This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with a headline from world news:

FRENCH SATIRE MAG BOMBED FOR JOKE ABOUT MOHAMMED

Revelation 12:1-12

12A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

St. Michael and Satan (Coventry Cathedral)

7 And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, 8but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

‘Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

11 But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

12 Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!

But woe to the earth and the sea,

for the devil has come down to you

with great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short!’

In this vision one image gives way so quickly to another that the reader is easily confused but taken one by one they give up their meaning without difficulty.

The child to be born is the Messiah, the Mother is the human people of God (probably not Mary!) and his earthly life is abbreviated to the point of non-existence: the power of evil waits to catch him in his mortal life but he is taken to be with God. The life of Jesus is here characterised only by his human birth and resurrection. God’s people are placed in the desert where they are tested and sustained. That’s a clear image of the persecuted church.

Then the imagery changes. In a heavenly war Satan, the dragon, the teller of lies and the Roman accuser of God’s people is defeated by the angels and cast down to earth.

When we ask how this victory is obtained however we are told “They conquered by the blood of the Lamb…and because they did not cling to life.” In other words, the heavenly victory of Michael and his Angels IS in truth the victory of the martyrs of faith. The power of Satan has been “heavenly”-one of the “spiritual powers of wickedness in the heavens” mentioned by the writer of Ephesians; we might call it a “political and cultural determinant”, a power like that of international capital at the present time. Those who die rather than obey such a power dethrone it and send it howling into the world to fight for its life. Stripped of its “supernatural” trappings a power like that can still cause harm, but its days are numbered.

Matthew 13:53-58

53When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.

54 He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ 57And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.’ 58And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

Jesus with Dad, Mum, brother, sister

Those who imagine Jesus floated down into Mary’s womb with a full “son of God kit” wired into his brain, will be confused by this passage which emphasises his human-all-too-human origins. His parents and siblings are well-known in his own village. The villagers make the mistake of assuming that such a person cannot also be the “Son of God”. For them too a “son of God” would have to be recognisably “supernatural.” This is lack of trust and dishonours the human son of God, who doesn’t perform supernatural tricks but heals the bodies and souls of people when they trust him. Even Matthew is a bit shaky with this story. In his source, Mark’s gospel he found it written that “Jesus COULD do no deeds of power,” but he changed this to “DID NOT” in his version, because it seemed more respectful. Unless we get rid of all supernatural hocus –pocus from the life of Jesus, we continue to make him irrelevant to human living and dying. The gospels tell us a story which presents us with a huge and wonderful paradox: a human being is the “Son of God” and invites other human beings into the same relationship with his Father.

For Moslems, Mohammed, peace be upon him, is a human being, but it would seem, an infallible human being who cannot be criticised without reprisals. This is vicious behaviour and bad theology.

NB Purveyors of the (totally unbiblical) “perpetual virginity of Mary” should be challenged with the obvious meaning of this story. The elevation of virginity over sexuality is one of the seriously damaging teachings of the Roman Church.