_-_James_Tissot.jpg)
As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,
he saw the city and wept over it
Jesus did not delight to prophesy judgment over Jerusalem. He would have gathered the children of Jerusalem as a hen gathers her brood, but they were unwilling (see Matthew 23:37). Jesus not only did not desire to come in judgment but was even willing to use his own flesh to shield the people from judgment.
If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
Jesus was a teacher of the things that make for peace. He taught the necessity of forgiveness, first received from God, then shared with others in turn. He called blessed those peacemakers who worked to make his promise of peace a reality in the world. He himself was finally the only true source of peace, the only one who could impart a peace that was durable and lasting and independent of the rise and fall of fortunes and circumstances.
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
Do we know what makes for peace? Even if we welcome Jesus into our hearts with cries of Hosanna as he was welcomed into Jerusalem it does not necessarily follow that we are as yet willing to embrace his entire plan. For his plan makes him goes forth from that celebration and continue even unto the cross. And it is the cross alone that can truly establish a lasting peace between God and man, the cross alone by which our sins can be put to death so that we can rise to new life with him. Sin is ultimately antithetical to peace. And the cross alone can conquer sin. But we shy away from the cross, both when it is Jesus suffering, and especially when we in turn are called to take up our own cross and follow him. The beauty of the cross, the beauty of the love that brings about peace and reconciliation is often hidden from our eyes as well.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.
Jesus desires to impart his peace for us so that he can become a sure refuge in the trials of our lives. If we recognize his visitation, his rescue mission, and avail ourselves of his protective peace he will deliver us from danger as he did for the Christians during the siege of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 AD. Or else if will give us the grace to bear it in union with him, grace that will help us to follow in his footsteps as peacemakers, offering ourselves for the sake of the cities over which we weep and who as yet do not recognize him.
Let us learn the things that make for peace by letting the Prince of Peace reign in our hearts. Then we will recognize his visitation and be empowered to participate in his plans in a way that is uniquely suited to each of us. We will each not only know but even come to embody that which makes for peace, which is always the presence of Jesus himself.
I shed many tears because no one was found worthy
to open the scroll or to examine it.
The answer to tears that long for peace is found in the victory of the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is able to open the scroll and proclaim the Good News that was hidden from the eyes of Jerusalem. But he does so precisely as the lamb of sacrifice. This isn't how any of us would have done things, or how any of us would have written the story. It is in fact better than anything we could ask or imagine. So let us recognize our visitation by this lamb, this one whom we are free to receive in each and every mass. For peace for ourselves and for our world this is a good place to begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment