+ Today we see Jesus weeping over Jerusalem because
he knows that in about 40 years it will be destroyed as is prophesied, with the
expulsion of the Procurator Gessius Florus and the successful resistance to the
Roman counterattack in the year 66. The Jewish war will have begun, and will
not merely be a war against the Romans, but in broader terms it will also be a
civil war between rival Jewish factions and their ringleaders. This was what
accounted for the full horror for the fight for Jerusalem. And so, Jesus wept.
He loved Jerusalem. He loved what he could have done for it, both religiously
and politically. He would love it to the end.
But, because it would continue
to reject him, to respect him, to focus on him as God’s gift of his presence in
their midst – they would lose out on everything.
Jesus sits outside our homes,
our cities and our countries – weeping – because we simply do not let him in,
we don’t acknowledge his almighty power and presence, we don’t appreciate all
he has done and can do for us – and so, we are left out in the cold, to fight
amongst ourselves, and out sworn enemies – the Devil and his angels.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. Help us, Lord, to “recognize the time of your
visitation.”
No comments:
Post a Comment