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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Focus Text: Isaiah 52.1-3
Jesus slept at some odd times, at least the way His disciples saw it. He slept while a storm on the Sea of Galilee terrified them horribly (see Matthew 14.23-27). Sometimes, Jesus’ disciples slept at the most inopportune time, like the time of His imminent arrest and death (see Matthew 26.36-46). Sometimes other people in the New Testament fell asleep resulting in almost laughable, if not so serious, consequences (for example Eutychus in Acts 20.7-12). However, no case of sleepiness was more unfortunate, inopportune, and deadly than the spiritual narcolepsy that inflicted Jerusalem. We will note other signs of her lethal spiritual sickness.
The compassion of Jesus is obvious to any neutral third party, but so is the apathy and sinful bent of Jerusalem. As His ministry was drawing to a close, He told His disciples “…that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matthew 16.21). What had He done to deserve such cruel treatment? What crime had He committed to so enrage the inhabitants of the Hebrews’ capital city? No one verse answers these questions but a number of texts show that it was petty jealousy on the part of the religious leaders that sparked such animosity and which eventually led to His betrayal and death. Jerusalem had every chance to awaken from her spiritual lethargy, but alas, to no avail. She preferred darkness over light, evil over good, and the praises of men more than the approval of God.
What could be more holy than the temple? What could be of more spiritual significance? Yet, on at least two occasions Jesus cleansed the temple of corruption while the Jewish citizens of Jerusalem stood apathetically and impotently nearby. The responsibility to maintain the purity of the temple was no more the responsibility of Jesus than it was of the average citizen of Jerusalem, yet they were perfectly willing to let Him do their work while they lethargically watched. Scores if not hundreds of prophets had prepared the spiritual ground in and around Jerusalem, but to little avail.
God had a much grander plan for Zion. Isaiah had revealed a portion of it when he wrote, “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean Shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! For thus says the LORD: ‘You have sold yourselves for nothing, And you shall be redeemed without money’” (Isaiah 52.1-3). Had she but listened, her brightest days were before her, but with stopped ears and heavy eyes, nothing but destruction could result! Jesus wept while Jerusalem slept!
How like Jerusalem we sometimes are! God has glorious plans for each of His children. He calls us incessantly through His word. He offers marvelous counsel in order to enrich our lives here and to insure our eternal happiness. Yet, we with heavy eyes and hearts prefer to sleep for a time rather than live for an eternity!
Questions:
1. Under what circumstances did Eutychus fall asleep?
2. What had Jesus predicted about Jerusalem’s part in His death? What was Peter’s reaction?
3. Whose job was it to preserve the purity of the temple? Why did Jesus have to cleans it?
4. How can we be like Jerusalem through apathy? How can we avoid being like Jerusalem? What are the “stakes”?
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