Luke 13:31-35


We don’t imagine ourselves as part of the Jerusalem that Jesus addresses in his lament over the city “that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.” Yet so much of the biblical record shows God concerned with salvation and faithfulness in more sweeping terms than “Is Jesus Christ my personal Lord and Savior? Or Have I been saved?  Or how is this church meeting my needs?"

Now don’t take this wrong; our individual relationships with God are very important, but it is our life together that makes us the body of Christ, the church, isn't it? The church is more than its individual members. We have a community identity and a community mandate.  And, if we take the Bible seriously, Jerusalem, this centuries old city of conflict, is very much a part of our destiny. 

A webpage that spells out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a nutshell:

http://mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm

Or watch the following videos……….
The Promised Land……a two part video explaining the conflict over Jerusalem:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atWINwrF2Vs
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5zyYFZgdhE

No gospel pays more attention to Jerusalem than Luke’s. Luke begins and ends
in the temple in Jerusalem.

• Zechariah learns in the Jerusalem temple that he and Elizabeth will have a child.
• Mary and Joseph bring their own child there when the time comes.
• Simeon and Anna deliver their prophecies there, and
• Jesus returns when he is 12 years old to take his place among the teachers of Israel.
• All told, Luke mentions Jerusalem 90 times in his Gospel, while all the other New Testament writers combined mention it only 49 times.

Our bible teaches that Jerusalem is the dwelling place of God,

• the place where God’s glory shall be revealed (Isa. 24:23).
• the place where God is betrayed by those who hate good and love evil (Mic. 3:2).
  

• a setting for TV news reports,
  
• a destination for that edifying vacation trip we hope to take one day if the endless violence there between Arabs and Israelis ever calms down.

In today’s gospel lesson we can hear the kind of anguish we cause Jesus when we forget what that sacred city means.   “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” he says, choked with tears. ‘How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” It sounds like a lament of one whose love has been scorned…..protection rejected. 

Jesus risks his own life to reach Jerusalem, but Jerusalem had better things to do than to hide under the shelter of this mother hen’s wings. It had a fox as its head, who commanded a great deal more respect. Just consider the contrast: Jesus has disciples: Herod has soldiers. Jesus serves: Herod rules. Jesus prays for his enemies.

I wonder what Jesus would say of the situation in Jerusalem today!  Nations fighting over the land as the biggest three religions in the world each claim their rights as most valid? The conflict in the Middle East could be considered these days as the most serious and important in the world; this conflict is the key for peace in the future or a third world war that could really damage and destroy.

People prefer to say that the conflict is not religious and it is related only to the ID of the people that live on this land which are Muslims, Jews, and Christians and their right to live freely and have their human rights all of them without occupation or terrorist attacks.

The problem is that inside each Jew or Muslim, the main reason for his fight is his belief that god wanted and gave him or her the right to live and control in this land and once you discuss this matter with either a Jew or a Muslim, he directly answers back saying how do you suppose from me to believe in something different from what my religion taught me.

• Israeli Jews believe in the right of living in every meter of the Holy land which means the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, and the 48 lands.  

• The Muslims believe that they once controlled this whole land and they know the importance of Jerusalem for them and the Islamic religion so they can’t let it go easily.

The irony of it all is that peace doesn’t seem to have a prayer when that conflict turned religious!  Even though all three religions claim peace as a mandate in their religion, we see the terrible consequences that have resulted when respect for others’ beliefs are rejected. 

Although, we have very little influence in the outcome of this conflict, we can begin to march toward that resolve for peace.  I think as pastors we have a duty to do so.   Just like Jesus would never condemn others who healed and helped the people in the land even when they were not his followers, so should we.  We need to embrace other religions as our brothers and sisters working with the same goals as we.   Otherwise our lChristian faith is a travesty!

Think about It. 

Let us pray:
O Lord, gather us under your wing.
We have failed you out of our all too human fear of strangers to our faith. 
Fill us with your spirit and let our lives reflect your selfless love for all.
Let us do your will until the new Jerusalem fills the earth. Amen.