A reading from the book of Numbers (24:2-7, 15-17)
Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel settled tribe by tribe; the spirit of God came on him and he declaimed his poem, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see,
He may fall, but his eyes are open.
How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwellings, O Israel,
like valleys that stretch afar,
like gardens by the banks of a river,
like aloes planted by the Lord,
like cedars beside the waters!
Water drips from his branches,
his seed is by many waters.
His king is greater than Agag,
and his kingship is held in honour.’
He then declaimed his poem, saying:
‘The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High.
He sees what Shaddai makes him see,
He may fall, but his eyes are open.
I see him – but not in the present.
I perceive him – but not close at hand:
a star issues from Jacob,
a sceptre arises from Israel.’
Balaam is a seer, sent by the king of Moab to curse Israel, which, during its wilderness journeying, is threatening to engulf his lands. Despite being a pagan, Balaam knows the Lord, whom he names with the ancient title ‘Shaddai’, and he receives ‘the spirit of God’. It is not unusual that pagan eyes see the truth with new clarity. Using botanical imagery, he speaks of the beauty of Israel’s tents encamped in the desert. Israel’s ‘king’ (melek) is ‘greater than Agag’, the famed king of Amalek. In a second speech, introduced with the same solemnity, Balaam speaks of a ‘star’ (kokab) born of Israel and a ‘sceptre’ (shebet) arising from Jacob, but ‘not in the present’ and ‘not close at hand’. Both speeches are quickly understood as containing references to a Messiah king, and this gave rise to Christian use of this text. Reference to a ‘hero’ in earlier translations of the Jerusalem Bible derives from the Septuagint, the ancient Greek Bible, which struggled to understand the Hebrew of v.7 (‘Water drips’) and produced a different rendering.
Psalm 25 (24) In the psalm we ask God to ‘remember’ (zakar) his mercy and love, and to ‘remember’ us ‘because of his goodness’.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Matthew (21:23-27)
Jesus had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, ‘By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?’ In reply Jesus said to them, ‘I too will ask you a question; if you tell me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. John’s baptism: what was its origin, heavenly or human?’ And they discussed among themselves, ‘If we say “heavenly”, he will reply to us, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?”; but if we say “human”, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’ So in answer to Jesus they said, ‘We do not know.’ And he replied to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The passage follows closely on the account of the ‘cleansing’ of the Temple, and that of the cursing of the barren fig tree, events which according to Matthew happened in the final days of the Jerusalem ministry of Jesus. The priests and elders ask about the authority (exousia) Jesus has to do ‘these things’. This is a clever question, which tries to trick Jesus into claiming exalted status. They are determined to find something by which they can condemn him. Jesus sees their purpose, and asks a question in return, a question about the origin of the baptism of John the Baptist. The priests and elders are now faced with a trap. They cannot claim John’s authority came from God, since they rejected him; and if they say it had human origin, they risk antagonizing the people. Their own authority is in shreds.
What is the purpose of the question of the chief priests and elders?
To open one’s mind to the new things of God is indeed a grace.