As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God." Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you have made it a den of robbers." Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
‘Rampart’ is the word that stands out. I also feel that it is central to the reading. Some people don’t know what a rampart is. It is a fortified wall or barrier. Jerusalem of antiquity is a fortified city with a wall around it to protect it. Jesus has arrived at Jerusalem and the first thing he does is weep for the city and the people that he loves. To me this is in direct contrast to the thought of “ramparts.” I will say more about that in a bit.
Even though this isn’t the Gospel according to Mark that we have been reading through, it seems fast paced to me and gets very quickly from his arrival to him driving out the sellers from the temple. I feel that Mark offers more detail even though Luke has the reputation for detail.
From the onset of this passage, Jesus offers a ‘prophecy’ of the destruction of the fortified city of Jerusalem. He shows emotion, a deep sadness and weeps because the people are destroying themselves by turning away from God. They fail to recognize that God is with them in the person of Jesus. When he enters the temple, his sadness turns to anger and he drives out the merchants and moneychangers. This confirms his feeling that the people are destroying themselves.
Sadness and anger are very deep human emotions. Jesus opens up and displays these emotions, making him vulnerable to ridicule and persecution. However, he doesn’t display them inappropriately. He has every right to feel the way he feels. I feel that in order to be receptive and learn we need to be open and a bit vulnerable. The call for us today is to take down the barriers that we have put up in order to protect us from the things we fear. We shouldn’t be afraid to be who we are and appropriately show emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment