Eucharistic meditation, November 13

2 Kings 9:33-34: Jehu said, Throw her down. So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses, and he trampled her under foot. When he came in, he ate and drank.

How callous, we think. How could Jehu move directly from trampling the queen of Israel under the hooves of his horses and then go inside to enjoy a leisurely meal? Wouldn’t this turn his stomach? How could he sit there eating inside a building when the blood of the queen is dripping down the walls outside? How can he eat inside when he knows that the dogs are picking through the corpse of Jezebel outside? It's just like Jehu, that bloodthirsty avenger.

It may seem callous to our sensibilities, but it is perfectly consistent with the work that Jehu has to do. Throughout this story, the author uses priestly language to describe Jehu's vengeance. Jehu "fills his hands" with the bow that kills Ahaziah, and that phrase is the normal Hebrew phrase for priestly ordination – Israel's priests were not "ordained," but had their "hands filled." Jezebel's blood is "sprinkled" on the wall, as blood of a sacrifice would be sprinkled on the altar. Her body is utterly consumed and destroyed, like the altar portions of an offering. Like a priest, Jehu slaughters, sprinkles blood, and then eats his sacrificial meal.

Shocking as it may seem, the Lord's Supper is the very same kind of meal. We too celebrate indoors while the birds and dogs consume the wicked outside. Jezebel is the great whore of Israel’s history, whose harlotries fill the land. She nearly destroys the sons of the prophets. When the great whore falls, the righteous rejoice and celebrate with a feast. That is the very sequence of Revelation 17-19: The great whore Jerusalem, who drinks the blood of prophets, is finally thrown down, and the saints in heaven begin to celebrate. In place of the whore a bride appears, and a supper is made ready, the supper of the lamb. While the saints celebrate the Supper of the Lamb, a rider on a white horse goes out to conquer the kings of the earth, whose bodies are then consumed by the scavenging birds of heaven.

The Supper of Jesus is the Supper of Jehu, a feast celebrating Jezebel's fall. Every time we celebrate the marriage Supper of the Lamb as the bride of Christ, we are celebrating the overthrow of the whore.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 08:45 AM

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