Solomon prays for foreigners who will come here and pray as
well but it isn't a general prayer, it is based on why the foreigner has
come. If he has come because of "the
sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm"
then Solomon asks the Lord to hear and answer that prayer. The prayer must be properly addressed to the
God whose temple this is and the answer should affirm the greatness of Yahweh,
that this might be a house of prayer for all nations but that prayer must be
directed at Him alone. As the prayer
finishes, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering and the
sacrifices and the glory of the Lord fills the temple and the worship of God
begins with the praises of the people, “For he is good, for his steadfast love
endures forever.” When you read this
passage recall the heights from which the nation fell and that today there is a
mosque on this site and how painful that must be to the Jews. Remember also that Jesus said this would
happen and He is the solution but that there is a heavenly Jerusalem that is
the true Jerusalem.
Mark tells us that Jesus confessed to being the Christ and
this was the basis on which He was convicted and crucified. They had another option, belief. On what basis do they find His word
false? They had already made up their
minds that Jesus was not the Christ, the son of the Blessed One, they only
wanted Him to say it in order that they could convict Him of blasphemy. Truth had nothing to do with the matter, they
were unable to evaluate Him because they were blinded by their hatred of
Him. They never wanted to believe in
Him, He wasn't the kind of Messiah they wanted.
They were much like us, preferring a God who thinks more or less like we
do about the things on which we have strong opinions. If we ever get a chance to reflect on our
lives in the afterlife I wonder how many times we will drop our heads, shake
them and wish we had been more attuned to Him.
Mercy triumphs over judgment does not mean that there is no
judgment. That, however, does not mean
that we live in fear of judgment and that Christianity is some sort of
fear-based religion. Perfect love, John
wrote in 1 John 4, casts out fear because fear has to do with judgment and in
Jesus we have already received mercy now and mercy at the day of judgment so we
now live in love and freedom. James
argues that the law continues to matter to us, even as Christians who have been
set free from the penalty of the law because it does describe holiness but we
know that the law has a deeper meaning than was understood by even the
Pharisees. We know that the law
concerning adultery, for instance, involves not lusting, it is not only the
action but also the thought. Here, James
speaks particularly of showing partiality and the law is clear that partiality
applies to preferences of any sort, for the poor or against the poor. We are all alike created in His image, no
matter our earthly situation. Our
judgment must align with God's judgment in all things and through the Holy
Spirit we are capable of doing just that.
If we continue to live by the flesh we will continue to show partiality
and make wrong judgments.
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