The prophet Jeremiah has a really bad rep. Of course, his prophetic book doesn’t help that much when one of his most famous prayers to God is “Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou hast been stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed. I am become a laughing-stock all the day, all scoff at me.” In other words, during Jeremiah’s lifetime his fellow Israelites imagined him walking around with a dark cloud over his head, because he never had anything positive to say. They probably called him “buzz-kill” behind his back.
But look at what Jeremiah’s word for the Church is today! “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, `The LORD has saved his people, the remnant of Israel.'” What is going on here is a change of mood. Jeremiah didn’t just admonish. He also encouraged those who obeyed God’s law of love and service. He saw a day coming, after the exile in Babylon, when God’s people would return to His land, would be gathered back together from all the corners of earth. And he specifically meant that the poor, the disabled, the people who had no power or influence would come back together in right living and right worship.
That is exactly the story of the Church, isn’t it? In every age, secular and religious rulers have tried to wipe out or suppress the Church’s members, clergy and ministry. But they never succeed in the long run, because the Church is no mere human institution. The Church is the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ, and Christ promised He’d always be with her.
It’s useful to know that the Greek word used in the New Testament for the mortal enemy of humanity is diavolos, “devil.” And it refers to acting to drive people apart, to make them enemies of each other. That’s what Satan does to humans. That enemy or accuser, that satana puts ideas in human hearts and heads that encourages them to fear and hate others. That’s what messes up families and societies. That’s the process that God does not want for our world, and that’s what Jesus came to reverse, to heal.
Jesus can do this because the Father anointed Him to be a high priest. Now you’ll see many times in the New Testament, especially the letter to the Hebrews, that the Son of God, Jesus, is a “high priest according to the order of Melchisedek.” The word Melchisedek is a fusion of two Semitic words. “Melch” is the root meaning “king.” And “Sedek” or “Zadok” is the root meaning “priest.” Jesus was man and God, and as man was descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Jacob’s son, Judah. But the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe. So in that order Jesus could not be a priest.
But Jesus was a descendant of King David as well. The original Melchisedek was king of Salem, which is Jerusalem. He was also priest of Salem. Abraham, in a story in the book of Genesis, brought offerings to Salem, which Melchisedek offered to God as a sacrifice. Many generations later, David conquered Jerusalem as part of the mopping up operations needed to conquer the Holy Land. And so David became king of Jerusalem as well as all of Israel. David was a priest-king according to the order of Melchisedek, so Jesus was also both priest and king. That is exactly why He was able to offer Himself as a victim reconciling all of humankind to God in His bloody death on the cross. That is how He can bring all of humanity back together in His community, in His Church, in His Kingdom.
As Jesus made His way to Jerusalem, for that last Passover when He would give Himself completely for our salvation, He passed through Jericho, down by the river Jordan. Up to that time He had never done a miracle without telling the beneficiary to keep quiet about it. (Of course they never did, didn’t they?) He did not want to be called “Messiah” because that would bring down the wrath of the Romans and their collaborators. Yet this little blind man gave Him the opportunity to do just the opposite—to advertise His kingship—when the man loudly begged Him “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Despite rebukes from the crowd, he only yelled it louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Jesus summoned the blind man and asked him what he wanted. “Master, let me see.” And Jesus healed him, and allowed him to follow.
Aren’t we all in our day like that blind man? Jesus was about to make the ascent to Jerusalem, to His real Passover, His passion, death and Resurrection. He wanted the blind man to follow and see that mystery take place. Jesus knew that most of the people He would encounter in the next week or so would be blind and not know it, not understand that they had the Creator, the Redeemer, the Messiah in their midst. He knew that they would all be accomplices in His murder. They would be the unwitting beneficiaries of Christ’s last absolution: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”
Jesus wants to make us whole, to give us eyes to see Him. To give us ears to hear His Word, a circumcised heart to love Him and our neighbor and even our enemies. So as our week progresses, let’s often repeat that highly effective prayer, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” He wants to do exactly that, and we need to let Him do it.
