Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 11:1–4, 9–18, 20
As we continue reading the Books of Kings, we see that the death of Elijah did not end the battle against Baal.
The struggle continues.
The kings are often unfaithful. Power is often corrupt. And today we meet Athaliah, a woman so hungry for power that she murders the royal family to secure the throne for herself.
But her crime is more than political violence.
It threatens the promise of God.
For if the descendants of David are destroyed, how can the Messiah come?
How can the Son of David be born?
How can God’s plan of salvation continue?
This is not the first time the promise seems in danger.
Sarah was barren. How could Abraham become the father of many nations?
A famine destroyed the family of Elimelech in Bethlehem. How could hope survive?
Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and ended the kingdom of David. How could the promise continue?
Again and again, the story seems ready to collapse.
And yet, the Lord always finds a way.
Today, God works through two faithful people: Jehosheba and Jehoiada.
Jehosheba sees the danger. She acts. She hides the young Joash and saves his life.
While Athaliah destroys, Jehosheba protects.
While Athaliah reaches for the throne, Jehosheba shelters the promise.
Then Jehoiada, the priest in the temple, protects the child for seven years.
For seven years, the promise of God lives quietly, hidden from the eyes of power.
Then, at the right time, Joash is brought out. He is anointed king. The covenant is renewed. The people rejoice.
Athaliah fails.
She can kill many, but she cannot kill the promise.
The same is true later with Babylon. After 586 BC, there is no king in Jerusalem. The line of David seems finished.
But it continues, like an underground stream, hidden beneath the ruins of history, until it surfaces again in Bethlehem, when Jesus, the Son of David, is born.
Athaliah and Jehosheba show us two ways.
Athaliah is the way of power, fear, idolatry, and death.
Jehosheba is the way of courage, wisdom, faithfulness, and life.
Athaliah sits on the throne.
Jehosheba hides a child.
But it is the brave woman, not the violent queen, who serves the future of God.
Looking at our world through the media, many people easily despair.
But today’s story reminds us:
nothing and no one can thwart God’s plan.
He always raises up faithful people who protect life when death seems to rule.
So we do not despair.
We watch. We pray. We protect life. We serve the promise.
For the plan of God, which is fullness of life, can never be defeated.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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