Why is Wisdom 3:1-9 a popular choice for funerals?
“The souls of the righteous are in God’s hand, and torment shall not touch them. They seemed in the eyes of foolish people to have died, and their going forth is thought to be mistreatment, and their journey away from us destruction. But they are in peace. For even if in the sight of human beings they should be punished, their hope is full of immortality. Even if disciplined a little, they will be greatly benefitted, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in a smelting-furnace, he tested them, and as whole burnt offerings, he received them. And in the appointed time of their visitation they will shine, and as sparks amid reeds they will run through. They will judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king forever. Those who have put trust in him will know truth, and the faithful in love will remain with him, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones” (Wisdom 3:1-9, translation by Father Glenn D. LeCompte).
In November we celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, days to remember all of the faithful departed, whether canonized or not. Also during November many parishes celebrate memorial Masses to remember their deceased ones, and in particular those who have died within the last year. Therefore, I thought it appropriate that I should comment upon a Scripture reading, Wisdom 3:1-9, which is often chosen for funerals.
The book of the Wisdom of Solomon begins with an exhortation to those who judge the earth to “love righteousness.” An important aspect of biblical wisdom is discerning what attitudes and behaviors put people in a right relationship with God. The opposite of wisdom is folly, and the latter is a characteristic of those who live wickedly.
In 1:12 the author exhorts the reader not to desire death on account of a straying way of life. Then, beginning a new section at 1:16, the author asserts that the wicked invite death upon themselves on account of their words and deeds. “Death” here is to be understood in a broad sense which includes misfortune as well as physical and, worst of all, spiritual death. The wicked reckon that humans live in this world for a time but when they die it will be as if they had not been born (2:2). This is an interesting idea of death for a culturally Greek person, for Greeks generally believed in the passing of the soul from one creature to another. Nevertheless, the wicked reason that since the benefits of existence are limited to one’s lifetime in this world, the best thing people can do is to live seeking pleasure.
The wicked however are bothered by the just, who live according to ethical principles. Musing on the situation of the just, the wicked acknowledge that the just believe that God favors and protects them. The wicked then desire to put the beliefs of the just to the test. They scheme to subject just people to torture and death to see if God will indeed maintain his goodness and watchfulness over them. To subject the just to violence, torture and a shameful death (2:19-20), without God’s intervention, would imply that the just do not enjoy God’s favor. Victims of untimely or violent death were often thought to have fallen out of favor with God. But the author maintains that the reasoning of the wicked is errant (2:21).
Wisdom 3:1-9 is one response that the author of the book of Wisdom makes to the faulty thinking of the wicked. First of all, humans possess an immortal soul that survives when the body lies in death. Nevertheless, the fate of the soul for Greek Jews is not the traditional notion of immortality, which asserts that the soul passes into another body. Rather, those who embrace wisdom and live justly are in a state of “righteousness” in relation to God. Therefore, “the souls of the righteous are in God’s hand, and torment shall not touch them” (Wisdom 3:1). Rather than having suffered affliction because they were tormented and killed violently, the just are in a state of peace in God’s presence (3:3). The state of peace in which the just find themselves after death in fact begins when people seek a right relationship with God during earthly life. The foregoing assertion is confirmed by Wisdom 1:15, a short verse which reads “justice (or righteousness) is undying.” When one is in a right relationship with God, that relationship is not severed by death.
Far from viewing it as abandonment by God, the author of Wisdom sees the worldly suffering of the just as divine “discipline.” In other words, suffering provides an opportunity for one’s faith to be tested, confirmed and strengthened. The author compares the trials of the just to the way the smelting of gold burns off its impurities and makes it even more valuable. To show that their death is not in vain, the author also likens the demise of the righteous to holy sacrificial offerings. Through their deaths, the just are a pleasing offering to God.
Everyone will endure an “appointed-time visitation” by God. A “visitation” refers to an intervention by God into a person’s life, either to bestow favor upon or to chastise the person. In the context of Wisdom 3:1-9, the former intention is apparent. The time of the visitation of the just is not random, but is rather an intentional action by God. The curious imagery by which the just are described as “shining” or as “sparks running through reeds” refers to triumph for those who have suffered. God will grant them a share in his reign over all people.
Life-after-death in the Bible is portrayed as vindication of the righteous dead in time of trial. While Daniel 12:1-3 depicts a future resurrection for martyrs who died fighting in revolution against the Greek rulers who persecuted the Jews in the 2nd Century B.C., the book of Wisdom depicts immortality as vindication of ordinary righteous people who are persecuted.
I suppose that so many people are attracted to Wisdom 3:1-9 for funerals because its descriptions of the faithful departed being “in God’s hands” and “at peace,” and assertions that the just triumph over death and share in God’s reign are comforting. But let us be careful! There is no concept in Wisdom of an immortality that is merely a matter of individual survival of the person. The persistence of the life of the soul is based upon being in a right relationship with God both now and in the hereafter.
Reflection Questions
● How does Wisdom 3:1-9 speak to you in your grief over deceased loved ones?
● How do people who seek to live in relationship with God sometimes suffer persecution today?
● The faithful departed belong to “the church in heaven” while we belong to “the church on earth.” How would you describe the relationship between these two modes of the church?