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Through the homeland
of Jesus
Fr Joseph Kappil
Jerusalem in Salvation
History
Our pilgrimage through the
homeland of Jesus has arrived at the city of Jerusalem which is the focal
point of the entire Holy Land. This city is the holy, divine backdrop against
which took place the important events of the history of salvation. Jerusalem
was the altar of sacrifice for Jesus who offered his life on the cross
for the salvation of man. In this issue, we shall go on a pilgrimage through
the history of Jerusalem from its beginning, before we visit, one by one,
the holy spots connected with the life of Jesus.
The city of Jerusalem is
mentioned 811 times in the Holy Bible. Caught in the vicissitudes of history,
this city became the target of attacks from one imperial power after another.
This is a city which was destroyed mercilessly 17 times and reconstructed
18 times. On the one hand, war, death, destruction and affliction; on the
other, reconstruction, glory, splendour and fame-this is the story of Jerusalem.
Till date this city has never been able to abide in peace and tranquillity.
War still goes on. We are afraid this state of affairs might continue till
the end of time. And yet, we can see beyond the history of this earthly
Jerusalem, in the last pages of the Bible, the beautiful, glorious picture
of a heavenly Jerusalem.
The last two chapters of
the book of Revelation are the splendid description of the holy city of
the new Jerusalem. This new Jerusalem, which is a sign of salvation, is
the final goal of the pilgrimage of life of each one of us.
The first description of
the city of Jerusalem is in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. (14:20).
In ancient days Jerusalem was known as "Salem". Lot, Abraham's nephew,
who was living in Sodom on the banks of the Dead Sea was abducted by the
enemy-king. Abraham, on hearing this news, went as far as the land of the
enemies, fought with them, rescued Lot and returned with great exultation
and rejoicing. At this time, Melchisedech, the king of Salem and the high
priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine. He blessed Abraham.
In the letter to the Hebrews, St Paul introduces Jesus as the priest of
the most High God and says: "And to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part
of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness,
and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace"(Heb 7:2). Thus
St Paul refers to Salem as Jerusalem.
Jerusalem enters Salvation
History during the reign of the great king David(BC 1000-960). The Israelite
nation, having secured liberation from the slavery of Egypt, reached the
land of Canaan, captured it and made it its own. Subsequently, it was divided
among the 12 tribes of Israel.
At that time Jerusalem,
which was situated on top of a hill in the mountainous country of Judah,
was a small little town of the tribe of the Jebusites. This lay on the
frontiers of the portion allocated to the tribe of Benjamin. Yet, the tribe
of Benjamin never captured it or lived there. Thus Jerusalem was a city
which did not belong to any tribe but was an independent town.
King Saul, united all the
12 tribes and reigned over the entire Israel nation. Saul was abandoned
by God because of his disobedience. It was David, a Bethlehemite who was
chosen by God as Saul's successor. David, during the first seven years
and a half of his reign, chose the city of Hebron as his capital. However,
once his imperial dominion was established, David captured Jerusalem (then
known as "Jebus"), the city of the Jebusites, which did not belong to any
tribe of Israel, and made it the capital of the entire kingdom of Israel.
He also named it the "city of David". At that time, Jerusalem, the city
of David, was less than 15 acres in area and had a population of about
2000 people.
David devised a way of making
all the people accept this as the capital city and attracting them to it.
He brought the Ark of the Covenant with great rejoicing and celebration
and installed it in the city of Jerusalem. (This Ark was the repository
of the tablets of the ten commandments given by God to Moses. It was also
the symbol of the presence of God-It will be dealt with in detail later
on). This Ark was the focal point of the liturgical celebrations, faith,
prayer and votive offerings of the whole Israelite nation. It was customary
to go on pilgrimage to wherever this Ark was placed. When David brought
the Ark to Jerusalem and established it there, Jerusalem became the most
important city of the kingdom; it also became a pilgrimage centre, the
venue for the celebration of feasts. People were attracted to this holy
city. The number of pilgrims increased day by day. It became necessary,
therefore, to establish the Ark in the most attractive and sublime spot.
David, who had a splendid palace constructed for himself, earnestly desired
to have a temple built as the dwelling place of God as also to house the
Ark. So David bought the threshing floor for 50 shekels of silver from
Araunah the Jebusite, and built there an altar to the Lord, and offered
burnt offerings (cf 2Sam 24:13-15). He wished to build there a temple for
the Lord and began storing the materials necessary for its construction.
God's will, however, was different. David accepted God's message that David's
son, Solomon, would be the one to build the temple.
Solomon, who succeeded to
David's throne (BC 960-922), built a huge and magnificent temple in the
place set apart by his father. As recorded in 2 Chronicles 3:1, the locale
where the temple was established as desired by David, and constructed by
Solomon, was mount Moria. It was there that Abraham, centuries earlier,
had built an altar whereon to sacrifice his son Isaac (Gen 22:1-19). Solomon
completed the construction of the temple in seven years (cf 1 Kings 6:38).
During Solomon's reign,
the city of Jerusalem was extended towards the north and the west. City
walls that fortified the city were built. The city was developed and beautified.
The pomp and splendour and fame of Jerusalem reached its zenith. The city
of Jerusalem became the centre of all that concerned religion, worship
and pilgrimage. Jerusalem attained a primary position socially and culturally.
During the time of Solomon, Jerusalem had an area of 40 acres with a population
of 5000. It became the biggest city in Israel.
Solomon's reign came to
an end in 922 BC. The kingdom of Israel was then divided into two- the
kingdom of Judah to the south and the kingdom of Israel to the north. The
city of Jerusalem, which continued to be the capital of Judah, gradually
began to decline. The prophets frequently warned them in strong language
about the imminent fall of Jerusalem. But the city of Jerusalem closed
its ears to the divine messages. Consequently destruction took place. In
586 BC Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, unleashed a terrible attack
on the kingdom of Judah, and the city of Jerusalem. Devoid of the power
of resistance, Jerusalem fell exactly as was foretold by the prophets.
The magnificent temple built by Solomon, was burnt to ashes and the city
and its fortresses razed to the ground. A good number of the population
was destroyed. The remaining inhabitants were taken as captives to Babylon
(cf 2 Kings 28:8-17). The Ark disappeared. According to tradition, when
prophet Jeremiah saw that Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed,
he took the Ark and hid it in a cave in the mountain of Nebo across the
river Jordan. It will be seen again only at the end of the world (cf Micah
2:4-8). There is an indication of this in the book of Revelation 11:19.
"Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was
seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,
peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail."
Though some Jews who had
lost all hope were left behind in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood, the
city was utterly ruined. All the glory and splendour was lost, its prestige
and fair name tarnished. The dominion of Babylon lasted for 50 years. In
BC 536 Cyrus II, the Persian King , conquered Jerusalem. He permitted the
Jews to return to their homeland. Only a small number, under the leadership
of Ezra and Nehemiah, returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. In
due course, the city walls were constructed. However, it was not possible
for Jerusalem to regain its past glory. They could put up only a very small
and simple edifice in place of the huge and splendid Temple of old.
The Persians were in control
of Jerusalem for about two centuries. Then came Alexander the Great who
in BC 444 conquered Jerusalem. With that Jerusalem had to accept the dominance
of the Greek culture. With the death of Alexander in BC 323, his kingdom
was divided. Palestine and Jerusalem came under the rule of the Ptolemy
dynasty of Egypt. Their reign extended till BC 205. Next came the Selucus
Kings of Syria who captured Jerusalem. At this time there was great pressure
put on Jerusalem to adopt Greek culture. The Jews became the victims of
a religious persecution. The uncontrollable onslaught of Greek culture
influenced all aspects of Jewish life. The Jews had to counter the religious
persecution with regulations and controls concerning their belief, customs
and practices. When the Greeks attempted to impose their customs on the
Jews, the Maccabees began a strong revolt against it.
They took up weapons and
fought against the Greeks. The books of Maccabees I and II give the account
of the revolt of the Jews against the Greeks. The Jews were thus liberated
from the dominion of the Greeks. Jerusalem attained a rejuvenation under
the Maccabees and their descendants , the Hesmonian family. The city began
to develop. But the Hesmonian family began to compete for the throne. That
weakened Jerusalem. As a result in BC 63, the Romans captured Jerusalem
and established Roman rule over the Jews. At this time, King Herod the
Great, succeeded in winning the favour of the Roman emperor and the government,
and, with the support of Rome, brought the whole of Palestine under his
control and began to rule in BC 37. He tried his level best to raise the
city of Jerusalem to a state of grandeur and splendour in every way. Jerusalem,
which had been in a sorry state of decline, began to rise from the depths
of devastation. Reconstruction was initiated. Herod was keenly interested
in sculpture. The city walls were fortified and the city was extended.
The small Temple built during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah was demolished
and a magnificent and huge Temple constructed in its place. Herod had splendid
monuments put up around the temple precincts which had an area of 42 acres.
This is the temple that existed in Jesus' time. It was to this temple that
Jesus came as a twelve-year-old to celebrate the Pasch. It was here that
Jesus was lost after the festal celebrations and found three days later
by Mary and Joseph. There he was in the midst of the scribes and lawyers
engaged in discussions with them. Jesus used to go to the Temple of Jerusalem
for all the pilgrimages that took place every year. On all those occasions
he used to teach the people, work miracles, and heal several people. It
was also in this temple that he drove away those who were buying and selling
and the money-changers who had made the house of prayer into a den of thieves.
King Herod, besides getting
the temple reconstructed, also built a beautiful palace in Jerusalem. Powerful
king that he was, he rebuilt the fortifications which were demolished and
put up a huge fortress on the north of the temple and named it. "Anthonia".
The Roman emperors were given this name in honour of Mark Antony. It is
generally believed that it was within the Anthonia fortress that the trial
of Jesus took place.
It is said that Pilate,
when he came to Jerusalem, usually camped there.
Herod also built a splendid
palace for himself in Jerusalem. But the best expression of his artistic
talent in sculpting is the Temple itself. In BC 4 he expired. Looking at
this magnificent temple, foreseeing its future destruction, Jesus said
it would be so utterly destroyed that not a stone upon a stone would remain.
This took place in A D 70. Certain Jews revolted against the Roman rule.
To suppress the revolution, the Roman emperor, Titus, attacked Jerusalem
and reduced it to stubble and completely destroyed the Temple. The prophecy
of Jesus was thus fulfilled to the letter. A few stones of the wall surrounding
the temple premises are all that remain of this glorious temple. Even today,
Jews standing with their heads leaning against the stones of the wall,
weeping and lamenting the destruction of the temple, is a common sight.
This wall is called the "Wall of lamentation". "Indeed the days will come
upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround
you, and home you in every side. They will crush you to the ground you
and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone
upon another"(Lk 19:43-44).
The words that Jesus uttered
looking at the city of Jerusalem and the Temple came to pass in AD 70.
From that time onwards up to this day, the Jews have not been able to build
the Temple anew.