Maranatha!

”Come, Lord Jesus!” The story of today for our group was not in what was planned, but what was unplanned. We were emphatically reminded of Psalm 122, one of the psalms of ascent which Jews (like Jesus) making the journey to Jerusalem would sing as they ascended the hill: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem…may there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels…For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.” We have now ascended the hill and have prayed for the shalom of Jerusalem as commanded by our Lord through King David. Today, we had a good taste of the chaos of our world from murder and revenge to unexplained natural disasters. In light of the unplanned happenings of the day, we are reminded of Genesis 1:2 where the tohu ve vohu or chaos of formless earth is pictured and God is seen hovering over it as the Sovereign Lord over chaos who brings His shalom.

The morning began with the plan to head to the temple mount which is in Palestinian territory. But, much to our dismay, we were not allowed to pass through due to tensions arising between Jews and Palestinians after the recent kidnapping and murders of three teenage Jewish boys. In fact, the tension present among people groups here is a timely reminder of the tension of Jesus’ day between the different groups as he steps down from heaven-in the fullness of time-and walks right into a situation that politically is ready to explode. The tension is thick and we can truly feel it walking around the city.

While it was a real bummer to miss out on the temple mount, we were able to see more of the old city and David’s palace. We went through Hezekiah’s tunnel which he built as a way to prolong Israel’s defense against the Assyrian Empire and Sennacherib’s army. We then made our way to Herodius, Herod’s favorite and largest palace complete with a man-made lake and even a mountain which he moved and built his seven-story palace on top of. While King Herod is achieving some impossible feats with his own strength and proclaiming himself to be the King of the Jews, our true king is born only a few miles away brought forth like a sacrificial lamb in a manger. This is such a stark contrast with how we naturally view a conquering king and yet, it’s not by the sword, but by love and sacrifice that Jesus achieves eternal glory for all his people.

We visited Bethlehem (in Palestine) but did not go see the Church of the Nativity which is only the traditional place for Jesus’ birth and is full of tourists. We then made our way to the Holocaust Museum in Yad Vashem. It was a sobering reminder of the severe failings of both the church and the United States of America in offering help and refuge to these people in their time of need.

Our final stop was a microcosm of the theme for today: chaos, not shalom reigns for now in Israel. While Rod’s intention was to show us a beautiful Gan or “lovely garden,” we were unable to find a good trail down for a small picture of biblical shalom. However, what was most salient in our hike to find this garden was that we had a perfect view of a hillside across the valley where a medium-sized fire that had broken out and was invading a nearby suburb. As we finished the day up with our sh’ma, we were in prayer not just for ourselves, but for shalom to break out in the midst of a very chaotic day in Israel.

And finally, we are reminded of Revelation 21 which speaks of God ushering in new heavens and new earth and with it His presence among His people. So while we pray for shalom in Jerusalem, we eagerly anticipate when Christ comes to make all things new again. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!