Readings:
2 Kings 22-23
Wisdom 14
John 8:1-30

2 Kings 22-23

Josiah becomes another child king when his father is assassinated, he was only 8 years old. Just like his his great grandfather Hezekiah, this young king is described as being righteous in the way that king David was. If I had to rank the kings of Judah after David, I’d definitely put Josiah in the top slot, maybe hard to decide between him and Hezekiah, but he was an all around great guy.

Josiah begins a renovation of the temple and during the construction the high priest sends word to the king that they found the book of the law. Apparently it was hidden at some point, probably during the early days of Manasseh when he was installing altars to Baal and Moloch in the temple, or at another point in the nearly 50 years between the end of Hezekiah and beginning of Josiah‘s reign. The larger points of the law would’ve been in the memory of the people, but all the rules and regulations laid down in Deuteronomy would’ve probably been forgotten due to the apostasy that had taken place for five decades. Had they been faithful and consistent they wouldn’t necessarily need a written law, but they’re so out of practice at this point that they’ve forgotten and they seem genuinely surprised and horrified by what’s in the book.

The reason the king is so distraught is because after reading the book he knows that it’s been decades, possibly even longer, since these laws were observed and that the punishment for them are plainly laid out. He has the priests inquire God as to what’s going to happen to the nation that has flagrantly disregarded God’s law. The prophetess answers and sends a message back to the king that just like their northern neighbors, Judah will be judged and punished for transgressing the law but because of Josiah and his faithfulness it will not happen in his lifetime.

Josiah goes on a campaign of destruction against all the idolatry and paganism in the land. He destroys the objects made for worshiping foreign gods that were kept in the temple for some reason, he destroys every altar and high place in Judah and even makes an expedition into Samaria to destroy their altars. He goes to bethel and destroys the altar that Jeroboam had made that first led the people of the north into idolatry, just as the prophet had told him. He dug up the graves of all the priests of Baal and other Canaanite deities and burned them on the altar in bethel, he even had all the living priests of Baal rounded up and killed on the altar. Every grave in bethel was opened and desecrated except for the grave of the prophet who’d foretold all these things.

Josiah was unlike any king before him and took out all the sin and near occasion of sin from his country. This is how we’re supposed to deal with sin in our own lives, especially ones we fall back into out of habit. Burn the bones of that sin and throw them out like Josiah did.

He done many great things, but like all men he had to die, and his son takes the throne after him, but his son is nothing like him. But his reign was the shortest of all the kings and he was taken hostage to Egypt and died there. His brother becomes king in his stead. The death of Josiah begins a rapidly deterioration of the kingdom and its eventual destruction.

John 8:1-30

The standoff with the scribes and Pharisees here is just the continuation of the previous day’s fight that didn’t end with Amy kind of conclusion. They bring a woman before Jesus and ask what they should do with her. Interestingly at this moment is the only thing we ever witnessed Jesus writing in the Gospels, and yet John thinks it more important to keep what he wrote secret and only note that he did write.

Christ, who twice bends down to write on the ground, teaches us to bend low in humility to examine ourselves both before and after addressing the faults of our neighbor. If his example becomes our practice, we will avoid as he did the extremes of being unjust and unmerciful toward others.

Saint Bede

Just like when they thought they had him trapped with the question about taxes, Jesus turns it into a moment to teach them a lesson. Even the woman who’s life he has spared is taught a valuable lesson, and it’s perhaps the most important lesson in this passage. She is told that she’s free to go, but to avoid sin. She isn’t told that she’s perfect how she is and keep on doing what she’s doing, she’s told to reform her life and live in accordance with God’s will.

Jesus proclaims he is the light of the world, and this is against the backdrop of the candelabra brought out to the courtyard of the temple during this feast. It gives light to the city, but he will enlighten the hearts of all men, like John said in the very first chapter of his Gospel.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Kings 24
Wisdom 15
John 8:31-59