Anointed Ones: Cyrus, Caesar, and the Cornell 7
(Content warning: sexual abuse)
As I begin today’s reflection, I want to be clear about a few things.
First, I had a totally different piece half-written before I deleted it entirely and started over.
For over a week, I, like many of my friends, have been struck by the horror of the Cornell rape case on an almost-hourly basis. Outside my home and work responsibilities, any remaining passion and creativity keep leading me to that frat house in Ithaca. This is the first time I’ve touched on this case in my writing, and I suspect it won’t be the last.
Second, this piece will be released several weeks after I submit it, and I anticipate that significant updates on the situation will emerge between now and then. There’s much I do not know that might unfold—in the case and within my own heart and mind. I trust, in any case, that the world will be as dangerous for women on October 18th as it is on the day of this writing. And my inability to express everything that could be said does not erase the value of writing something today, in light of the scriptures.
Onward.
Today’s readings focus on power—political and religious power, official and unofficial power, oppressive and liberating power, human and Divine power—and many of its intersections. More specifically, these texts force us to look directly at the potential impacts of male power, both at its worst and at its best.
The first reading introduces us to Cyrus, the Persian king celebrated in the Hebrew bible for his role in allowing Jewish exiles to return to their homeland, ushering in the Second Temple Period following the Babylonian captivity. YHWH unexpectedly calls Cyrus God’s “anointed,” working in and through him to free the Jewish people, despite Cyrus’ polytheistic culture. This earthly king’s endless conquests and obsessive empire expansion suggest that his motives are mixed at absolute best. Crucially, though, in this reading, YHWH reminds the king that the LORD alone—not mighty Cyrus—is God. Ultimately, the true Leader of love and justice reigns.
In Matthew’s gospel today, the power struggle first appears to be between God and Caesar, the face of imperial ideology. For the Romans, Caesar is anointed, Lord, worshipped as a deity, viewed as the unifying savior of the ancient world. More insidiously, though, the Pharisees reveal themselves as Jesus’ opponents. They exploit their religious power, along with the deep tensions caused by Roman oppression, to silence Jesus and secure their own social status. They bring along the Herodians—colluders with Rome and typically the Pharisees’ enemies—to set Jesus up for failure, all while presenting as pious defenders of faith. As ever, Jesus speaks truth to power, while artfully evading their trap. Rooted in God, he embodies authentic power before people accustomed to seeing self-centeredness, violence, repression, and bullying as strength.
For all women reading and praying with the scriptures today…for all women who will sit in pews before pulpits at which powerful men may or may not have said a single word about the Cornell case (or countless cases like it) ...I pray that you take this in. Jesus, the Anointed One, is with you. Creator God, YHWH the Liberator, Woman Wisdom, Holy Spirit is with you…with me, with all women, made in God’s image and likeness, seen and known by God, meant not only for survival, but for fullness of life.
Neither Cyruses nor Caesars, neither Pharisees nor Herodians, neither Ivy League frat boys nor enabling bystanders can separate us from the Love of God who longs for our freedom. Jesus reminds us that real power honors human dignity, and that God the Most High meets us at the margins, flipping upside-down the systems that have denied our worth for millennia. To expect the men in our orbits to value our lives, voices, and bodies the way God does, and to use their power accordingly, is to believe in the Gospel.
Katie Davis-Crowder is an Ignatian-trained educator and spiritual director, a singer and writer, and a presenter and retreat guide in Chicago. Passionate about the intersections of spirituality, social justice, and the arts, she holds an MDiv from Loyola University Chicago and a BMus in musical theatre from The Catholic University of America. Katie delights in the world alongside her partner Kevin and their sweet toddler and rambunctious rescue pup. katiedaviscrowder.com
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