Daniel 7:13-14
This Sunday, we will hear again from the Book of Daniel. Again, the passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel. Let’s review our current understanding about this book; you will recall that we heard a passage from it just last Sunday. We have come to understand this book as being apocalyptic in style, written around 165BC. An uncritical reading of the book would lead us to conclude that it is a sort of biography written about an historical person who lived during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, one of the kings of Babylon, and his successors. You will recall that in Dn 1:6-7, someone by the name of Daniel is named as one of the four Judeans who was brought into the service of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel won favor with King Nebuchadnezzar because of his ability to interpret dreams. He is also the
Daniel who is thrown into the lion’s den but escapes unharmed, as we read in Dn 6.
But then, we look at the final chapters of the book and we have to critically examine it. We discover that this book is not named after its author, as is usually the case, but after its protagonist, who is presented here as living in Babylonia during the reigns of the last kings of the Babylonian Empire and their first successors, the early kings of the Medes and the Persians. This would place the life of Daniel (which means “my judge is God”; recall the Archangels Michael, which means “Who is like God”, Gabriel, which means “God’s Strength”, and Raphael, which means “God’s Remedy”) during the 6th century BC. This book is not, strictly speaking, a prophetic writing, but an apocalyptic book that also utilizes haggadah – הגדה – (i.e., a narrative story having little or no basis in actual history but told for the sake of teaching a moral lesson). Although through the ages he has been associated with various Daniels in the Old Testament (e.g., one of David’s sons – 1 Chr 3:1 – or one of the Jews who returned from the Babylonian exile at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah – cf. Ezr 8:2 – or the Daniel mentioned in Ez 14:14,20), we have no way of knowing whether the Daniel of this book is a real, historical character about whom popular legends gradually developed or whether he was simply a creation of Jewish folklore. Very few modern scripture scholars today would assert that the book is written about an historical character. Rather, they think that the book was probably written around 165BC – after Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the Temple of Jerusalem in 167BC and before his death in 164BC. Let’s read Dn 9:27, where we learn of Daniel having a vision of Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrating the Temple of Jerusalem with the “desolating abomination.” Those of you who attended daily Mass this past Monday will recall the reference to this “horrible abomination” in 1 Mac 1:54. In Mk 13:14, we hear Jesus use this same term, “desolating abomination.” As you will read in the footnote there, this is probably a reference to the Romans profaning the temple by installing one of their gods there.
It appears that the purpose of the Book of Daniel was to encourage the Jews to remain faithful to their ancestral religion at a time when they were being tempted by the Hellenic culture and were being persecuted by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The author or Daniel is particularly concerned with demonstrating the superiority of God’s wisdom and power over human wisdom and power. It is also particularly significant because of its clear teaching on the resurrection of the body (12:2), unique in the Hebrew Old Testament.
To fully appreciate this Sunday’s reading, let’s read the entire chapter.
We will hear only vss. 13-14 on Sunday, so let’s examine them a little more carefully:
13 As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him,
Son of man: this title – אדם בן – is found 107 times throughout the Old Testament, mostly in the Book of Ezekiel (93 times – cf. Ez 14:1-2, 12) but also in Ps 8:5; Ps 115:16 (where it can also be translated “children of Adam”) to speak of a favored person – or even nation – in the sight of God. In the New Testament, it is used by Jesus to describe himself (cf. Mt 8:20, 9:6; Mk 8:31; Lk 9:22). By that time, many scripture scholars believe that this title had taken on the meaning of nobody important. It’s like the use of the word “anecdote.” Today, we use it to speak of an incident that describes a particular incident or event that is of particular interest. Originally, however, the word was used to speak of matters that were not to be retold.
This title can be compared to the title of Son of God, which is also found throughout the Old Testament: Gn 6:2; Ex 4:22; Jer 31:20
It is also found in the New Testament: Mt 16:13-17; Jn 10:34-36, 20:30-31
Ancient One: clearly a reference to God.
14 the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.
The four kingdoms – Babylonian, Median, Persian and Greek – will all give way to the final kingdom, ruled by the Son of Man, whose dominion, as we hear on Sunday, is “an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away.” We hear the same message in Sunday’s Gospel; let’s look at that next.
John 18:33b – 37
This week, we hear from John’s Gospel, as we have a few times over the course of this year. It is a very poignant account of Jesus before Pontius Pilate. Unlike the synoptic accounts of this encounter, which present Jesus as saying very little or nothing before Pilate, (cf. Mt 27:11; Mk 15:2; Lk 23:1) John presents Jesus as boldly proclaiming the truth of his kingdom. To get the full context of this text, let’s begin with Jn 18:28.
33 Pilate said to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
King of the Jews: It is clear that Pilate is asking this question on his own, rather than because he was prompted by the Jewish leaders. They would not have reduced themselves to a mere tribal entity – Jews – but would have spoken of themselves as Israelites. They were awaiting the return of the kingdom of Israel.
34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?”
35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
My kingdom does not belong to this world: Whereas Pilate is concerned about the political ramifications of Jesus claiming to be a king in defiance of the Roman Emperor, Jesus elevates the discussion to a theological plane.
37 So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
For this I was born and for this I came into the world: Jesus professes that this was his vocation from his birth. And, you will notice that he doesn’t say “for this I was sent into the world,” but “for this I came into the world.” The Son of God – the Word who carried out God’s creative command, as we hear in the Genesis creation account, has come into the world to testify to the truth.
Revelation 1:5 – 8
We hear on Sunday from the Book of Revelation; like the Book of Daniel, it is apocalyptic in nature. Let’s read it from the very beginning.
5 Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
6 who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen.
coming amid the clouds: we just read this in Dn 7:13; both are references to divinity.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
Alpha and the Omega: as you see in your footnote, these are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, indicating that God is, indeed, the beginning of all things – he is the creator – and he is the end towards which all of creation is headed.
As we come to the end of the liturgical calendar once again, we are confronted with the reality that God’s Son, who became man to save us, has established his kingdom in our midst. We are called to follow him, the Way, the Truth and the Life, as he leads us in this kingdom to the next. We must pay careful attention to this proclamation; our eternal destiny relies on it!