"As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes." Luke 19:41-42
One year later, things are not any better.
Several Israeli hostages are still held captive, and several have died in captivity.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's ongoing response to Hamas' killing of over 1000 Israelis on October 7th, 2023. These deaths include many non-combatants.
Many, many more residents of Gaza have been displaced from their homes and have faced malnourishment and the fear of starvation.
As the conflict has grown with Hezbollah in Lebanon, many Israelis in the northern areas have been evacuated from their homes, unsure when it might be safe to return.
The situation in the West Bank has worsened with significant violent actions by some settlers and Israeli military action against suspected terrorists.
There is much to lament. I lament all of the death and suffering and pain.
But there's something else. Something that Jesus saw and felt when he walked in that land 2000 years ago. Something that caused him to weep.
As disciples of Jesus, one of our aims is to share his perspective. We want to see things the way that Jesus sees. As Paul says, we want the mind of Christ.
Honestly, at times it feels like Jesus’ people aren’t doing much seeking to discern the heart and mind of Jesus in this situation, based on what we know of him. This is one of the reasons why we Christians must soak ourselves in the Gospels continually and seek the Lord in consistent prayer.
I hear many voices saying that we must stand with Israel. Yet the perspective of much of the current Israeli leadership seems to be, if they hit us, we will hit them harder.
We have seen several marches in US cities and on some college campuses not only for the suffering of the people in Gaza, but some justifying the violence and murder of October 7 as a reasonable response to oppressive Israeli policies.
Where is Jesus in this?
Weeping again I suspect.
Yes, weeping over all of the death and suffering.
But also weeping for the same reason he wept all those years ago. Weeping for what he knows will lead to more and more death.
'If we would only know the things that would bring us peace.’
Does Jesus really intend his people to choose who has the right cause to drop bombs or launch missiles?
2000 years ago, many(most?) of Jesus' fellow Jews thought that there would be peace when the Roman occupiers were either dead or gone. Peace would happen only when the Romans were gone, one way or another.
Jesus knew that the path of the Zealot would lead to many Jewish deaths and the destruction of beloved Jerusalem. He invited those with ears to hear to walk another path.
On the other side, Rome spoke of peace: the Pax Romana. But that peace came by the sword.
And the cross.
The cross was one of Rome's most effective tools at ‘keeping the peace’. If you rose up against them, you were stripped naked, beaten and placed on a cross in full view of your countryman, communicating the clear message: You don't mess with Rome.
They didn't know the things that would bring real peace either. The heart of Jesus extended to the very ones torturing him.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
I can't shake the perception that I have that for many Israelis, peace would be best attained if all the Palestinians would just go somewhere else. And for many Palestinians, peace would be best attained if all the Jews would just go somewhere else.
And, far too often, the provocation for that going is a gun or a bomb.
Too few seem to have a vision for reconciliation and a just and lasting peace.
There are exceptions: Groups of both religious and secular Israeli Jews and religious and secular Palestinian Arabs that have had enough of their children dying in this protracted conflict and are seeking a better way forward. I hope to one day sit with some of them and hear more of their stories.
We also have brothers and sisters in Christ who live right in the midst of this mess.
There are Jewish followers of Messiah Jesus. There are Palestinian Christians who are radical advocates for the peacemaking way of Jesus. I am not one to often declare, "I stand with...", but if I was to make such a declaration, it would have to be with Jesus' people wherever they are. These folks, like us, are not perfect. They have their own histories and perspectives. But I believe that they are seeking the heart and mind of Christ.
Who do I stand with?
I stand with Jesus. We are looking over Jerusalem and I ask him for eyes to see and ears to hear. I don't want his way - the way of peace - to be hidden from my eyes. Or from Jewish eyes. Or from Palestinian eyes. Lord, help us all to see.
I lament today, because it still seems that too few want to have eyes to see the way that Jesus sees. And as a result people are dying and suffering. And now as Iranian missiles fly toward Israel and there’s talk of a ground invasion into Lebanon, the situation feels more dire today than it did a year ago.
Does it have to be this way? Some will point to particular interpretations of prophetic texts and say yes this is all according to plan. But as I see Jesus looking over Jerusalem and knowing what will come with the utter destruction of the beloved city in 70 AD, I believe he is weeping precisely because it didn’t have to be that way.
It doesn’t have to be this way today. But it is.
One day, Jesus will return One day, God’s kingdom will come in it’s fullness and all will be made new.
If that day was today, where would Jesus find us? As he searches our hearts and minds even now, will he find us making excuses for how his way just isn’t practical in the world we live in? Or how, for some reason or another, those people had it coming?
Understandably, there are various Christian perspectives regarding non-violent approaches and just war theory. Sure, the situation is different for me because I don’t have to make the military decisions that will effect so many.
But I don’t believe that there is any Christian perspective that leaves us feeling okay with families and children of any religion or ethnicity as ‘collateral damage’
Let’s live into the kingdom that we know is coming in it’s fullness, but is also breaking in now. Let’s live with our hearts and minds and lives into the new creation as much as we possibly can. Let’s bear witness to another way than the way of the fallen world.
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore."
Isaiah 2:3-4
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Pastor Dan Masshardt serves in the Eastern Regional Conference as President and serves as Pastor of Fairview Bethel in New Cumberland, PA. Pastor Dan was also featured on our blog, responding about a year ago to October 7th, with a piece titled, "What I Pray When I Pray for Israel". It is still as relevant and timely now, as it was then. You can read that here.
What I Pray When I Pray for Israel
CGGC eNews—Vol. 18, No. 42
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