On this third Monday of Advent Year A, we come to a beautiful set of readings from the Book of Numbers and from the Gospel of Matthew. In the Book of Numbers, we come to a passage which belongs to Israel’s final stage of the wilderness period, which traditionally dates back to the thirteenth century before Christ, or even earlier, depending on one’s dating of the Exodus. Now Israel is encamped on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River, just opposite of Jericho, and they are no longer a loose group of escaped slaves, but a large organized tribal confederation, visibly settled tribe by tribe.
Now Moab’s King Balak, son of Zippor, perceives Israel as an existential threat, not because of immediate military aggression, but because of Israel’s sheer numbers and their momentum, also perceiving that they are claiming that the true God is fighting on their behalf.
Now, what we have in today’s first reading from the Book of Numbers is very interesting, because Balaam is not a prophet from the people of Israel. In other words, he’s not like an Isaiah or a Jeremiah, or a Samuel, a man taken from among the people and raised to be a prophet by God. But he is an international seer, not an Israelite prophet. He’s not an Israelite. He’s likely operating within the broader West Semitic prophetic divinatory tradition. His name appears outside the Bible. The Deir Alla inscription, an eighth century document from the Jordan, refers to a Balaam, son of Bihor, known as a visionary figure.
Now, this is important. Why? Because Israel’s God here is portrayed as sovereign, even over foreign prophets. God is the King of the universe. He’s the God of all, capable of overriding political intentions and ritual manipulations.
Now, when Balaam raises his eyes and sees Israel encamped tribe by tribe, he is witnessing something unprecedented: a formerly nomadic enslaved people, now arranged with order, structure, and cohesion because it is organized around the Tabernacle, the presence of God, suggesting divine presence at the centre. Perhaps a reminder to all of us Catholics, and to all the confusion that’s going on in the Church today, to bring it back to the tabernacle, to organize ourselves, to restructure, to continue to cling to what traditionally has kept us united: the presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Now, one of the most historically striking elements of this prophecy of Balaam in today’s first reading is that he speaks of royalty and kingship when, at that moment, Israel did not yet have a king. They were being led by Moses, and God was their king. And then we know how history unfolded. They complained, and they wanted to be like every other nation, and they begged the prophet Samuel to ask God to give them a king. And so this foreign international prophet foresees this before even Samuel. And he says these words: “His king shall rise higher, and his royalty shall be exalted.”
Shocking. The monarchy will not arise until centuries later through Saul and then David, the first kings chosen by God through Samuel the prophet. So this reflects an early theological conviction, already present in Genesis, that Israel’s destiny includes kingship. “A star shall advance from Jacob,” says Balaam the prophet. Stars symbolized rulers, divine favour, cosmic authority. And of course, that star, that ruler, that divine person that Balaam was given the privilege to foresee was Jesus Christ our Lord, God from God, light from light, true God from true God.
And in today’s Gospel, he is questioned about his authority. This is after he cleanses the Temple, and the religious authorities who misunderstood him challenged him: “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” And so Jesus points to his precursor, John the Baptist, and instead of them putting him on the spot, he puts them on the spot and says: “By what authority did John baptize? Where did it come from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” Because if they said of heavenly origin, he would say, “Then why did you not believe him?” If they say of human origin, they feared the crowd, for they all regarded John as a prophet. So they said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
My brothers and sisters, our Lord has the authority. He is God. Let’s allow him to reign in our hearts, in our homes, in our relationships, in the way we deal with one another. Let us allow his Spirit of love and peace and gentleness and perseverance and attention and concern and humility to reign in our hearts.
It’s a lifelong work in progress where we allow the Holy Spirit to chisel away at our souls so that we too can have a clear vision of the beautiful plan that God has been allowing to unfold right before our very eyes. All we have to do is open them and allow his light to penetrate our hearts.
Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, may Almighty God bless you this day, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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