“Pilgrims here do not bring decisions with them. They come
here to seek prayerfully the decisions God wants them to make. And God will
always surprise us.”
The Rt. Rev. Sulheil Dawani
Bishop
of Jerusalem
speaking to GAFCON 2008
The surprises have already begun. But all in due course.
Jet lag mostly overcome, we awoke to another beautiful
morning in Jerusalem. Blue skies. Birds singing. “Biblical plants” growing in
gardens. Wandering about the old stone streets and sidewalks, crowded with a
wide assortment of humanity, gives me a sort of Indiana Jones feeling.
Yesterday, we found a neat little “Educational Bookstore.” All the books were Palestinian
polemics – not saying that disparagingly, only to name a genre. It reminds me
of leftist bookshops in Argentina -- and they serve espresso.
The best part of being here so far is Eucharist in the
side chapel at the Cathedral, celebrated at 7 a.m., simply, reverently, no
music, no sermon. Bishop Dawani presided today as the multitude swelled to 11. I
love these services. I loved them at Harvard Divinity in 02, when Professor
Coakley, an erudite systematic theologian with mystical leanings, would
celebrate. (Gordon Kaufman, another famous theologian there, quoted Sarah from
her student days as saying, “I am not good enough to be spiritual. I am
religious.”) It was my favorite service as a parish priest. I miss this simple,
reverent, quiet service so much!!! And yes, somehow the Eucharist feels special
– the anamnesis more palpable – do this
in remembrance of me – here where it was instituted and first celebrated.
On our first day of unstructured time (before the class
starts), we explored the heart of the Palestinian Quarter of the Old City, that
being the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Russian Orthodox
Church featuring excavations going back to the time of Jesus. On this second
and last day of unstructured time, we ambled toward (but not much into) the
Jewish Quarter of the Old City, that being the site of the Western Wall and the
Armenian Patriarchate. It was a process of acculturation, which goes along with
overcoming jet lag. All part of getting ready for the class beginning tonight –
preparation along with reading.
One mystery I have been reading about is what Jesus did in
the Temple, why he did it, and what, if anything, it had to do with his
crucifixion. Huge question. It has to be set in the context of a general shift
in religions around the globe in the 800 BCE to 200 CE era away from animal
sacrifice toward something more spiritual like bhakti (devotion) or medication
practices in Hinduism, study and practice of Torah in Judaism, etc. The Jewish
shift away from Temple sacrifice and toward ethical religion goes back to the 8th
Century prophets, particularly Micah and 2nd Isaiah. The idea of
initiation into the people of God and the engagement of the Kingdom mission
outside the Temple authority structure was certainly part of Jesus’ message.
But it doesn’t explain what looks like an assault on the Temple.
Here’s a clue. Jesus’ call to repentance may have included
repentance from violent nationalistic revolt. His prophesies often related to
what would happen to Judah if they persisted in a path toward such an uprising.
(Borg, Wright) The words that accompanied Jesus’ symbolic action were: “My
Father’s house should be a house of prayer for all people, but you have made it
a den of lestos.” “Lestos” is usually translated as “thieves” and understood to
mean swindlers suggesting the moneychangers and purveyors of doves were ripping
off the pilgrims.
“Lestos,” however, does not mean a swindler or general practitioner
of theft by chicanery or slight of hand. It means one who robs by violence. It
is a bandit or brigand. In 1st Century Judah, brigands tended to be
political outlaws, more like terrorists than simple thieves. Every time Josephus
uses the word “lestos” it refers to such a political outlaw. Herod’s Temple was
regarded as a symbolic symbol for the nationalist uprising in Jesus’ day, just
as Solomon’s Temple had been in Jeremiah’s day. Jesus echoed Jeremiah in his
critique of the Temple and, again like Jeremiah, foresaw its destruction not by
supernatural second sight, but by counting the number of soldiers Judah had as
compared to Babylon in Jeremiah’s case or Rome in Jesus’. This analysis courtesy of N. T. Wright. For a
long time, Jesus’ prophesies were interpreted literally as the end of
space-time. Given that interpretation, he was simply wrong. A more historically
coherent political read of his prophesies, he was tragically right. It all
happened in 70 CE.
Tonight our class began with a surprise. 17 Episcopal
Idahoans are here!!! I had somehow picked up there would be a couple of folks
from the potato state – but I had figured they’d probably be Catholics or
Presbyterians. Then my friend, Stephanie Crumrine of Twin Falls, asked me on FB
if I had seen the Idaho contingent, so I knew they would be Episcopalians. Then
they turned out to be most of our class. For those who don’t know, Linda and I
became Episcopalians in Boise and regard Idaho as our spiritual home.
All of a sudden, titling this blog “my happy home” did not
seem ironic anymore. We met briefly and headed to the Cathedral for Eucharist. There
we sang just one hymn. It was Cwm Rhonda (Guide me O thou great Jehovah – only
here they sub Redeemer for Jehovah, out of what I guess is a sensibility to the
Jewish prohibition on speaking the Divine Name) – which is unto Wales as Danny
Boy is to Ireland. And Wales is my ancestral home. I thought as Peter said, “It
is very good for us to be in this place.”
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