Matthew 23. 38,39, “Here, your house shall be abandoned. That is why I tell you that from now on you will never see me again, until you can say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. “
What catches my eye here is the “So I tell you?This sentence explains why Israel should be deserted, and what is the reason?For they will never see Jesus again until they say, “Happy he who comes in the name of the Lord. “
- “But wait.
- ” you might say.
- “Isn’t that exactly what they said when Jesus entered Jerusalem?” Yes.
- They said that when he came as someone they thought he was a conquering king.
- However.
- In the context of Psalm 118.
- Which Jesus quotes in Matthew 23:39.
- What comes in the name of the Lord? Did you blame the builders for [who] became the cornerstone? (Ps 118.
- 22).
- A text that Jesus once associated with himself in Matthew 21:42.
- As you read Psalm 118.
- Then.
- Is anyone who comes close to YHWH’s name the stone that.
- Though rejected.
- Has been restored? and until Israel sees him rejected and restored? the crucified and risen? like the one who comes and perfectly reveals the name of YHWH.
- Your house will be deserted.
Therefore, the house is deserted for them because they will not see Jesus.
At first glance, this may seem like a consequence: “You did not recognize Jesus and therefore your house will be deserted. “And, of course, there’s some truth to that. However, the main point here is not that your home has become abandoned because of your inability to recognize Jesus for who he is, on the contrary, here the fact is that the desolation itself is, don’t you see?Jesus: the content, the experience, the desolation of desolation, what is desolation, is it not to see Jesus ?, not to see him as the discarded stone that has been restored as a cornerstone, not to see him as the personification of God’s covenant. Not see him as his king, his master, and his Lord?Not seeing Jesus, being blind to Jesus, being a stranger to the glory of God who shines before Christ, is his desolation.
And is this true for everyone? Blindness to God’s glory in Christ is the desolation of the soul. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 4. 3-4, and Ephesians 2. 12, 4. 18, and Peter argues in the opposite direction (i. e. , knowing /seeing God in Christ to escape desolation) in 2 Peter 1. 3-4. Ne not knowing, not seeing, not appreciating the fact that the name of YHWH is revealed in Jesus crucified that he is resurrected, is to lament.
In other words, desolation consists in inhabiting a world vision in which God does not reveal Himself perfectly, definitively, and fully in Jesus Christ crucified and risen.
A soul who has not seen Christ rejected and restored as God is like a tower collapsing; You can discern the original pattern, but the windows are irregular and full of cracks, the stairs are collapsed and unusable, the eaves have fallen and are precarious?Our souls are born in this state of desolation and only go backwards during life. Only the vision of Christ – the true pattern according to which the towers of our souls have formed and in harmony with which they retain resemblance, regardless of the appearance of the fragile tower – can banish desolation.
Not only for the children of the ethnicity of Israel, but for each individual, desolation is only undone when we see and say of Christ crucified and risen: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of YHWH!?