CCC Cross Reference:
Mt 8:2 448; Mt 8:4 586
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Reading 1
2 Kgs 25:1-12
In the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign,
on the tenth day of the month,
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his whole army
advanced against Jerusalem, encamped around it,
and built siege walls on every side.
The siege of the city continued until the eleventh year of Zedekiah.
On the ninth day of the fourth month,
when famine had gripped the city,
and the people had no more bread,
the city walls were breached.
Then the king and all the soldiers left the city by night
through the gate between the two walls
that was near the king’s garden.
Since the Chaldeans had the city surrounded,
they went in the direction of the Arabah.
But the Chaldean army pursued the king
and overtook him in the desert near Jericho,
abandoned by his whole army.
The king was therefore arrested and brought to Riblah
to the king of Babylon, who pronounced sentence on him.
He had Zedekiah’s sons slain before his eyes.
Then he blinded Zedekiah, bound him with fetters,
and had him brought to Babylon.
On the seventh day of the fifth month
(this was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon),
Nebuzaradan, captain of the bodyguard,
came to Jerusalem as the representative
of the king of Babylon.
He burned the house of the Lord,
the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem;
every large building was destroyed by fire.
Then the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard
tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.
Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard,
led into exile the last of the people
remaining in the city,
and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon,
and the last of the artisans.
But some of the country’s poor, Nebuzaradan,
captain of the guard,
left behind as vinedressers and farmers.
Responsorial Psalm
137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
R. (6ab) Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
“Sing for us the songs of Zion!”
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten!
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.
R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!
Gospel
Mt 8:1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one,
but go show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading 2 Kings 25:1 – 12
In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with his whole army to attack Jerusalem; he pitched camp in front of the city and threw up earthworks round it. The city lay under siege till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. In the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, when famine was raging in the city and there was no food for the populace, a breach was made in the city wall. At once, the king made his escape under cover of dark, with all the fighting men, by way of the gate between the two walls, which is near the king’s garden – the Chaldaeans had surrounded the city – and made his way towards the Arabah. The Chaldaean troops pursued the king and caught up with him in the plains of Jericho, where all his troops deserted. The Chaldaeans captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence on him. He had the sons of Zedekiah slaughtered before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes and, loading him with chains, carried him off to Babylon.
In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month – it was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon – Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, an officer of the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. The Chaldaean troops who accompanied the commander of the guard demolished the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, commander of the guard, deported the remainder of the population left behind in the city, the deserters who had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the common people. The commander of the guard left some of the humbler country people as vineyard workers and ploughmen.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 136(137):1-6
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
For it was there that they asked us,
our captors, for songs,
our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said,
‘one of Zion’s songs.’
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
O how could we sing
the song of the Lord
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
O let my tongue
cleave to my mouth
if I remember you not,
if I prize not Jerusalem
above all my joys!
O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!
Gospel Matthew 8:1 – 4
After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him. A leper now came up and bowed low in front of him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And his leprosy was cured at once. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
12th Week in Ordinary Time
From: 2 Kings 25:1-12
Siege of Jerusalem and capture of Zedekiah
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[1] And in the ninth year of his reign. in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it; and they built siegeworks against it round about. [2] So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. [3] On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. [4] Then a breach was made in the city; the king, with all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, though the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. [5] But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him. [6] Then they captured the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence upon him. [7] They slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and took him to Babylon.
Jerusalem is laid waste. The second deportation
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[8] In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month -- which was the nine- teenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon -- Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. [9] And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned clown. [10] And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
[11] And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile. [12] But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and ploughmen.
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Commentary:
25:1-21. Three themes stand out in this account of the fall of Jerusalem -- the fate of the king and his sons (vv. 1-7), the despoiling of the temple (vv. 13-17), and the transportation of the inhabitants (vv. 8-12, 18-21). To those deported earlier (cf. 24:14-16) must now he added the people of the land (v. 19). This means that those who remain (estimated at ten or fifteen thousand in all Judah) become great landowners and, perhaps for this very reason, people well disposed towards the Babylonians.
25:1-7. More detailed information about the siege of Jerusalem is provided by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who were witnesses of the tragedy (cf. Jer 39:1- 10; 52; Ezek 17:11-21). The exact dates of the siege are unclear despite the information given in 2 Kings. Most probably the siege began at the start of 588 and lasted until the summer of 587. At some stage the pharaoh sent assistance to Judah, who was his ally (cf. Ezek 17:15-18; Lam 4:17), causing the Babylonians to raise the siege temporarily (cf. Jer 37:5-11). But once they had defeated the Egyptians, the siege was continued until hunger forced the king and his army to flee (vv. 6-7). Zedekiah could have avoided the terrible punishment that ensued if he had listened to the prophet Jeremiah, who was pressing him to surrender to the Babylonians (cf. Jer 38:14-28).
25:8-21. The fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple were events that could never be effaced from Jewish memory: the day was probably 14 August 587.
The objects plundered (vv. 13-17) are those mentioned in 1 Kings 7, which deals with the furnishing of the temple by Solomon. The burning and looting mean that that temple has ceased to be the place chosen by the Lord for his name to dwell (cf. 1 Kings 8:16-29): the glory of the Lord has left it (cf. Ezek 10:18-22). The stage initiated by David and Solomon when the presence of the Lord manifested itself in the temple of Jerusalem has come to an end. All that remains there is ruin and desolation, although from that site prayer will arise to petition the Lord (cf. Ps 74). The author of 2 Kings puts on record the summary execution of some of the priests and army men (vv. 18-21) to show that all is over.
The destruction of the temple shows its transitory character: it is easy now to see that God did not unconditionally commit himself to stay in that place: he expected faithfulness, and did not receive it. Later Jewish tradition will recognize this and, although the temple will he rebuilt after the exile, religious worship will be offered there (cf. Ezra 3:1-13), the conviction will grow, inspired by God, that salvation will reach the people not through the temple but through the fidelity of a servant of the Lord who will obediently take upon himself the punishment warranted by the people's sins (cf. 42:1-9; 52:13-53:12). Jesus Christ will be that suf- fering servant, and in him the presence of God among men will find a new and enduring temple (cf. 2:11-22). An ancient Christian commentator notes that "those temporal institutions which came into existence as prefigurations of this present reality were only imperfect and partial images and signs of what we now behold before us; once the reality presents itself, its image is eclipsed: just when the king arrives, no one venerates his image and ignores his presence" (Homilae paschale).
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From: Matthew 8:1-4
The Curing of a Leper
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[1] When He (Jesus) came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him; [2] and behold, a leper came to Him and knelt before Him, saying, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean." [3] And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. [4] And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.
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Commentary:
Chapters 8 and 9 of St. Matthew deal with a series of miracles worked by our Lord. The first Christians had vivid experience of the fact that the glorified Jesus was still present in His Church, confirming its teaching by signs, by miracles (Mark 16:20; Acts 14:3).
And so, St. Matthew, after giving the nucleus of Jesus' public teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7), goes on now to gather a number of miracles to support our Lord's words. Some commentators call this section--Chapters 8 and 9--"the works of the Messiah", paralleling what they called "the words of the Messiah" (the Discourse on the Mount). In Chapters 5-7 we see Jesus as the supreme lawgiver and master who teaches with divine authority, a unique authority superior to that held by Moses and the prophets. Now, in Chapters 8 and 9, He is shown as endowed with divine authority over disease, death, the elements and evil spirits. These miracles worked by Jesus Christ accredit the divine authority of His teaching.
1. The Gospel draws attention, for the third time, to the huge crowds that flocked to Jesus: literally, "many multitudes followed Him". This shows the popularity He had achieved: He was so popular that the Sanhedrin (the great council of the Jewish nation) dared not arrest Him for fear of what the people would do (cf. Matthew 21:46; 26:5; Mark 14:2). Later on, they would accuse Him before Pilate of stirring up the whole country from Judea to Galilee. And we will see Herod Antipas' eagerness to meet Jesus, of whom he has heard so much (cf. Matthew 14:1). In contrast to this huge popularity, we find the elders opposing Him and deceiving the people into calling for Jesus' execution (cf. Matthew 27:20-22).
2. The Fathers have taken the following meaning from this cure: leprosy is a vivid image of sin: it is ugly, disgusting, very contagious and difficult to cure. We are all sinners and we are all in need of God's forgiveness and grace (cf. Romans 3: 23-24). The leper in the Gospel knelt down before Jesus, in all humility and trust, begging to be made clean. If we have recourse to our Savior with that kind of faith, we can be sure than He will cure the wretchedness of our souls. We should often address Christ with this short prayer, borrowed from the leper: "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean."
4. According to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 14), if a leper is cured of his disease, he should present himself to a priest, who will register the cure and give him a certificate which he needs to be reintegrated into the civil and religious life of Israel. Leviticus also prescribes the purifications and sacrifice he should offer. Jesus' instruction to the leper is, then, in keeping with the normal way of fulfilling what the laws laid down.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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