Zechariah 13: The End of Falsehood
Monday, August 19, 2019
This is welcome news: There will be an end to lies! There will come a time when false prophets, manipulation, back-stabbing, advantage-taking, favoritism, cronyism, self-preservation at the expense of others . . . all the trappings of a society which does not understand Jesus and his story . . . all of this will be swept away. Thanks be to God.
The NAB translation of verse 6 (What are these wounds on your chest?) is a change from the Douay (What are these wounds in the midst of thy hands?) is accompanied by an explanatory footnote. “The false prophets, like the prophet of Baal (1 Kings 13, 28), apparently inflicted wounds on themselves; to defend himself against the accusation of being a false prophet, a man will deny having inflicted wounds on himself and say instead that he received them at home, ‘in the house of my dear ones.’ In the liturgy this text is applied to Christ in an accommodated sense”.
The deepest wounds are those we receive from the ones we love best. The deepest wounds are those we inflict on the ones we love best. Jesus was betrayed by one of his twelve; and betrayal stings most when suffered at the hands of one we love.
Christ’s wounds of hands, feet, side, head and heart were suffered at the hands he loved most – humankind. In this act he joins with all of us who likewise suffer . . . yet Zechariah tells us . . . there will be end to this suffering. His prophecy was written to encourage the Jews who had returned from exile to rebuild the city and temple of Jerusalem. We might take heart as we re-read his words. From what exile do we return? What false prophets must we remember as gone and put away? What changes must we make in our decisions and our habits? What city are we dreaming? What temple are we preparing? What life are we building as we walk away from falsehood?
Written on July 24, 2008 and posted today as a Favorite.
For more on dealing with the betrayal of a friend, click on the image above or go to: http://www.thebettermom.com/2012/04/judas-jesus-betrayal-and-living-free/
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