(1Mac.2:15-29; Ps.50:1-2,5-6,14-15,23; Lk.19:41-44)
"We will not obey the words of the king
nor depart from our religion in the slightest degree."
The king of heaven shall soon come into the city of peace, humble and riding on an ass, but today He weeps as He sees Jerusalem and knows of its imminent destruction for its sins. Yet He shall ride into Jerusalem, yet He shall be dragged within its walls… and the death He proclaims upon all its children, He Himself shall know, He Himself shall undergo, that there may be means of escape for us all, for all who turn from the prince of this world and his seduction and seek to remain true to the commands of our God.
The persecution of the Jews some two hundred years before Christ's own we continue to hear of in our reading from Maccabees: "The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices." And though many go over to the enemy, Mattathias and his sons remain faithful, remain true to the Lord. Great is their zeal in the face of the threat and in the sight of the ways of the evil one. And flee the city and its abominations Mattathias did with all the righteous, to make a home apart in the desert. For he recognizes the time of visitation and the destruction of faith upon his city and his people; he has not "completely lost" vision of "the path to peace" but remains faithful even in time of persecution.
"Days will come upon you when your enemies encircle you with a rampart, hem you in, and press you hard from every side," Jesus prophesies as He weeps over Jerusalem. He wishes not to see the persecution come, nor to have to die Himself. But the people do not recognize with their hearts the love He offers forth… and so what can He do but die; and so what can they know but destruction. But His sacrifice shall prove redemptive for those who turn; a place in the desert He shall prepare for those who desire to be holy, to be set apart from the wickedness of this race.
"From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth" and His "faithful ones" gather before Him. In their praise of His glory they fulfill their "vows to the Most High" and so the king of this world holds no power over them. In the New Jerusalem with the risen Lord they live, beyond the destruction of the old.
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