All Saints Day

INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SCRIPTURE

Year C - ALL SAINTS’ DAY

DANIEL 7:1-3, 15-18. The apocalyptic vision of Daniel described here must be interpreted metaphorically. Despite the apparent ascendancy of powerful kings or empires, represented by four great beasts arising from the sea, Daniel’s dream offers divine assurance to God’s faithful people forever at a time of great insecurity.

PSALM 149. This psalm belongs in the group of five songs of praise ending the Psalter. All begin and end with the summons, “Praise the Lord”. Each joyful couplet celebrates God’s sovereignty not only in Israel but over all nations.

EPHESIANS 1:11-23. Many scholars believe that the Letter to the Ephesians should be regarded as a circular letter covering a number of Paul’s letters first gathered into single collection by the church in Ephesus. Its message also appears to be closely linked to that of the Letter to the Colossians.

This passage proclaims the eternal hope that faith in Christ brings to all believers. It sets before us the good news that by the power of God’s gracious love so fully revealed in life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all who believe may live victoriously here and now, and even more so in God’s presence in the life beyond death.

LUKE 6:20-31. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes can be compared with those listed in Matthew 5:3-11, but the two are not identical. Each reflects the special purpose of the two gospel authors. The settings too are quite different. Matthew’s Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount; Luke’s begin what is called “the Sermon on the Plain.” All of what Luke recorded can be found in Matthew suggesting to scholars that the two authors used a common source. Luke’s list of four groups who are blessed contrasts with an equal number of those who will find that they suffer woe. These woes may have been added at some later date because they seem to interrupt the flow of the sermon.

The intent of the Beatitudes describes in stark detail the character of the two realms in which all people live: the realm of the natural (some would mistakenly call it “the real”) world and the realm of the Spirit. The two sermons end with the same parable admonishing everyone to take heed of how they live in order to live in God’s true realm.

A MORE DETAILED ANALYSIS

DANIEL 7:1-3, 15-18. The apocalyptic vision of Daniel described here must be interpreted metaphorically. However we may choose to understand his experience and despite the apparent ascendancy of powerful kings or empires, represented by four great beasts arising from the sea, Daniel’s dream offers divine assurance of salvation to God’s faithful people forever at a time of great insecurity.

Although the account of this dream and three subsequent visions (Daniel 7:1-12:13) are set in the reigns of a Babylonian and two Persian kings, this is a literary device designed to conceal their true historical reference and to reveal a prophetic message to God’s people. The stories actually reflect conditions of the Hellenistic period of Israel’s history just prior to the Maccabean revolt against the cruel suppression of the Jewish religious tradition of Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BCE). While the stories refer to a time long past, they were told to encourage the Jews to look forward to a time when all history will be brought to an end. Israel’s sovereign Lord would intervene to reveal all worldly powers as temporary and ineffective, and establish God’s glorious realm.

Vss. 1-3 are a transitional passage told as if Daniel was in the court of the last king of Babylon just prior to its capture by Cyrus, king of the Medes and Persians in 539 BCE. The description of Daniel’s dream of four beasts rising from the sea comes in vss. 4-14 where many symbolic figures refer to actual events and rulers, both Persian and Greek, who dominated the Jewish people during the intervening centuries. For instance, in vs. 7 the fourth beast is said to have ten horns. This represents the ten kings or dynasties who came in succession to Alexander the Great (d. 330 BCE). The little horn of vs. 8 refers to Antiochus Epiphanes himself. The “one like a son of man” in vs. 13 denotes the apocalyptic expression of a celestial being in human form found in much Jewish messianic apocalyptic literature. “The Ancient of Days” stands as a messianic euphemism for Yahweh.

The meaning of Daniel’s dream follows in vss. 15-18. Alarmed by what he had seen in his night vision, he addressed an angelic member of the celestial court. This divine courtier put his mind to rest by telling him that Yahweh’s holy people would possess supreme authority forever in a divinely organized earthly community of nations. The claim has yet to be fulfilled, but we live in hope.

These apocalyptic dreams and visions had considerable influence on New Testament authors as they sought to proclaim the gospel to early Christians that Jesus Christ is the one who brings God’s realm into existence through his death, resurrection and exaltation.

PSALM 149. This psalm belongs in the group of five songs of praise, ending the Psalter. All begin and end with the summons, “Praise the Lord” from the Hebrew “Hallelujah.” The five are said to have been used in the morning liturgy in the temple although each may have had an earlier provenance.

Ps. 149 praises Yahweh for the triumph of Israel. Each joyful couplet celebrates God’s sovereignty not only in Israel but over all nations. Vss. 1-4 attribute the victory to Yahweh’s intervention in saving Israel from some unidentified distress, but not necessarily aggressive warfare.

Vss. 5-9 celebrates the classic prophetic view of history that Yahweh’s sovereignty extends to all nations and peoples. Plainly, this interpretation has an eschatological aspect and Israel has a messianic role in bringing it about by executing divine judgment.

This may seem an exceptionally ideological point of view in our time when radical fundamentalists in the Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions all espouse similar interpretations of world events. It must be understood, however, that the New Testament also expresses an almost identical view in the apostolic tradition. The Gospels, the Epistles and the Apocalypse convey this concept when proclaiming Christ’s return in glory to consummate history.

This passage proclaims the eternal hope that faith in Christ brings to all believers. It sets before us the good news of what will happen by the power of God’s gracious love so fully revealed in life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All who believe may live victoriously here and now, and even more so in God’s presence in the life beyond death.

A Canadian colleague and scholar, John C. Kirby, has proposed a hypothesis that the form of the whole of the opening chapters of Ephesians is very similar to the traditional Jewish blessing known as a berakah. Such prayers offered praise to Yahweh for the mighty acts by which Israel had been brought to the Promised Land and would protected Israel for all time. This hymn praises God for what God has done in Christ by raising him from the dead, redeeming those who are faithful and destines them to inherit life to come in God’s eternal and spiritual presence.

All this glorious future will come through the work of the Holy Spirit in them. The gift of the Holy Spirit, identified as “the seal” and “the pledge” of vss. 13-14, assures them that this will happen and bring praise to God above all. The Holy Spirit creates in believers something more than just a pious dream. Faith, love, wisdom, revelation, enlightenment, hope and the assurance that the power that raised Christ from the dead and exalted him to share God’s reign all shall come to them too. Further, the assembled believers are now the living body of which Christ is the head and in him is the fullness of God as well.

The vision of this passage leaves one breathless. What we read here is the inheritance of all the saints of whom we who believe are today’s representatives.

LUKE 6:20-31. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes can be compared with those listed in Matthew 5: 3-11. In doing so, we quickly realize that the two are not identical. Each reflects the special purpose of the two gospel authors. The settings are quite different too. Matthew’s Beatitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount; Luke’s begin what is called “the Sermon on the Plain.” All of what Luke recorded can be found in Matthew suggesting to scholars that the two authors used a common source. In both, too, geography plays a significant role in the way the message is structured. Matthew portrays Jesus as the new Moses delivering the Law of the New Covenant from the mountain. In Luke, Jesus is a man among ordinary people of the towns and villages of the countryside, seeking to create a new life for the humble, poor and disconnected.

The intent of the Beatitudes describes in stark detail the character of the two realms in which all people live: the realm of the natural (some would mistakenly call it “the real”) world and the realm of the Spirit. Although not included in this reading, the two sermons quoted in Matthew and Luke both end with the same parable admonishing everyone to take heed of how they live in order to live in God’s true realm.

Luke’s list of four groups of people who are blessed contrasts with an equal number of those who will find that they suffer woe. Some scholars suggest that these woes may have been added at a later date by the early church because they seem to interrupt the flow of the sermon. They also present a negative attitude that does not seem in keeping with what Jesus is quoted as saying in the blessings. On the other hand, they do reflect the obverse of the four blessings and declare a sense of social justice and community contrary to the will of those who seek to prevent such a state in human affairs. Thus they reflect the purpose Luke wished to reveal in his narrative that Jesus sought to include within the realm of God’s love those for whom the world had no place.

One perennial issue the church faces as we try to live as followers of Christ in the world has to do with the challenge of inclusivity. The Beatitudes represent Jesus’ intention to welcome all people on the same conditions. The scriptures of all religious traditions include in one form or another what Christian’s know as “the Golden Rule.” The ideals of the major traditions have much more in common. Religious hostility among humans depends on placing greater emphasis on our differences than on our similarities. Strife occurs when we emphasize the differences. Or when we emphasize orthodoxy - even among Christians - to the point where everyone who does not think or believe as we do is a heretic. But we neglect that the origin of the word heresy lies in the Greek verb “to choose.” True to his Jewish heritage as reflected in Beatitudes, Jesus was more concerned about orthopraxy - behaving as those who do what is right rather than believing what is right. His way to live on the basis of right behaviour is to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Therein we shall find peace in our strife-torn world.

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