Zechariah 8:20-23
Luke 9:51-56
LIFE IS A JOURNEY AND GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US
In today’s first reading, God promised that in restoring Jerusalem, there will be a sudden urge from among the nations desiring to go up to Jerusalem to seek the Lord of Hosts there. The concluding part of the reading is quite interesting, it says, Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men of nations of every language, will take a Jew by the sleeve and say, ‘We want to go with you since God is with you.”
Jerusalem, however, had a reputation for rejecting prophets and doing violence to them. What we can say is that it represented danger and potential harm to go there and to proclaim a message that while only revealing God’s deep love for the poor, disposed, and vulnerable, was nevertheless a message that disturbed power structures and challenged the accepted orthodoxy of the day.
This intention of God came to fulfillment in the person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is Immanuel, God with us. Jesus does journey towards danger, but the passage today places emphasis on his deep convictions, unwavering determination and courage.He was the stone rejected by the elders that became the Keystone. He was regarded as a sign of contradiction by men but eventually became the sign of reconciliation between God and men. By his death and burial, He was made an outcast by his own people but he became in the end the prince of peace and a source of peace and joy that brought many nations and pilgrims to Jerusalem till this present day.
As the Samaritans rejected Jesus because his eyes were set on Jerusalem, the brothers James and John were angry and requested that they might be permitted to call down fire from heaven above to burn them up. Christ rebuked them saying, His purpose is to save and not to condemn. We have been formed in the image and likeness of God, He is the potter we are the clay and in shaping us, we will be tried, tested, and entrusted with the spirit of perseverance to stand the test of time. It is our endurance, faith, hope and charity that will win us the crown of eternal life. If Christ our Savior was rejected then why are we worried about the rejection of men? It is better to enjoy your peace of mind by walking away rather than dwell with fake people.
Fr Joseph Osho
