My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle. – Zechariah 10:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 25, 2017): Zechariah 10

On May 22, 896, Steven VI rose to the Papacy. The events surrounding his election are unclear, but it is likely that Steven’s election had more to do with knowing the right people than it did with his accomplishments as a priest. Steven VI reign as pope lasted just a little more than a year, but it would be a year that would catch the imagination of all historians. It is likely that Steven’s political friends placed him in the papacy for a reason. They had had a disagreement with one of Steven’s predecessors, and they had decided to make an example of him. In one of the strangest trials in history, Steven VI exhumed the body of Pope Formosus, a pope that had died just over a month before Steven had taken office. (However, there was a Pope that ruled between Formosus and Steven VI. Pope Boniface VI reigned for sixteen days in April 896 before dying under mysterious circumstances. Officially the cause of death was gout, but it is thought that he may have been killed to make room for Steven as Pope.) Steven dressed the body of the dead Formosus in the robes of the papacy and then put the corpse on trial. Formosus was found guilty, the garments of the papacy were removed from Formosus along with three of his fingers – the fingers used to pronounce the blessing - and then the body of the former Pope was thrown into the Tiber River. The trial has become known as the “Cadaver Trial.”

Zechariah’s prophecy stood against those who ruled over the nations. He likens the kings and rulers of his day to shepherds who are responsible for the sheep under their care. But, instead, those that ruled seemed to simply want to use the people that they ruled over to make their own lives more comfortable. But that was not their purpose. Leaders who rose to power were supposed to take care of the people in the jurisdictions. In the words of Zechariah, the rulers were the shepherds, and the people were the sheep whose care had been entrusted to them. It was a sacred trust, and the kings and rulers had failed at the task. 

But some have seen another prophecy in Zechariah words – an extension of the prophecy into a different time. For them, the words of Zechariah are not limited to just the kings of Zechariah’s day. They extend to leaders of the Christian Church who have failed at their task – to Pope’s who have seemed to be more interested in the intrigue of the palace and the politics of the office than in their responsibility for the people. All of these leaders qualify as the shepherds against whom the anger of God burns.

The trial of Formosus caused quite a stir. While Formosus was not a loved Pope, the Cadaver Trial seemed to stretch the bounds of incredulity. Steven, evidently having served his purpose, was imprisoned and then strangled in August of 896. Steven VI had been Pope for just over a year – in the end, he was just another shepherd who had failed his sheep.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Zechariah 11