It is hard to get into the shoes of these men as they go
back to Mt Zion, to Jerusalem, and see the temple in ruins, desecrated and
defiled. We don't have the right perspective
because a church building isn't the same.
When the holy places in the temple are exposed to the world, they remember
when it was a life-threatening idea for even the high priest to enter that
sanctuary. They would never have
attempted to pass into even the holy place where only priests could enter. Now it is nothing more than a building, they
remember it as the earthly dwelling place of God. They can rebuild but will He inhabit what they
construct? If it is only a building it
doesn't matter. Even now, those who
cleanse the sanctuary are priests, true priests who have consecrated
themselves. The season we know as
Hannukah today is this eight day period of festival after the re-dedication of the
temple. It is more than a building to
them, it is the place where they go to offer the sacrifices necessary to
maintain the covenant with the living God.
This whole battle and revolution was for Him and He gave them victory.
What was Jesus saying about Gentiles and tax
collectors? Remember who the author of
this book is, Matthew, a tax collector. When
Jesus said to treat a brother who sins against you like a tax collector or
Gentile what does He mean? Jews avoided
these classes of people in order that they not be defiled by them. Gentiles were unclean because they didn't
observe the Law. Tax collectors had
collaborated with Gentiles, worked for them, so they too were unclean through
that contamination. Sin in the body is
to be dealt with differently than sin by those folks. Sin by outsiders was dealt with in Matthew 5,
turn the other cheek, give your cloak as well as your coat, go two miles if
compelled to go one. In the body sin is
confronted because there is an expectation of morals and ethics. Once, however, the person has rejected Godly
admonition they are to be outside the community and treated differently,
expectations are lowered but so is fellowship.
They know that the price of re-entry is repentance but at the same time
the goal is reconciliation and restoration, restoring the one to the
flock. Read the preface to Lent from the Ash Wednesday
service to get a sense of how the church used to do things.
Soon apparently means something very different to God than
it does to us. Of course it does, He is
eternal and we are here for a brief season of time in the grand scheme of
things. Do we have any sense of urgency
about the kingdom of God and the coming again of Jesus in judgment? We need to have the urgency of John the Baptist,
no matter whether Jesus comes in our lifetime or not. The only generation we can affect is our own
and so soon is always now for us. Soon
means that we heed the warning of Jesus' parable about the rich man and bigger
barns in Luke 12. We have no idea if we
will finish either writing or reading this very sentence. We have no idea whether our loved ones who
don't know Jesus will live through this day or be struck by some tragedy. Soon comes in every life in every
generation. Let us redeem this day for
we know not if we will have tomorrow.
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