Wednesday, 3rd Week of Advent

Zechariah 3:1-10
The Daily Office

As noted below today's reading in the link to that reading, "Satan" means "the accuser." The Satan also appears in the court of God at the beginning of the Book of Job, in which the Accuser questions how righteous Job really is, since God has blessed him so much. In the Old Testament, Satan is not so much the prince of demons as he is the accuser of God's creatures. Given how much Jesus seems to have found himself at war with Satan, things seem to have changed by the time of the New Testament. By then, Satan is no longer content to accuse God's creatures. His accusations have become more directed at God.

But we should not forget that the root of "Satan" is "accusation." To accuse someone is to be certain that they have done wrong. Are there times in your life when you have been certain of someone's guilt, only to realize that they were innocent, or that there were mitigating circumstances? Is it possible that you were, literally, being "satanic?" It gives new meaning to the word, accusation," doesn't it.

Of course, the Accuser's case against the high priests of the Jerusalem Temple was a tight one. The nation of Judah had gone into exile because their priests had allowed the worship of other gods into their faith. And the successors of King David had failed to rule with the same sense of justice as David himself. But God refuses to hear the case. He declares the priest to be clean. And he promises to bring back his "servant, the Branch" to rule in Jerusalem; as in the Branch of Jesse, the father of David.

The sword in the lake, waiting for the return of King Arthur, the Return of the King to Gondor, or to Narnia: it's a powerful myth that all human beings share, even in our democratic age. We dream of a powerful, wise, and just king; that is until that king does something we don't like. As the adopted son of Joseph, Jesus was a "son of David" and heir to his kingdom. But Jesus knew that for too many people, a good king is one who "accuses" the peoples' enemies and evens up the pain. What kind of king are you looking for this Advent in the year 2009, in your heart, your community, your nation, your world?