Tag Archives: Jerusalem

Smooth Sailing

Christian Life, , ,

SMOOTH SAILING

“In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan. We met him at Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.” Acts 20:13-16 (The Message).

For once things were going according to plan for Paul. He had set his sights on Jerusalem in time for Pentecost and he was well on his way to getting there on time. The weather favoured the sailors; he was accompanied by his dear friends and behind him was the result of his faithful labour for Jesus.

He was still a Jew at heart, with the memory of Jewish festivals deeply ingrained in him. He had spent the most part of his life among pagans, gathering in the harvest of souls for the kingdom of God from city to city with toil, hardship and suffering — imprisonment, beatings, stoning, walking thousands of miles, experiencing the rigors of heat, cold, hunger and loneliness, but he was not daunted because he was gathering experience no one could take from him.

Jerusalem was his goal, the centre of the Jewish world and the city of his own people. Like Jesus, Paul was on a determined course for Jerusalem but, unlike Jesus, he did not yet know what awaited him there. He had been the butt of Jewish hostility throughout his travels. Many times he had been forced to turn his back on them and give his attention to the Gentiles because they had rejected him and threatened his life. He had been hounded from one city to the next and often had to change plans to escape their murderous plots but he still loved them and longed for their favourable response to the good news.

“‘I speak the truth in Christ — I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit — I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” Romans 9:1-4a (NIV).

How could Paul say a thing like that when his own people had treated him so badly? Surely he must have held a grudge against them for the scars on his body and on his soul? Not at all! Paul, how could you be so forgiving and so caring in the face of all you have suffered at their hands?

Jesus uttered words on the cross that, if we would really take them to heart, would take the sting out of the things we suffer at the hands of others. “‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'” Luke 23:34 (NIV).

Like his Master, Paul realised that the way they treated him was just like the way he treated the believers before he met Jesus on the Damascus road, because he didn’t know what he was doing. Isn’t that true? Ignorance is not an excuse but often a reason for our foolish behaviour. If we really knew what the consequences of our words and actions would be, would we treat others the way we do?

One of the reasons why we withhold forgiveness from another is that we think we are better than he. What he has done to us we would never do to him. Really? We feel so outraged. How could he, she? But we forget that we are just as guilty because we are just as ignorant of the consequences.

Only a compassionate heart that really cared about the lives of those who hated him, could cause Paul to say, “‘I have great sorrow…'”

Vengeance Day

Christian Life, , , ,

VENGEANCE DAY

“‘When you see soldiers camped all around Jerusalem, then you’ll know that she is about to be devastated. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills. If you’re in the city, get out quickly. If you’re in the fields, don’t go home to get your coat. This is Vengeance Day — everything written about it will come to a head. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Incredible misery! Torrential rage! People dropping like flies; people dragged off to prisons; Jerusalem under the boot of barbarians until the nations finish what was given them to do.'” Luke 21:20-24 (The Message).

Why is it that this one city should have experienced more war and destruction than any other city in the world? What does Jerusalem have that makes it the focus of so much conflict? It has no strategic geographical significance, no major economic or industrial function, some historical and archaeological interest, perhaps, but not enough for nations to have fought over it for more than three thousand years.

Once again the issue is a spiritual one. Three major faiths claim Jerusalem as their own. Judaism claims it because Jerusalem was the City of David, their greatest king. It was the capital of their Promised Land and the site of Temple, the symbol of God’s presence among them. Islam claims Abraham as the ancestor of their race; their great Mosque of Omar occupies the place where he offered his son and where the Temple once stood. Christians love Jerusalem because it was the city where Jesus was crucified and rose again.

Jesus’ answer to His disciples’ question,’ Teacher, when is this going to happen?’ takes in two major events, the destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman general, Titus, in 70 AD and the tumultuous events preceding His return. It is not easy to separate these two happenings because, in His predictions, they seem almost to run together. Perhaps He did this on purpose to prevent people from assigning dates to the ‘end of the world’.

When we read about the fall of Jerusalem, it fills us with horror because God appears to be cruel and heartless, subjecting people to terrible suffering out of revenge for not taking Him seriously. But that is not God’s way. From the beginning of their history He made it clear that their protection lay in their trust in Him and obedience to His word. He showed His love for them rescuing them from slavery and by giving them a good land but they chose to reject Him and worship the worthless idols of the surrounding nations.

It was their choice, not God’s, that brought destruction on them. “‘Have you not brought this on yourselves by forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way?'” Jeremiah 2:17 (NIV).

The Jews sealed their fate by thoughtlessly calling God’s judgment upon them at Jesus’ trial. “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.’ I am innocent of this man’s blood.’ he said, ‘It is your responsibility!’ All the people answered, ‘Let His blood be on us and on our children.'” Matthew 27:24-25 (NIV).

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to claim His rightful kingship of His people, the sight of the city reduced Him to tears because He saw the outcome of their rejection of Him. “‘The days will come when your enemies will build an embankment against you and will encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.'” Luke 19:43-44 (NIV).

God’s word makes it clear that whatever fate we suffer is the end result of our own choices. He has given us the option to receive the mercy He offers us because Jesus died in our place. He honours our freedom to choose right up to the choice of our own destiny. For those who honour Him, there is mercy, forgiveness and a new life which never ends; for those who reject His offer, the eternal rubbish heap of wasted opportunity.

On a Steady Course to Jerusalem

Bible Study, , ,

ON A STEADY COURSE TOWARDS JERUSALEM

“He went on teaching from town to village, from village to town but keeping on a steady course towards Jerusalem.” Luke 13:22 (The Message).

Jerusalem, the Holy City of God, ancient citadel of David, Israel’s model king and revered leader. Jerusalem, seat of religious government and site of their most holy shrine – the great temple of God, place of God’s presence and the rallying point of His people. The temple was their security and their expression of unity. Every year they gathered in their thousands to celebrate their feasts at the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus loved Jerusalem; He loved the temple. His first experience at the age of twelve captured His heart. He tarried in Jerusalem while His parents set off for home, not knowing that He was still in His Father’s house, about His Father’s business. Every time He returned to Jerusalem at feast times, He taught in the temple. His passion for His Father’s house drew forth white-hot anger when greedy merchants turned it into a market place. Why would He not move with eager steps towards Jerusalem?

Jesus was fully aware of the sinister side of Jerusalem. Its beauty and fascination eclipsed its history. It was also the place where its people had murdered its prophets. Jerusalem was a place of religious intolerance and a rigid and ruthless priesthood. Anyone who threatened their position and power was dispensed with. Both political and religious threats were quickly judged and exterminated to keep the peace with Rome and to maintain the status quo.

Jesus fell into the category of a religious embarrassment. His popularity temporarily bordered on fanaticism because He was everything the people longed for. He was there for them in their physical crises; He miraculously fed them from meagre resources; He was kind and compassionate; He was the friend of sinners; He forgave their sin and restored peace in their hearts and, best of all, they fervently believed He would rescue them from their Roman oppressors.

Jesus knew that Jerusalem was the place of His final showdown with His opponents. To move steadily towards Jerusalem, knowing that they held the power to destroy Him was to commit suicide, and yet He was unflinching in His purpose. Worse still, He not only put Himself in the place of personal danger, He deliberately provoked His enemies into a frenzy of murderous hate by His exposure of their hypocrisy, His insistence on His identity as the Son of God and His unflinching adherence to the truth.

Jesus was not afraid of Jerusalem. It was the place where the climax of history would be played out with Himself the focal point. He had come to die in Jerusalem. Luke captures this His attitude in this moment in this one significant phrase, “…on a steady course towards Jerusalem.” Unlike us who are swept along by our circumstances, Jesus moved purposefully into His because He knew who He was and why He had come.

What an inspiration this is for those of us who have chosen to believe what He said and to entrust our lives and our destiny to Him! We are secure in the truth the His death on the cross was neither a coincidence nor the victory of devil-inspired religious despots but the pre-determined plan of a loving and compassionate heavenly Father who sent His Son into a dangerous world to rescue us from the clutches of the devil.

Jesus was fully aware of what lay ahead of Him and moved into it with steadfast purpose because He knew the outcome and obeyed the Father in order to carry out His rescue plan. He absorbed the very worst that human beings could do to Him, He died as a silent and unprotesting sacrificial lamb although He was innocent, and triumphantly rose from the dead to prove it.