In 587 BC, Jerusalem, at the end of a siege falls – the City is destroyed – No longer is there an independent kingdom in Jerusalem - Babylon conquers the final two Tribes of Israel ––there is no King of the House of David is on the throne any longer – the Temple? The house of the Lord? – No longer standing – destroyed completely – all of the sacred vessels and furnishings? Taken as plunder back to Babylon – and the people? Also taken to Babylon – and brought into exile. Brought away from home to a city which was located in what is now modern-day Iraq along the banks of the Euphrates River.
It is there on the Euphrates that Israel is in exile – a place of mourning - – longing to return to one’s home – by the streams of Babylon we sat and wept – how could we sing a song of the LORD in a foreign land? – If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten! – The powerful words of lament found in the Responsorial psalm. – longing for home!
There are many things to consider in the Babylonian exile – there is the covenant of God and how the people did not obey the covenant – One could talk about how hope was not lost even in the midst of lament– that after a period of time, God promised to bring them back. We could talk about how we might be unfaithful, but God remains faithful – We could also talk about how God brought the exiles back. Not through power or rebellion but through a foreign power – but through King Cyrus of Persia – God can turn all things to good, and nothing is outside his providence.
However, something else about the exile that really stands out to me, while King Cyrus allowed the return from exile – and many returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple – many Jews also remained in Babylon. – some staying in that area and Persia all the way until the early 20th Century. Why did they not return? – what of their love for Zion? Why did many choose to not return? To stay in Babylon
Looking back through Scripture, this is not the first exile – for the first exile, based on sin, one must go all the way back to Genesis 3, there with original sin – the fall and the loss of Eden – There is an exile from right relation with God. – A fall into darkness - We long for a return – salvation – yet, if one looks through history, it seems that many were not too concerned with returning to God – with salvation – but solely with things of this world. Why? The darkness is sometimes more comfortable! Easier to stay in Babylon.
Considering those Jews in Babylon, why did they stay? They were comfortable in Babylon – built new lives – it might not be the Jordan River, but the Euphrates is not a bad river – why the push to return – this land seems just as good - the weeping had ended - they had forgotten Jerusalem –they had forgotten their home – why look to return to Jerusalem – why to look to rebuild the temple – it is risky; it is unknown; it is dangerous - what we have now is fine. Exile was accepted.
Why, throughout history, have many not looked to the transcendent? – The transcendent is unknown – it has risks – Darkness covers things – light reveals – what may be revealed? - As Christ put it – “people preferred darkness to light” – the transcendent has a terror to it. Stepping into the light seems to come with great risk. – For we all know we have sinned – there is something ugly in the past – we do not want light upon it. – how is one to look at the light and approach it? – By one's own strength, the light is a worry – but it is not by the strength of the Jews that they return from exile, but through God’s providence and Cyrus. There is a logic to hiding in the darkness. Yet, we long for something more – to step into the light – but we do not do so by our strength - we look to Christ – “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” – It is by the grace won for us on the cross that we can look to the transcend in the confidence of returning to God – Not returning to Eden – not just return to before sin as if the fall never happen – but to something greater – to heaven. But only if we trust in his mercy and step into the light.
The exiles did return to Jerusalem – God has called us back to himself – not by our strength or by conquest – but by grace through the Cross. We move through Lent, and we are just over halfway – here is a day called Laetare Sunday – Laetare meaning rejoice – let us rejoice in what Christ has done for us – but know that we are on the way – wayfarers – let us not stay in Babylon. But look to Christ and the cross and salvation – rejoicing – even in Lent.