Matthew 21 v 1-13. Palm Sunday

1. Jesus claims what is his:

• the obedience of his disciples; they had to go into town, acting like horse thieves, and risk retribution, to obey what Jesus said.
• a donkey; the owner was perfectly content with the explanation “The Lord needs it”.
• a city, Jerusalem, that he enters like a King.
• and the praise of all the people.
• And within that city, in verse 12, a temple;

Was Jesus being like a two-year-old – who insists that everything in the room is “mine”...    As C S Lewis says, there are three options in dealing with Jesus' claims about Himself: either Jesus ' claims were correct; or they were deluded (Lewis colourfully says, if Jesus was wrong about being God he would be as crazy as a man who thought he was a poached egg!); or they were deliberate deception. The events that followed Palm Sunday - the death and resurrection of Jesus, confirm that his claims were absolutely correct!

2. The underlying history; the sub-text...

In the second century BC, the Eastern Mediterranean was ruled by the Seleucid Empire – which was formed after Alexander the Great's empire collapsed. In 169 BC,King Antiochus IV (whose nickname was Epiphanes – meaning “God manifest”) had removed gold and silver items from the temple. On 25 December 167, Antiochus was back, and this time he desecrated the temple by setting up a pagan altar in the Holy of Holies and offering pigs flesh to Zeus, as well as using the temple rooms used as a brothel. Three years later, in 164BC, a man called Judas Maccabeus had led a revolt, defeated Antiochus and rededicated the temple to God. After the dedication, the people sang hosanna , waved palm branches, and looked forward to redemption. The pagan yoke had been broken and they expect the son of David to come and set the whole world free of sin forever. This became the newest “Festival” in the Jewish calendar.

And when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, claiming it as his own, claiming to be its King, people recognised the signal: it was like the festival of Dedication. So they began to wave their palm branches and to sing the Hallelujah Palms. “Hosanna!” It had echoes of that great victory nearly two hundred years earlier. And that in turn had echoes of the feast of “Tabernacles” when the people remembered surviving in the desert, and made shelters of palm branches. So as people come to Jerusalem for the Passover – when God's victories for his people began – Jesus' action takes them right through to the latest of God's victories. It places Jesus as the saviour, the bringer of a new age. And yes, that is what he is!

People were beginning to get carried away with the idea that Jesus the King, was going to do what Judas Maccabeus had done two hundred years earlier, get rid of the foreigners, drive them out of God's land, set up “proper” worship in the temple and establish a reign of peace and prosperity for the Jewish people.

But, the way Jesus does this, shows the real nature of that new age. Matthew says he is riding “A colt, the foal of a donkey” And it almost reads like Matthew thought Jesus was riding on both the mother and the colt. Except that "them" refers to the cloaks, not the donkeys. I believe Matthew is right to include the mother and the colt  the best and most humane way to deal with an unbroken colt would be to bring its mother  along also. So even the donkey that he claims as his own, is treated with gentleness and respect.

And it is worth noting this is the only time we see Jesus travelling in any other way than on foot. He enters his capital, not as a messianic figure on a warhorse but gentle and riding on the donkey (Zechariah 9.9) By riding a colt, Jesus wants to make the people of Jerusalem see that though he is their rightful king his reign is one of peace and service. Jesus is acting out the principle of humble service he is just enunciated in the previous chapter.

Michael Green points out, "He has come to rule over the hearts and lives of men and women not to kick the Romans out". Jesus is the suffering Son of Man, who comes to Jerusalem to give his life as a ransom for many.

But the suffering servant, the humble King is still King. He exercises his rule and authority. Judas Maccabeus Jesus entered the Jewish temple, to cleanse it from Gentile defilement. Jesus enters the temple, to cleanse he court of the Gentiles from Jewish defilement! His rule is inclusive, international, for everyone.

His reign is cleansing, and it is healing. I like Peterson's rendering of v. 14: Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.

3. Jesus' actions raise the question – “Who is this?” The question is important.

• The answer supplied by the crowds “The prophet Jesus” seems trivial. But it looks back to Deuteronomy 18.15. where Moses prophesies that God will sent “A Prophet like himself.”)
• Matthew says that the entry of Jesus in to Jerusalem fulfils Zech 9. 9: “Your King is coming”. Jesus is Messiah; he is saviour, combining in himself both suffering and glory. Jesus is the Victor, achieving that victory through his death and resurrection. Jesus is King – a king whose rule is global, and deeply personal.
• The Galileans in the crowd can identify Jesus as theirs: He's from Nazareth. The daughters of Zion – the people of Jerusalem – are told he is theirs. He cleanses the court of the gentiles so all nations can pray so he's for the whole world. Is he yours?

Matthew and Zechariah say “Your King is coming...” And the Church could read that, as a renewed promise of the fulfilment of the Kingdom, when Jesus come back.

The Church would read it as a reminder that Jesus was the Suffering Servant.

They would read it as a reminder that their suffering servant was the Victor.

We have learned as we have prepared for Easter this year that suffering and glory go together. That the way to victory is through sacrifice

They would read it as a reminder of Christ's right to rule in their lives, over all the details.

Matthews readers would realize the implication of the story was "God will judge bad Churches " , this judgement on the temple having been fulfilled in 70 A.D. " his severest judgement will be at is reserved for those Churches whose  worship is hollow, where  corruption and dissension are rife, and which repel rather than attract 'gentile' outsiders."

They would read it as a reminder that their King – the same Jesus who came on the donkey – was coming again, in victory.

 © Gilmour Lilly March  2015

Suffering, and Glory John 12. 20-32

Suffering, and Glory

Some Greeks came ….Jesus has just recently raised Lazarus from the dead. Then, he has entered Jerusalem as King – and shown his Kingly authority by cleansing the temple of all the money-grabbers trading there. People are getting annoyed. The Jewish leaders are scratching their heads. What are they going to do about this trouble-making young preacher? They agree “The world has gone after him!”  

And then – to show just how right they were, John records this little incident: some Greeks either "God-fearers" or proselytes had come to Jerusalem to worship – curious about the Jewish faith, impressed by the sensible idea of one supreme holy God instead of a whole load of gods who squabbled like schoolboys. And now some of them want to “See” and have a conversation with Jesus. It is possible that they had witnessed the cleansing of the temple, and been impressed by it. So they come to Philip (who has a Greek name!) and announce that they want to see Jesus. Philip tells Andrew (another Greek name) who accompanies him to tell Jesus.

Isn't that an exciting mission story! It's about these Greeks, coming to a point where they want to meet Jesus. It's about two of the disciples using what they have to hand – in their case the fairly weak and tenuous connexion of having Greek names and being perhaps more “Hellenistic” than some of the others.

And this request of the Greeks to see (talk seriously with) him is like an exploding fuse in the mind of Jesus. John's gospel quotes Jesus as saying,a number of times, “My hour is not yet come” (e.g. John 8. 20) Now at last "the hour" has come Jesus recognises this as “The Son of man being Glorified!” It sounds good; it sounds positive. That is what we are here for. To reach these guys.

What does that glory look like?  

It looks like a grain of wheat, sown into the ground, to die. The son of man will need to plant himself in the ground like a seed – “crucified, laid behind the stone”... we need to know that.

Catholic theologian Karl Rahner said death is “Guilt made visible.” Bruce Milne says “Death proclaims that there is nothing in our lives which is finally fit to endure to eternity.” And Jesus, the perfect, sinless son of God, the timeless, ageless Son of man, faced death. He took our death, our guilt, our sin.

No wonder his soul was “troubled” (v 27) which signifies shock, agitation, or even revulsion.  If an army is “troubled” it is thrown into disorder. If a person's bowels are “troubled” they have the runs! Jesus suffers severe, gut-wrenching distress, because he has to drink the cup of God's wrath. In a prayer that is echoed a little later in Gethsemane, Jesus says “Father, I don’t know how to pray... what shall I say, 'get me out of this'? No, this is why I came. Father, glorify your name, that's my prayer. Glorify your name!” (v 28) "Glorify your name" is synonymous with " your kingdom come, your will be done." In the Cross, jesus says and acts out “Your will be done – so the Cross releases the Kiingdom into the world.

And the Voice. Does anyone watch that kind of stuff on TV? This is the ultimate reality show. The Voice of God, the father . "I have glorified it and will glorify it again"

1. It's the Voice of his Father's approval. As in his Baptism, as on the mountain where he was transfigured, his father is pleased with him. He is fulfilling his call.
2. It's the Voice of his Father's promise: in Jesus death, the father will be glorified. The Kingdom will come; God's will is going to triumph.

Lesslie Newbigin, a Scottish missionary theologian said “In this act the glory which is the flaming heart of the Universe is revealed"  The Son brings glory to the father in a supreme act of obedience ; and in this action the father will crown the Son with glory.

The Cross is the Glory. It is not just the road that leads to glory: it shows the glory of god. The death and resurrection of Jesus are not divisible simple into a defeat at Calvary which was righted by the subsequent powerful victorious act of the resurrection. Rather both death and resurrection represent one inseparable event in which Jesus achieves the glory of God. Christian Faith, says Bruce Milne, is Easter faith.

That's the Cross; that's the glory. That's obedience; that's the kingdom. As Jesus yields himself, his very life, the the father’s will, the Kingdom comes; as Jesus – the One over whom death has no power, enters death, this terrifying dominion cannot hold him. Resurrection has to follow. C S Lewis puts it like this in the end of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: "If a willing Victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor's stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards."

Mission:

What about the Greeks?

Jesus is not described as having had a conversation with the Gentiles. It could almost look like a slap in the face for them. We don't know whether he spoke to them or not. We have no reason for being dogmatic one way or the other. But what we do know is that he did what needed to be done to bring these Greeks – and us – in.

The rest of the chapter shows us Jesus in conflict with the Jewish authorities: they respond to him with unbelief, self-interest and rejection. Jesus is winding up the “Jewish” part of his ministry; the scene is being set for Paul to say “I am going to the Gentiles”

“The way to the evangelization of the Gentiles lies through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the mission of the church,” says C K Barrett.

 

What about us?
Jesus sums up by saying four things about the cross and resurrection, suffering and kingdom event.

1. It is the judgement of this world; (ESV) that is (1) it will pass judgement on the world; and (2) It will bear the judgement deserved by the world.
2. It will drive out the prince of this world
3. it will exalt Jesus : he will be lifted up in a positive and negative sense ; the cross is a throne.
4. It will bring a worldwide harvest: "all men" are drawn to Jesus.

Ultimately the "much fruit" which the seed of Jesus crucified brings forth, will be the church of the first-born from all the nations and ages.  We become part of that. How?

Jesus tells us “If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honour him.” (v. 26)

1. We enter eternal life through death to ourselves – taking up our cross –  ceasing to follow all the other “Lords and Kings”.
2. Kingdom fruitfulness is costly . It is in dying that we become life givers. Paul speaks of dying every day (1 Cor. 15.31).

The death and resurrection of Jesus, in its entirety, brings the kingdom and glorifies God. And it brings the kingdom to the whole world; all men. God is looking for much fruit. And we can be part of that as we surrender ourselves to Him.


© Gilmour Lilly March  2015

The True Glory of Jesus. Luke 9. 28-36

View from the Jungfrau. Image by G Lilly

You see some pretty amazing things when you climb a mountain.  We have seen mountain hares on Ben Chonzie, Ptarmigan on Schiehallion; we have seen glaciers and mountains stretch as far as the eye can see from the Jungfrau. But we have never seen what Peter, James and John saw. 

They (Jesus, Peter, James and John) have climbed a mountain to pray.  No surprises there.  Jesus seems to have been fond of the hills and to have appreciated the opportunities they offered him to spend time with his Father.  Possibly an all-night prayer time; almost certainly Jesus was praying about the knowledge that he was going to die on a cross. Jesus has been talking about his death – and about the impact of his death on us.

In prayer Jesus is caught up into the presence of God.    Suddenly, Jesus'  face begins to shine, like that of Moses on mount Sinai.  His dusty unbleached clothes become dazzling white like lightning.   It is more than God's Presence, it reveals his God-nature – for a while the divine glory squeezed into a human body, is allowed to shine out.  And Moses (the lawgiver) and Elijah (the first in a line of prophets who challenged kings and spoke to the nation)  are there, talking with Jesus.  It's kind of a hint that Jesus fulfils the “law and the Prophets”.

 The conversation was about his departure – his Exodus – that he was about to accomplish – to fulfil or complete – in Jerusalem.   That theme again: the Cross and resurrection.  But this time, there is an encouragement.  The Cross and resurrection together are Jesus' “Fulfilled Exodus”.  Luke intends to draw our attention back to the Exodus, the escape from Egypt.  The climax of the book of Exodus is the night when each family killed and ate their passover lamb and put its blood over the door of their homes; that night God's angel brought death to every household except those with the blood on the doorposts, and then the people escaped through the Red Sea from slavery in Egypt.

The Cross of Jesus is the death of the Passover lamb; it is the moment at which the people who choose to paint his blood on their doorpost are set free from the Angel of death; it opens up the day in which god's people are rescued from slavery.

This is an amazing moment:  Jesus is having this amazing time.  As Jesus glows with the glory of God, we see God is at work in power.  We see who Jesus really is. We see his engaging with the challenge and the power of the Cross and the Kingdom.  It's amazing! It's wonderful.

Wake up and receive God's gift!
But Peter, James and John nearly miss it.  They are asleep!  This amazing thing is happening. God is at work in power revealing who Jesus is and what he does – and those who could be witnesses are asleep.  That's a scary possibility for us as well.  We can be asleep to the fact that god is at work; we can be asleep to who Jesus really is; we can be asleep to the challenge and the promise of the Cross and the Kingdom.  All this stuff is there, happening., waiting for us to engage with it.  And we are asleep.  We are lulled to sleep by unbelief: “I can ignore all that 'god' stuff”.  We are sent to sleep by exhaustion.  Usually in Scotland, you wouldn't sleep on the top of a mountain – it's cold up there, even on a hot day, there's often a cold wind, and sometimes (is that the right word?) rain or sleet.  But if you've climbed a hill at the end of a day's work, and it's dark, and the wind is a pleasant breeze, you might doze off.  We doze off through the boredom of thinking we have everything sorted out and nothing more to learn. When I was at Primary school, we had French lessons.  There were gramophone records that always began with a jolly Frenchman saying “Bon Voyage...!”  to this day I have a great French accent but no French grammar, because by the time I got to Secondary School, and had “proper” French lessons from a “proper” French teacher, I thought I knew French.  I was  a wee bit ahead of the class – so I didn't listen and didn't learn.  Boredom can lull us to sleep and shut us up to the possibilities of learning and growing.  I believe God is telling us to wake up to what he is doing. To Wake up to who Jesus is; to wake up to the challenge and promise of the Cross and the kingdom.  Don't dismiss what God is saying; don't be too busy to engage; don't be bored as though you have nothing to learn.

Receive God's gift.     And so,  the light of God's glory penetrates the disciples' sleepy minds.  Peter and the others wake up, and see, and maybe hear.  They see his “True Glory” and they see Moses and Elijah.  And they recognise Moses and Elijah.  This awakening, the ability to tap into what is happening. to Jesus – so that the awesome, transcending experience of Jesus himself touches their lives – and the discernment to identify the two patriarchs with him, are God's gift to them.  We need to wake up, and receive god's gift.  Some of us sometimes think that there is a world of people who get special things in their walk with God – a world of Billy Graham or Selwyn Hughes, of Joyce Meyer, or Nicky Gumbell.  We look in on their world of insights and miracles.  But God has a gift, an insight, a miracle, for all of us.  Wake up and receive God's gift.

A monumental error!
Then the two patriarchs  – begin to take their leave.  Peter's instinct is very much like ours: he has to head that off.  “It's good that we are here” Freeze this moment, preserve it for ever: “Let's build three wee shelters – one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah” – "It is a good thing we are here" probably means "it is a good thing for us to be able to enjoy this experience and so let us continue it."  The three booths that are imagined, would probably be like those built in the feast of Tabernacle's. Luke helpfully throws in “not knowing what he said.”  Sometimes it's like that with us, too.  We want to freeze the moment, to preserve it in formaldehyde, to make some sort of commemoration.  Stick up a blue plaque: “on this spot, Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus!”

We don't know what we are saying some of the time.  We get obsessed with how to preserve the outward signs of revival.  We can't fully get to grips with the whole message: it's one thing to see the glory, and another to embrace the Cross, and to take up our own cross. And Peter's idea is such an irrelevance... Is freezing the moment really the best we can manage by way of engaging with what God is doing?     God has other plans.

Bring it home.
The cloud comes down, and the Voice speaks: “This is my son, my chosen: listen to him!”  It's a reminder of what we saw at Jesus' baptism.  The father is pleased with the Son, and lovingly affirms him, says “Well done Son, you're on the right track” when Jesus is holding Cross and resurrection , suffering and glory, sacrifice and Kingdom together. But the Voice is speaking to Peter, James and John.  “Listen to him” means obey him.  Do what he says.  Learn from him. Be like him.  

Then the cloud lifts, Moses and Elijah are gone and the three are left with Jesus, his face maybe returning to “normal.”  They say nothing at that point – not until after Jesus has risen from the dead (Mk  9. 9)  Talking about it can be just another way of building a monument.  Instead, they watch.  And they listen,. And they learn.   They have been involved in this strange, sobering, supernatural moment.  They have seen Jesus' glory.  Their call is not to hold onto the moment; their call and experience is to be transformed by the moment.

At the foot of the mountain, reality – the other reality –  the reality that can't imagine things any different, the reality that struggles to see God at work, the reality that just doesn't get what Jesus is all about – kicks in.  The rest of the disciples have failed to drive out a demon from a boy; the boy's Dad is disappointed and in despair.  And the greatness of God is seen as Jesus casts out the demon and makes the boy better.  Then Jesus is again talking about his death, and the disciples still don't get it.  They  want to have the ministry all to themselves, to call down bolts of lightning on people who won't listen, and struggle with the idea that the “”Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”.  And it is in that world that they are to listen, to learn, to obey, and to be transformed. 

It's not enough to build three shelters - to preserve the moment of blessing. We need to bring it home, to live in that blessing in the place where we are: in our home, in our real world! 

© Gilmour Lilly March  2015

What is Lent and what good does it do?

(This is not a Sunday talk but a wee conversation piece)

Someone fired this at me earlier a few days ago: “Can you explain Lent to me please. Its something I hear mentioned in the world every year but not something I hear much about in church. Could you give me a little historical background and why people observe it.”

Some Churches – historically the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox, and the Church of England/Episcopal Churches – have always followed a “liturgical calendar”. That means that every Sunday in the year – not just Christmas, Easter and Pentecost – is allocated to celebrate some part of the Christian faith, with set (or suggested) prayers and readings for each Sunday. Some other Churches have adopted this practise. Baptists (especially Scottish ones) along with most Pentecostal and independent Churches have tended to avoid it. That explains why you may not have heard much about Lent in Church – while Lent get a mention in the secular news due to the lingering legacy of the influence of the Church of England and the RC Church.

Basically, Lent stands in the church's year as a “Penitential season”. It lasts for forty days, which calls to mind the forty days Jesus spent in the desert, fasting, and being tempted by Satan. Indeed the set Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Lent is exactly that story. The basic idea is that we learn from the example of Jesus, overcome temptation, and turn away from known sin. By so doing we prepare ourselves properly for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. Other readings for Lent do focus on the meaning of the Cross (hence our theme for Messy Church) and on some of the events that took place between Palm Sunday and Good Friday. So for example we were looking, on 1^st March, at the cleansing of the Temple.

Fasting

The connexion with Jesus fasting in the desert explains the common custom of “giving something up for Lent”. Often it's simply a frivolous activity – giving up something you won't really miss. Sometimes it provides an opportunity to go on a diet for six weeks and detox or lose a bit of weight.

The Roman Catholic Church had at one time strict rules about fasting during Lent. In the middle ages, meat, fish, eggs, dairy products were all forbidden; the diet was strictly vegetables (cabbage soup according to the guys at Stirling Castle. Bleah!) By the way ...

• this explains the custom of having pancakes on Shrove Tuesday – using up all the eggs before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday.
• Mother's Day is half-way through Lent. It has a theme of “rejoicing” and traditionally was known as “refreshment Sunday” when the strict rules of lent could be relaxed.

Some people may feel that by self denial they can somehow get right with God. I don't think that is right, helpful or even kind. It leaves us slogging our guts out to “calm down” an angry God. Rather, we are put right with God as we put our trust in Jesus, because he carried our sins on the Cross, plain and simple.

Fasting is something we don't do often do in our churches. Jesus said, “When you fast” not “If you fast” and taught that fasting can help in prayer and spiritual warfare. I believe there is benefit spiritually and psychologically in fasting or “giving something up” as a way of identifying our potentially addictive habits and idols and making them subject to the authority of Jesus. I don't think we should be legalistic about it, but some people may find Lent is a good time for that sort of discipline.

Penitence/repentance

Ash Wednesday (straight after Pancake day) is the first day in Lent. In the Catholic and other churches, ashes (traditionally the ashes of last year's Palm Crosses) are used to make the sign of the –Cross on the forehead or sprinkled on the scalp of worshippers. The point is “repentance in sackcloth and ashes” and to consider our own frailty (“remember that we are dust...”). Again, not something that is big in our tradition. Perhaps we might be benefit from some way of humbling ourselves!

I have however heard of some churches offering “Ashes to go” as a way of street-witnessing on Ash Wednesday. As unchurched people receive the ashes (and people are willing to do so) they may be able to reflect on their own need to turn again to God.

Prayer, reflection, study

Traditionally the fasting was accompanied by prayer, and study. Ornaments and statues would be covered over, flowers would not be displayed; on communion tables, cloths of sombre purple would be used. It was common in the Catholic Church for people to follow the “Stations of the Cross” – a mini-pilgrimage consisting of a series of 14 plaques or pictures recalling the events of good Friday installed in Catholic Churches.

In the fourth century, new converts would be baptised at Easter, and those gong to be baptised would spend Lent preparing for their baptism. Sometimes this involved daily classes which lasted fro three hours!

Today many Churches and local groups of Churches hold Lent home groups. During 2013 we held a weekly “School of Prayer” during Lent. Again, there may be benefit to be had from taking a bit of time out each day – for example if you give up tea and coffee, use the coffee-break times to read the Bible or pray.

Conclusion

So, are we enjoying our freedom in Christ, or are we missing out on something? I personally don't believe in imposing legalistic ideas on others. We are free. But we should be free enough to dip into some of the traditions of Lent and benefit from them. In particular, I believe there is benefit to be had from:

• Penitence: taking time to reflect on and turn away from our sins.
• Prayer for ourselves and the world,
• Self discipline
• Study and reflection, and
• Preparation for Easter. As Bible-believing Christians we place a huge value on the Cross because Jesus died for our sins. However, in the way we handle the story, we can sometimes kind of soften its impact. Jesus died for our sins – but it's OK, he rose again. Now I want to say a big “Hallelujah” to the resurrection! But that “Hallelujah” is even bigger if we have taken the time, properly to reflect on the horror of the Cross and the significance of the events that led up to the Cross.

So the Lord may have some treasures for us in Lent, if we will receive them! 

© Gilmour Lilly March  2015
 

Luke 19.41-48 Compassion Cleansing & Claim

I wonder when was the last time you had a good cry?  Were they tears of joy?  Tears of sadness?  Tears of pain? What makes the tears flow for you?   Is it a love story, a miracle, a bereavement, or images of starving children.

1. The Compassion.
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem as he foresees its destruction. (V. 41-44) Jesus could have been angry, critical, resentful, or full of self-pity. But he wasn't. He was weeping for Jerusalem, a city he loved and respected. He is not weeping for himself. He is weeping for the pain of the City and its people; and for the  failure of the City and of the People who make the City what it is.

He wishes they knew the things that "make for your peace"(v. 42) that is to say for salvation.   He wishes they could recognise the “day of visitation”.   Salvation – the present life-changing action of the Kingdom of God – has been knocking at their door.  They have had a day or time (the Greek word is Kairos – which means the right time, a moment of unique opportunity) of visitation.  The Greek word is Episcope.  It literally means oversight.  It's the word from which we get our English words “Bishop” and Episcopal”.  It speaks of the visit that someone responsible makes – as a Bishop visits the parishes in his area, to bring encouragement and challenge.    "Visitation" is a coming of God whether for good or for judgement.  Jesus is the bishop (visitor, overseer, guardian, Episcopos of our souls, 1 Peter 2. 25).  His presence among the people has been a “visitation” intended to encourage them to know God's salvation, the arrival of his Kingdom.   That's what God wanted. Jesus says says “For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him”.  (John 3. 17) 

But peace isn't what is happening.  Jesus sees the future – seventy years later, and his words came true. Building a wooden palisade and then a stone siege wall were tactics the Romans used.  The city would be besieged, and its walls and its people including the children, flattened. That was what happened in ancient warfare is it still happens today.  It was common (as it is today) to make a point of mentioning atrocities against children.

Why the judgement? “Because you did not know the time of your visitation.”  Visitation is intended to be the occasion of salvation, but as the people failed to recognize it as such the same visitation becomes the basis of a judgement yet to follow.   The "last days" have come through Jesus.  Those who don't recognise the salvation, put themselves in the place of judgement.

And Jesus is crying.   We need to learn from the emotion of Jesus here.  The word speaks of “a loud expression of pain or sorrow” – “howling.”  Like the woman who washed his feet, this is no wiping away of the tears from the corner of the eye.   Jesus is howling with grief.  He is overcome with emotion.  Let's be clear: the ability to be blasé about suffering and about judgement, is not part of the work of the Spirit.  That is not what Paul means when he talks about the fruit of the spirit being “self-control.”   We have filtered and diluted the emotion out of following Jesus, and as a result, we've lost sight of the real Jesus.   We have turned Christianity into a  cerebral, systematic, institutional way of being, a matter of  “knowledge”, or of “techniques” for dealing with our inner darkness.  Jesus  is calling us to a holistic, dynamic, relational way of being, a journey of discovery, and romance, where truth involves walking with this Jesus. and being changed.   We need to be transformed by the fact that “when human hearts are breaking under sorrow's iron rod, all the sorrow all the aching, wrings with pain the heart of God.”   Whether we see ourselves as having grasped our salvation and received our day of visitation or not, let's learn from the tears of Jesus.

2. The Cleansing
Then Jesus goes into the temple.   And in there, merchants were selling the requisites for sacrifice – animals, wine, oil, salt and so on, as well as changing money.  This trade was justified by the need, according to the OT law, for unblemished sacrifices including money untainted by gentile images.  He's seen all this before.  But on this day,  Jesus decides to drive these things out. He knows he is heading towards the Cross.   The outcome of the cleansing will be to further set the seal upon Jesus' commitment to sacrifice his life upon the Cross.  It will alienate and provoke his opponents to orchestrate his arrest and eventual death. 

Luke doesn't make very much of this story: he shortens Marks version of it, clipping out pretty much all the derails.  He simply tells us that Jesus. quotes from two Old Testament prophets:
1. Isaiah 56.7 –  Luke doesn't include the words “for all nations. ”   If he had wanted he could have included the words to make the point that the Gospel is for everyone, but he doesn't. He knew what happened when people thought Paul had taken Gentiles into the temple! (Acts 21. 27ff).  He's aware of the fact the  temple did not become a place for the Gentiles, and maybe for a Gentile reader he doesn’t' want to introduce confusion.  Of course Luke believed the gentiles should be fully included in God's people. It goes without saying.
2. Jeremiah 7. 11.  The temple had become a “den of robbers”.  For Luke – consistent with hid concern for the poor not just the poor in spirit – the main thing wrong with the trading in the temple, is the dishonesty, greed, economic violence and oppression and legalism.
 
Luke wants us to appreciate that the cleansing is a challenge, not only to exclusivism, but also to dishonesty, economic oppression, legalism.  So, the action that led Jesus to the Cross was political as well as personal and religious.  The Cross deals not only with “religious” sin, personal sin, but with structural sin, economic sin.  It exposes all that is wrong with the world; and all that is wrong in our hearts.   Paul puts it like this in Romans 8

The Cross condemns sin in the flesh.  (Rom 8. 3)  The perfect Son of God, obeying the father's will all the way to the Cross, exposes every sort of sin, personal selfishness, rebellion, greed and lust, religious contempt and intolerance, economic injustice and political oppression, for what it is: sin.
The Cross atones for all that sin.  Through it God has set us free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8. 2; Col 2. 14-15)
And through the Cross, all believers are set free from all sorts of sin, to “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8. 4).

3. The Claim
Having “cleansed” the temple, Jesus then teaches in the temple.  He does so repeatedly, over a number of days.  He's not being fazed by the fact that some disapprove. He knows he has the right.  This temple is “his Father's house” (John 2. 16). 

But this is hard, challenging teaching.  He's not preaching the Gospel – which is why he is not healing the sick. He's simply dialoguing with those who are set to oppose him; he is challenging the wrong attitudes of those who don’t' want to give God his rightful place in their lives (Lk 20. 9-23) but  simply want an intellectual debate instead of putting their faith in to practise  (Lk 20. 24-47). And he warns of judgement to come.  As Jesus claims the temple, he claims our lives. As he claims the right to stand in the temple and teach the truth there, so he claims the right to stand in our lives with authority: hand over to God the things that are God's (Lk 20. 25)

So now, as two thousand years ago,  Jesus comes to us with compassion; he comes to cleanse and to claim our lives. And today some try to destroy him. Some hang on his every word, hang onto him as they listen to him. They depend on him and are prepared to pin their lives on him.   His tears challenge us, his grace cleanses us and his authority claims us.  In response, only you can speak for you: only I can speak for me. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.  (Josh 24. 15)

© Gilmour Lilly March  2015