“Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Behold, your house will be abandoned.
But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
~ Luke 13:34-35
Jerusalem is a holy city, a sacred sanctuary to the world’s three great religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim the city to be the earthly portal to the one true God. And yet, the city is forever wracked with tension and division. From afar, it seems to me to be always on the edge of blowing up and exploding because of all the hostility and enmity between and among its residents. It is all so ironic. And Christ even wept over the city. How the city God had chosen to be His on earth could be afflicted with so much dissensions?
Still, God in His infinite goodness and omnipotence, will set things right and there will be a new Jerusalem. Nothing is more comforting, consoling and so full of hope than this vision from Revelation:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
We seem to be on the verge of another major global conflict, with the big countries mobilizing and arming for war. Hatred and anger seem to be so powerful we hardly hear the voices of reason, compassion and of love. But people of faith will continue believing that live is stronger that death, that light will drive away the darkness, that love will conquer anger and hatred. One only needs to look and learn from nature that even in the midst of death and destruction new and better life eventually emerges.