The prophet Micah, featured in today’s first reading (Micah 2:1‑5), is one of the twelve minor prophets whose books appear in the Old Testament. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. He prophesied during the momentous years surrounding the tragic fall of Israel to the Assyrian Empire (722 BC), an event he also predicted. Micah stated, in his introduction to the book, that he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah in Judah, failing to mention the simultaneous string of dishonorable kings that closed out the northern kingdom of Israel.
During this period, Israel was imploding from the effects of evil and unfaithful leadership. Judah seemed on a roller-coaster ride—ascending to the heights of its destiny in one generation, only to fall into the doldrums in another. In Judah at this time, good kings and evil kings alternated with each other, a pattern seen in the reigns of Jotham (good, 2 Kings 15:32‑34); Ahaz (evil, 2 Kings 16:1‑4); and Hezekiah (good, 2 Kings 18:1‑7).
The problem Micah addresses is universal. At one level, it is structural violence. At another, it is the subordination of human rights. For the people of God, it is a spiritual crisis. In Micah’s case its roots went back to land ownership. In the early days of the settlement in Israel, when land was being apportioned, some inevitably did better than others but for the most part they played on a level playing field. Come the monarchy, with Solomon’s adventures and the ‘blessings’ of foreign trade, there had grown up a rich elite, and since land in the fertile valleys was more desirable than that on the hillsides, who better to take advantage of the change than those in the know with both power and opportunity. So small landowners lost out to big landowners. Better land meant better crops. The discovery of iron meant better tools. Better tools meant better harvests and better weapons. All of which made so much sense and could have brought much benefit to the whole community had it not been for the fact that those who had most grabbed more, added selfishness to corruption, and having taken the fields, went on also to take the women and the children for slaves.
In some communities, things like this might have just happened. But in Israel’s case it was being positively stoked by those with vested commercial interests who were still lying awake at night working out how to help themselves at the expense of others. Cleverness seeking to outwit the little man of what little he had. Sound familiar?
Why is Micah so important? The book of Micah provides one of the most significant prophecies of Jesus Christ’s birth in all the Old Testament, pointing some seven hundred years later to Christ’s birth to His birthplace of Bethlehem and to His eternal nature (Micah 5:2). Surrounding Micah’s prophecy of Jesus’s birth is one of the most lucid pictures of the world’s future under the reign of the Prince of Peace. This future kingdom, which scholars call the millennial kingdom, will be characterized by the presence of many nations living with one another in peace and security and coming to Jerusalem to worship the reigning king, that is, Jesus Himself. Because these events have not yet occurred, we should look forward to the millennial kingdom at some undetermined time in the future.
Micah was willing to take on the leadership of Judah. What about Jesus?
How do you handle conflict? Fight? Flight? Some of us are fighters. We stand our ground. We are warriors for justice, for ourselves and for others. We will never stand by and let evil take the reins. On the other hand, some of us avoid conflict at all costs. We take the way of the cross: it is more godly to suffer wrong than to demand rights.
The funny thing is that both groups have attempted to conscript Jesus to their way of thinking. Justice warriors look up to a Jesus as a leader who stood up for the poor, the outcasts, the unacceptable “sinners.” He trained his followers to handle confrontation, bringing not peace but a sword. He announced woes on the Galilean towns that rebuffed his kingship. He confronted the Pharisees so vehemently and persistently that they ultimately destroyed him.
Then, suddenly, in today’s gospel (Matthew 12:14‑21) Jesus suddenly quits the confrontation and withdraws. And this isn’t the first time. When John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus withdrew into Galilee. This non-confrontational Jesus was not what John expected the Messiah to be. Jesus didn’t rescue John. John was beheaded, and Jesus withdrew again.
So what’s with all this withdrawing? Is this another side to Jesus? Is this the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” of children’s Christmas carols? Matthew seems to think it is. He quotes Isaiah’s message about God’s tender sensitivity for fragile people, portraying Jesus as the embodiment of God’s heart. What a contrast to the rulers of this world! Jesus doesn’t quarrel or raise his voice to get his demands met. You never hear him barking his orders across the street. He is conscious of his people’s struggles. He’s so gentle that he wouldn’t break a bruised reed along Galilee’s shore. He sees the one who is struggling to find their way through the dark, the one whose lamp is a smoldering wick in the buffeting wind.
Divine authority is a banquet of justice served with gentleness. Justice confronts those who have power: that power must be given over to God for the kingdom of God to be established. But Jesus will bring justice without the collateral damage, without force, without war, without harming the people in the trenches. Jesus fights for justice, but he won’t let the fight become violent. That’s why it takes so long.
That’s why he stopped fighting and withdrew at this point. The fight had taken an unproductive turn. It ceased being about the issue (Jesus’ kingship) and became personal. It is time to withdraw when the fight turns to destroying people. If you tend to avoid conflict, look at Jesus and learn how to fight for justice. It matters. If you tend to fight, look at Jesus and learn when to withdraw. Collateral damage matters. Every bruised reed. Every smoldering wick.
Jesus is leading us to justice, without war. We follow him in the fight that destroys injustice without destroying anyone. That’s the future predicted so long ago by the prophet Micah. Our king is leading us to a better world, one guided by his Holy Spirit.
This is the gospel of our Lord — the only ruler who gives hope, even to his enemies!
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!