The Mirror of the World

It was impressed upon me today something that I had been feeling ever since arriving in Jerusalem.  For the past few days I have been so moved by what I have been seeing through Psalm 122 and praying for the peace of Jerusalem as I mentioned earlier and also in meeting the people who live and work in Jerusalem.

Today as we went to the Mount of Olives and went to the Dominus Flavit church which is the place where Jesus is said to have wept for Jerusalem as he approached it.  We had some time to reflect in the chapel and sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Amazing Grace.”  It was very moving.  We stood out on the platform overlooking Jerusalem and I felt very very heavy as I looked out at the closed off Golden Gate to the Temple Mount.  Dr. Notley shared how Jerusalem and it’s pain and violence has affected not only Jerusalem and Israel, but really that the divisions and quarreling that have happened there are a reflection of the distress of the world and especially individual human hearts.  As I looked on at the Beautiful Gate that is blocked off and filled in I saw that really as the reflection of the human condition:  The brokenness, the bitterness, the fighting, the anguish; it all plagues or has plagued every person as it has Jerusalem.  What made me lose it was realizing how when Jesus returns He will come from the Mount of Olives and enter through the Beautiful Gate into Jerusalem.  And likewise Jesus is trying to enter each one of our divided hearts.  But humanity has blocked off the gate to so much.  My heart broke as Dr. Notley articulated how I have felt since we arrived in Jerusalem.  It was truly prophetic words from God.

As my heart broke, I felt compassion for the broken like never before.  It made me realize that this is truly the condition of the entire world and not just that of Jerusalem.  And the Holy Spirit is starting to stir in me my reason for being a vessel of His healing.  I’m not sure what God is telling me in all this, but He wants to bring me into something deeper and here I will wait and just listen for Him to make His will known.  I’m excited!

Tomorrow is a trip to the Dead Sea and Masada for our final day of touring.  More from there later.

Shalom (Peace and Wholeness to you)

-AM