Righteous and devout people –nice people– just don’t live up there. “There”, to the orthodox Jews, was Galilee, “the territory of Zebulun & Naphtali”, which was the furthest north the sons of Jacob traveled when they settled the Promised Land under Joshua. Capernaum, a busy fishing port on the Sea of Galilee, was the predominant town. Through this area came marauding armies from Assyria & Babylon, and a major trade-route stopped there for water & supplies. When the Ten Lost (Northern) Tribes were disbursed some six centuries before the birth of Jesus, some intermarried with nearby Gentiles, thereby sullying the purity of the Faith. To be sure, these were the Badlands!
Isaiah of Jerusalem looked for Great Things! On Sunday, we’ll read that “there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time [God] brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time [God] will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.” (9:1) He speaks of heavenly light to those in deep darkness, and the new freedom for the enslaved and persecuted. Having seen God At Work, we who are the caretakers of a Holy Message are encouraged to point to this light and to be part of the newly redeemed. Even in the Badlands.
Paul doesn’t waste any time getting to the point, as he begins his letter to the Corinthian congregations! Beginning at verse 10 of the first chapter of the first book, he makes an appeal for unity in love and belief: “That there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” This was expecting a lot. Corinth was a major seaport, with all the apps: hard living, hard drinking, multi-cultural, diverse; probably with a whole range of understanding about sexuality and human worth… Nice people wouldn’t go to your churches, Paul –it’s the Badlands, y’know.
Nazareth was a nice enough, quaint little town when Jesus lived there. On County Route 1147, I think. But Jesus knew that he had to move to Capernaum-on-the-Interstate. Matthew’s short commentary (4:12-17) helps his Jewish readers to recall Isaiah’s Messianic words from long ago: the land of Zebulun & Naphtali, “on the road by the sea”, would host Divine Light in that “region and shadow of death.” And Jesus told those Badlanders, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”!
When I Googled “Badlands”, I found that it can be a geographic term for places where the topsoil & vegetation are thin, quite scenic yet useless for farming. Badlands exist not only in the National Park in South Dakota, but in Canada, Argentina and parts of China. This is also a code-word that urban realtors use for troubled neighborhoods where their clients –nice people– shouldn’t live. Our readings remind us that in the Badlands is exactly where the Lost Tribes would carry their Faith, where St. Paul would establish congregations…and where Jesus himself would live. And we??
God Bless Us, Every One…… Horace Brown King
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