Holy Tuesday – the Consequence of Darkness

Luke 21:20-24

²⁰ ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.^{[d] 21} Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; ²² for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfilment of all that is written. ²³ Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; ²⁴ they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Thought for Holy Tuesday

We are beginning to get to the point in the story when it would be quite easy to ask, why doesn’t Jesus just get out of Jerusalem? You do not need to be that smart to realise how the pieces of the puzzle are going to fit together: that something is going to happen to Jesus looks increasingly probable. Jesus does not leave; instead he continues to tell a story. Storytellers and stories are needed in times of particular crisis. This part of the story looks into the future. One thing should be absolutely clear. Jesus was not a fool. Anyone who looked at how Israel was behaving and had an inkling as to how the Roman Empire dealt with dissent would be able to imagine how things might turn out. Indeed, those with knowledge of God’s story would know Jerusalem had been captured before and the people carried off to places they would rather not have gone. There are always consequences to our actions; both corporately and as individuals. Jesus sees the need to proclaim what the outcome might be. I wonder where the prophets are today who will call us individually and corporately to account. We prefer to focus on the individual, it allows us, as we shall see, to scapegoat. At this point, however the outcome is not inevitable; a course has been set; but that course can be changed. When Jesus looks into my future, I wonder what courses I might feel the need to modify.

Prayer

God of hope and journey

God of grace and glory

Help us to listen to the story you tell and amend our lives accordingly

In the Name of Jesus Christ the Lord