dad's boat, mending the nets. They do not search for anything. They also may not know that they have a deep need. But, Jesus calls them, too, and,
Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
Like the person who discovers treasure hidden in the field, they leave everything behind when they discover the Kingdom of God.
This is good news, is it not?
People in search of something better, will find God.
People not in search, who perhaps get overwhelmed with trouble, will find God.
Or maybe—since it is Jesus who comes along, since Jesus is the great light that shines into the darkness of death and sorrow and worry—we would be more correct to say:
God finds them.
God walks into our lives, into our need, and finds us.
All of us.
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