Wednesday • 5/10/2023 •
Week of 5 Easter
This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 72; Daniel 11:1–35; Romans 13:1–14; Luke 8:16–25
This morning’s Canticles are: before the Psalm reading, Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 11 (“The Third Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 60:1–3,11a,14c,18–19, BCP, p. 87); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 16 (“The Song of Zechariah,” Luke 1:68–79, BCP, p. 92)
Welcome to Daily Office Devotions, where every Monday through Friday we ask how God might direct our lives from that day’s Scripture readings, as given in the Book of Common Prayer. I’m Reggie Kidd, and I’m grateful to be with you this Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter. We are in Year 1 of the Daily Office Lectionary. “Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Daniel. In today’s reading, Daniel receives a detailed timeline of the coming struggle of God’s people who will be returning from Babylon to Israel, “the Beautiful Land” (Daniel 11:16).
The rest of the canonical histories of the Old Testament (Ezra and Nehemiah) and the latter prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, Zephaniah, Malachi) take us only through about 400 BC. Those books treat the return from exile, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, and further messianic expectations.
Image: The picture is a Greek Catholic icon depicting the prophet Daniel. The icon was written in the end of the 18th century as part of the iconostasis of the Greek Catholic Cathedral of Hajdúdorog, Hungary. Daniel's icon is placed on the third tier of the iconostasis, the so-called Prophets tier. This icon is the first painting from the left. Jojojoe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Daniel is given a glimpse into the struggle that lies beyond those days. He foretells the intrigues that will allow evil powers under Antiochus IV Epiphanes to overwhelm God’s people in 2nd century B.C. (Daniel 11:1–32a). Further, Daniel heralds the people’s future deliverance when the Maccabees rise up to retake Jerusalem and the temple (165 B.C.—Daniel 11:32b; see 1 Maccabees 1:61–63). Beyond all this, Daniel predicts the season of persecution that will face God’s people immediately prior to the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12). All this is described beforehand so that Israel, and then the Church, will not lose heart, but will persevere with courage, hope, and faithfulness to the very end, when God’s kingdom and glory will prevail.
Romans 13. Our faith is not romantically innocent of the power of evil in the world. For that reason, immediately after the apostle Paul tells believers that their task is to overcome evil with good (Romans 12), he also tells them to receive the ministration of governing authorities because of government’s God-given role in enforcing a measure of justice and social equilibrium in this fallen world (Romans 13). Taxes due, even if inconvenient, are to be paid. Respect owed, even to unbelieving governors, is to be rendered (Romans 13:7). There’s not a word offered for de-legitimizing the pagan government under which Roman Christians lived, much less for committing insurrection against it. In fact, when Paul contemplates believers entering the public square, he expects them to be “ready for every good work” (that is, to seek to make a positive contribution) and to “be persuadable” (peitharchein—Titus 3:1; translated “be obedient” in the NRSV, the term connotes something more like, “be willing to listen to those with whom one disagrees, and to weigh counter-arguments and alternative solutions”).
Luke. Thus, Jesus exhorts his followers not to hide their light under a jar or put it under a bed; rather, they are to put it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light (Luke 8:16). God’s reality will eventually become evident, regardless of how long it takes, and regardless of how doubtful or foggy or confused things seem until then (Luke 8:17). In support of this truth, Luke recounts the way Jesus claims as intimate family not just those who obviously are family by blood, but all those who hear him and follow him (Luke 8:19–21). Also in support of this truth, Luke recalls Jesus’s mastery over the winds and the waves. Regardless of whether our influence seems great or small, we are privileged to represent the One who calls us his own and who is Lord over every situation. We can be confident that sooner or later “nothing that is hidden will not be disclosed” (Luke 8:17). May we walk in the light of this wonderful and life-giving truth.
Be blessed this day,
Reggie Kidd+