READ LUKE 19:41-44
KEY VERSE:“For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” (vv 43-44)
One of the reasons why the Israelites were waiting for the Messiah is to deliver them from the might of the Roman Empire. Known as one of the greatest ancient empires of the ancient world, Rome conquered most of the known world. They were waiting for deliverance from Rome, as Rome also taxes them. Also, they have leaders that were in cahoots with Rome. They know that the messiah will be a very powerful one, to be sent by God himself. Then Jesus Christ came into the world, born of a lowly carpenter's son.
Even though he already revealed to them who he is, they rejected him as the Messiah. Despite the miracles and cures and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God, he got his just rewards. He was nailed to the cross, given to the very powers that ruled them. Yes, they delivered their savior to the hands of the people that they want to freed with in the first place. Even Pilate questioned him, to which Jesus Christ said "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. " (John 18:36)
Even if that were the case, Our Lord Jesus Christ never wanted them to fight Rome. When he was asked if he payed taxes. Jesus' answer was "render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21)
But Jesus know what are in the hearts of men. The key passages indicates how the destruction of Jerusalem will happen, and he even wept of what will happen to the temple. A lot of us right now will conclude that this happened because they rejected the Messiah and have him put to death in the hands of the Gentiles. This is true, but there is also a deeper meaning. From the different points of scripture, we know that the Israelites are a stubborn group of people, who always rebelled against authority. They did not like the authority that Rome has over them, thus war broke out between them and Rome. In the end, the Roman Emperor Titus sacked and destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD. They were then scattered around the world.
How does this affect us today? Most of us defy authority. Whether they be parents, bosses or even the leaders of our nations, we defy them. We criticize them if their policies don't benefit us. Specially if they oppress us, we then take to the streets and protest against them. But the scriptures offer a different point of view. Different New Testament authors tells us to be "subject to the rulers that are above us". Why would they say that. Simply because if we can't follow our earthly leaders, how can we follow our Lord Jesus Christ which is in the heavens? To say that we love him is to follow him, also he gave authority to our leaders to lead us, and to follow them as well. Now we may argue that some of them are not agreeing with things in the scriptures (LGBT, same sex marriages, abortion, divorce, human rights violations), but we can take a course of action by praying for them for proper governance. In this way, we can say no to some issues without being violent. If we really follow our Lord Jesus Christ, then we have to follow our earthly rulers.
Jerusalem and the Jews got what they deserved. If they have listened to Jesus, their temple would still be there. However, they put him to death and rebelled against Rome. They lost everything, just as Jesus has prophesied.
This goes out to people who still criticize their government always. They just open their mouths without making a major contribution to society. Whatever happened to the great saying of the late President of the United States John F. Kennedy who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". Each ruler, whether they are righteous or evil, will have roles to play in the events that will shape our history. May we please consider this.
BRIAN LUCIANO
JULY 18,2019
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